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Foreign patients flock to cheaper care in India

 18-Feb-16, Nikkei Asian Review 

The foreign patients section at the towering glass and chrome Medanta Medicity hospital in Gurgaon is not unlike the arrivals lounge of a busy international airport. Patients from all over the world flock here for treatment, drawn by the value for money offered by Indian hospitals.

Foreign patients flock to cheaper care in India (c) Ninad Sheth

Image: Ninad Sheth

At this 17-hectare multi-specialty site in India's National Capital Region, the privately owned medical group Global Health Pvt. offers 1,250 beds and more than 45 operating theatres. Cardiac surgery costs $6,000 compared to $20,000 in Russia, while a liver transplant that would cost more than $200,000 in the U.S. can be had for $14,000. Robotic knee surgery, a cutting-edge procedure, costs just $10,000 in India but upward of $80,000 in the Middle East and Australia.

Such attractive prices, coupled with a reputation for quality, have drawn patients from all over the world for treatments ranging from non-essential procedures such as dental and cosmetic surgeries to life-saving operations for liver disease. It is not uncommon for tourists to pop into hospitals simply for health checks.

India already nets $3 billion from treating foreign patients every year, with growth estimated at 20% for 2015, and revenues reaching $8 billion by 2020. India currently receives about 230,000 medical tourists. Apollo Hospitals, a private medical group, says it derives about 15% of its revenue from medical tourists.

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