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.

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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