A few years ago, developed countries like US and UK were sought-after for world-class medical treatments. However, the medical scenario in the last decade has seen remarkable changes that increasing number of patients from other countries travel across the globe to India to seek medical help. As a result, medical tourism in India has emerged as an independent health-care sector with promising growth rate. According to a report by confederation of Indian Industry, the number of medical tourists in India has surged from around 2 lakhs in 2005 to 6 lakhs in 2015.
Why India?
What any patient wouldn’t want to compromise on, when it comes to the matter of an important medical treatment is the quality of service. That’s exactly India proudly boasts in the field of health care industry. India maintains world-class medical facilities and has 23 Joint Commission International (JCI) – accredited hospitals till date. State-of-the-art medical technologies have been implemented in several Indian hospitals for quicker and complication-free surgeries that promise faster recoveries. Availability of qualified and experienced doctors is another significant reason for medical tourists to prefer India. Patients can avail the opportunity to interact personally with the preferred doctor before scheduling their travel which provides adequate comfort and trust in them.
Apart from quality care, Indian medical sector is preferred for affordable costs. What one would have to pay in the US or the Europe for a particular treatment might be several times more than what they would need to pay in India, of course, without compromising on the quality of the treatment and care. In order to cut down on a huge sum of medical expenditure, many patients from abroad travel to India.
One of the biggest hurdles that patients abroad face is the waiting time for the treatment schedule. It generally takes from a few weeks to a few months for a surgery date to get finalized in other countries while in India waiting time is lesser for surgeries such as liver and kidney transplants, knee replacement surgery, Cardiac treatments such as angioplasty, CABG and valve repair surgery. This can save time and sometimes, health of a critically ill patient.
Diversity of culture and religion in India offers a comfort factor for patients travelling from other countries. The ease of communication through English is also an added advantage for the medical tourism industry in India.
How can foreign patients connect with Indian doctors and hospitals?
It might sound bizarre to think of travelling to a new country for a personal service such as a medical treatment. Without an external guidance, the whole process might not only become difficult but also could take longer. That’s where facilitators like MediGuardians help patients seeking medical assistance in India.
What does MediGuardians do?
MediGuardians is an online interactive portal which connects patients of other countries to the right doctor or hospital in India for their treatment. Through MediGuardians, patients can avail several services in their medical tour journey, beginning with understanding the available options of facilities, identifying a doctor and hospital, getting assistance for visas up until being taken care of the post-operative queries after reaching their home countries. The following list (source: MediGuardians official site) provides the complete sequence of services provided them:
- A dedicated team of in-house professionals to attend to the queries of the sensitive patients
- Multiple options from various hospitals are offered to a single query sent by our clients; this gives them the freedom to evaluate the different options properly and chose the most suitable option that serves their purposes the best
- As per the query of the patients, the corresponding responses from the doctor are sent to the clients along with the doctor’s credentials.
- Prior to the arrival of the patients, we arrange for the doctor and the patient communication via phone or e-mail. This ensures a complete transparency of the process and also creates a comfort zone for the patient to travel
- We arrange visa assistance letter from the hospital and the doctor to procure Indian visa.
- We receive the patients from the airport upon their arrival.
- For complete assistance, we visit the patients periodically in the hospital during their stay and also communicate with them on a regular basis
- During the patient’s stay in India, we communicate with their near and dear ones/doctors back home periodically via phone or email regarding patient’s medical progress
- For the follow up visits of the patients, we also arrange for post-operative hotel stay near the hospital
- On patient’s wish, we also tailor post-operative holiday in India after proper consultation with the doctor
- The return airport transfers for the patients are also arranged by us
- We also look after that the post-operative queries that patients send after returning back home are duly responded by the respective doctors who are treating them.
MediGuardians, with its association with leading health industries in India like Fortis Group of Hospitals, Max Hospitals in India, Institute of Brain and Spine, Global Hospitals to name a few promises quality assistance to foreign medical tourists at affordable rates. Patients who are already undergoing trauma of a suffering ailment can take respite in its trusted service.