78 I December 2012

India’s medical tourism sector is growing at an annual rate of 30 per cent and is expected to be ` 10000 crore industry by 2015

and its valuation is currently at $ 2 billion. India has overcome the basic challenges of complying with international quality standards, availability of latest

technology and communication barriers. Hospitals now have translators/foreign nurses to help deliver care eff ectively. Th e cost of insurance in estimated to 1/10th of the cost in developed countries globally. A knee replacement surgery in India costs about $ 2500 instead on $ 25000 in developed nations.

Maintaining standard with rising trendWith the rise of medical tourism, patients and patient coordinators globally look for good reputed doctors and hospitals in India, their primary source of information is Internet. With a paradigm shift in the way we use internet in the last few years’ signifi cance of social media has increased rapidly and can play a pivotal role in the fi eld of medical tourism.

Unlike commercial relationship between service provider and a consumer, relationship between doctors and patients is emotional and is shared by patient’s family. Th e virtue of life saver that is bestowed upon doctors is refl ection of the same. Th ere’s an emotional connect that a patient shares with doctors. Th is makes the key part of the care deliver and the trust and faith patients have in his doctors make life simpler for everyone. Can a medical tourist establish an emotional connect with a doctor, he sees for the fi rst time in his life? Is there a relationship that exists between such patients and doctors?

Social media: A pivotal role Medical tourism today operates extensively with a network of marketing companies that promote India’s tourism + medical facilities as a joint package.

The answer to why India is a preferred destination is a no brainer – It costs less. So a product/service of equivalent quality at less cost propels demand. With rising healthcare costs globally, India offers a unique three dimensional offering of – culture + vacation + medical care. Currently over 2,00,000 medical tourists visit India annually. Here’s reviewing how social media can help this growing business.

Insight & Outlook: Medical tourism

The ‘blue eyed boy’

With a paradigm shift in the way we use Internet in the last few years’ significance of social media has increased rapidly and can play a pivotal role in the field of medical tourism.

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ANNIVERSARY

Medical tourism

80 I December 2012

But is patient interested in the tourism part of it – Definitely no, it is like a rider on the main policy, which is often piggy backed. Social media can be a key source of

marketing and promotion of medical tourism facilities of India. Using social media for marketing and promotion is a common place across industries ranging from fast food to airlines every industry uses social media and uses it in a unique way. Social media marketing is not as simple as placing ad words, it is about establishing relationships with viewers, engaging them, interacting with them and converting them to be your unpaid brand ambassadors. Moreover, it is the personal recommendation that always works for healthcare, unlike FMCG products where you can trust advertisement. Hence, social media can play a crucial role to establish relationship with patients and their families and caregivers.

Real life stories and videos by real patients can be a great source of reference check over social media. A leading knee replacement surgery centre did a similar exercise and was surprised to see enquiry rates growing up multifold. Be cautious, it is not about simply sharing real life videos, social media campaign needs to be build gradually its similar to a movie, where you need to gradually build the excitement. These real life patients can share their experiences and advise and address queries of your enquires.

Return on Investment (ROI) on social media strategy for medical tourism. This is not yet a tested model on a larger scale, but ROI would be much higher than traditional advertising, owing to the simple fact social media advertising creates interaction and influence. So doctors and medical staff directly interact with patients and past patients influence them using their real life stories, so the return is dual fold. Moreover, you need to earn a social media promotion, while you can purchase traditional promotion and advertisement.

Recommendation and referral. It is the foundation of healthcare system in India. To strengthen the fact, here is an example. People trust and have faith in a doctor, even if he is not qualified for particular speciality, this gets magnified in rural India where unqualified doctors deliver healthcare services, just because they are recommended by people around them.

Medical tourism and transparency go hand in hand. If the system is not transparent the first business that will be in line of fire will be medical tourism. Social media brings in transparency to the system. You cannot stop a patient to share his feedback and experiences.

Platforms on offerLet’s look at the platforms which can be leveraged to create a social media platform for medical tourism. Facebook: More than 800 million

users, this is equivalent to third populated nation and potential to reach 1 billion users. Facebook is a multifaceted platform, you can use it to create hospitals company page and upload contents from members and start conversation. Facebook although is not the trusted source as it is not verified and there is too much of noise.

LinkedIn: This is an excellent platform to share and build credential for doctors, to share their achievements with the external world. Recommendations on LinkedIn evoke confidence. LinkedIn profiles for doctors that are part of medical tourism industry is a must, a carefully created profile will evoke confidence in patients.

Wikipedia: Wikipedia today has evolved as a one shop stop for

everything that you need and it is as accurate as encyclopedia, hence its trusted. So patients can check basic details about their disease, gain knowledge and be informed on the same.

Twitter: Only 140 characters have enough power to create a revolt in nation and spread messages at speed that is faster than light. Such pace of communication is much needed in healthcare, how about your medical reports (*secured) being tweeted to your families and well wishers in your country while you are being operated in India. How about your health status being shared with them regularly while you are admitted in hospital.

YouTube: Real life patient stories for surgeries where immediate effect is visible – knee replacement or other complex surgeries can be shared on YouTube and shared with the world. These real life stories of pre hospital visit, the hospital stay and the post surgery/hospital visit is the catalyst to trigger medical tourism market in India.

Social media as popularly understood is not just about Facebook and Twitter there are enormous instances of closed/private social media, where patients, doctors and caregivers can interact in a closed environment and can share personal health information without the fear of being non HIPAA compliant owing to social media usage.

Industry players will have to create strategic plans to leverage social media to reach its target consumer base, ie patients globally and provide service that unmatched globally at fraction of the cost while maintaining highest clinical standards and transparency.

(manishnachnani@gmail.com)

Lalit Singla, Head &Manish Nachnani, Consultant, Healthcare Center of Practices, UHG India

Real life stories and videos by real patients can be a great source of reference check over social media.