MEDANTA MEDICITY

MEDANTA MEDICITY

MEDANTA MEDICITYMedanta is one of largest upcoming multi-specialty hospital of India. It was founded by eminent cardiac surgeon, Dr. Naresh Trehan and has 1250 beds, 350 critical care beds and 45 operating theatres offering over 20 specialties.

REASONS FOR MTImedical tourism started in North India about 6-7 years ago.

It emerged due to lack of affordable healthcare services, facilities and economics in the home country of the medical tourist.

Today, Medanta Medicity attracts patients from Africa (Tanzania, Namibia, Congo, Nigeria and Uganda), Gulf countries (Iran, Iraq, UAE and Oman), South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC nations -Nepal, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka) and Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries.

Country-specific marketing strategies are adopted for South East, Middle East, SAARC, CIS and North America. EFFECT ON GLOBALIZATIONglobalisation has enabled patients to be more willing to travelling overseas for medical care.

With increasing trade in health services, there has been an improvement in the infrastructure and quality of health care services for both domestic patients and medical tourists.

India receives patients with grave medical conditions, whereas, countries like Thailand primarily receives patients for cosmetic surgeries. OPPORTUNITIESMedical tourists primarily seek treatment for cardiac surgery (coronary artery bypass grafting), orthopaedic surgery (joint replacement), neurology, oncology and cosmetic procedures.

Opportunities abound in India with regard to MTI due to the presence of attractive tourist destinations, the countrys strong economy, superior medical infrastructure and high quality of healthcare services in multi-specialty hospitals.

Medanta is also in agreement with government embassies of African and Middle Eastern countries to acquire medical tourists. Additionally, due to the recent economic recession, the corporate offices overseas are considering India as a medical travel destination in the insurance packages offered to their employees.

CHALLENGES the biggest challenges of the medical tourism industry in India is the lack of government participation.

the government needs to improve the infrastructure to make the medical care more patient friendly for medical tourists, especially at the airport with dedicated immigration facilities to assist the medical tourists.

. Also, the medical tourists are wary of the hygiene standards of Indian hospitals.

. Another practical limitation of MTI is the security hassle especially in treating medical tourists from Pakistan for organ transplantation.