Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

Wockhardt Hospitals have recently been featured in CNN Health on a story on Medical Tourism Titled Medical Tourism:Have Illness ..Will Travel.

Mark Tutton of CNN Health talks about the growing trend of Medical Tourism and identifies Wockhardt Hospitals along with Apollo and Max Healthcare which have revolutionized Healthcare Treatements in India.

India has been only ranked second after Thailand as the most favored medical tourism destination.Wockhardt Hospitals International Accreditation's like JCI and Tie up with Harvard Medical Association has made it the most sought after SpecialtyHospitals among Internations patients across the world.

Medical tourism: Have illness, will travel - CNN.com: "Medical tourism is one of the hottest topics in health care as patients around the world are increasingly traveling abroad for treatment.

Josef Woodman, author of Patients Beyond Borders, a guide to medical tourism, told CNN that two to three million people travel outside their home country for treatment each year, while consultancy firm Deloitte calculates that 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for treatment last year.

Bumrungrad International Limited (BIL), based in Thailand, owns and operates over 70 health care facilities in seven countries. According to BIL, its Bangkok flagship hospital treats over 400,000 foreign patients a year, with over 90,000 coming from the Middle East.

India is only second after Thailand in terms of the most favored medical tourism destination in the world.For a country that spends 1.2% of GDP on healthcare needs and has approximately 143 doctors for every 10,000 people as compared to USA's 234 doctors per 10,000 people that is by all means quite an achievement.

However the difference between India and Thailand is almost three fold. While India was home to 450,000 medical travelers across the globe ,Thailand treated 12 lakh patients globally.

This is according to a study by Deloitte Consulting,which also talks about the emerging trends of India getting more medical visitors from US and UK. Earlier most medical travelers included patients from Middle east,West Asia, and the Asian Subcontinent

Cheaper treatment is a huge attraction and, during recession, that's a big fact and often more cost effective for Westerners. But other factors, too, have contributed to the growth of medical tourism in India. "Indian clinical and paramedical talent is globally appreciated and with JCI accreditation of some hospitals, international standard is proven. Third-party intervention through health insurance has also given it a boost," said Vishal Bali, CEO, Wockhardt Group of Hospitals.

"Thailand, which revolutionized medical tourism, is more into cosmetic surgery; India focuses on cardiac, neurological or orthopaedic problems," Bali said.

Wockhardt Heart center, LB Nagar, Hyderabad has in recent days seen a string of patients coming in from Uzbekistan

Recently Mr. Radjabov Toshmurot a 55-year-old man diagnosed with Triple vessel Disease and is also a Diabetic and Hypertensive along with a history of Renal Failure, got operated at Wockhardt Heart Centre,Hyderabad. He was diagnosed with a Triple vessel disease back in Uzbekistan, and was advised to undergo a Bypass Surgery.

Normally a patient from Uzbekistan would choose Russia as his Health Care destination and in recent times some people have even recognized India as a quality provider for Healthcare services, but mostly it’s been limited to Delhi, because of direct connectivity that Delhi has with Uzbekistan.

However in the last few Months we at Wockhardt Heart Centre have treated about 10 people from Uzbekistan with Complex Clinical History. What was common to all these people was that they were all High Risk Procedures with associated complications. Mr. Radjabov is one such case as since he has a Renal Failure Complication and it was essential that his kidney was kept away from developing more complication during the surgery.

That is why the Doctors at Wockhardt Hospitals performed a Beating Heart Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery, for him. The surgery lasted for approximately two and a half hours and during this entire duration there no Cardio Pulmonary support. Similarly the last patient that we had received from Uzbekistan had an Associated Double Valve Replacement along with the CABG, We had to operate on that patient for six hours straight.” Says Dr. Sameer Diwale, Cardiothoracic surgeon, who’s expertise have attracted these patients to Wockhardt Hospitals Hyderabad.

At Wockhardt Hospitals ,it gives us a great pleasure to see that we are not only establishing Quality Healthcare but we are now doing these complex surgical operations at the Global level.
Dr. Sameer has been invited to participate in Continuous Medical Education Programmes by the doctors From Uzbekistan. Dr Sameer adds, “ Its not only patient care, its also about changing the way Healthcare is administered world over. I feel that it is of immense importance that people keep abreast of what is happening in the Medical field, and its through little exchanges like these that we learn.”

This is a perfect example of a Globalized Healthcare System at its best, good for the country good for the World but most Importantly good for every individual who demands quality Health care. It’s about Empowering people at the Individual level.