Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

According to a research conducted by Deloitte India ranks second in Medical Tourism throughout the world. Ironically, India spends only 1.2 per cent of its Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on health issues, but the country prides itself in treating Americans and Europeans . The study says that Indian hospitals treated 4.5 lakh foreign patients in 2007.

Thailand tops the list with a record number of 12 lakh. The study says that Indian hospitals treat patients not only from its neighboring states and the countries of West Asia, but also treat a large number of patients from the United States and other European countries. The inflow of patients to India from the European countries has been gradually rising.

The Delloite study forecasts that the number of people turning to "medical tourism" -- will increase from 750,000 to 6 million by 2010, an eightfold increase from the present numbers.

If the actual increase is even half that, the fact is that it will be insurers and employers driving this change, not individuals

Last year,South Carolina based Companion Global Healthcare Inc had recognized and added Wockhardt Hospitals in Bangalore and Mumbai to its overseas hospital network.All Bluecross Blueshield of South Carolina and Bluechoice Healthplan of South Carolina members will have access to Wockhardt Hospitals through this association with Companion Global Healthcare.

For partnership Inquiries with Wockhardt Hospitals please email us at enquiries@wockhardthospitals.net

According to a recent editorial in New York times "Overseas Under the Knife" Wockhardt Hospitals has been featured as one of the alternative medical tourism destinations abroad. Commenting on the rising healthcare cost coupled with the long waiting times for critical procedures and surgeries,It lists Indian Hospitals as one of the most traveled destinations by US patients

"One consequence of the high cost of medical care in the United States has been the rise of medical tourism. Every year, thousands of Americans undergo surgery in other countries because the allure of good care at half the price is too good to pass up.

"Average total fees at well-regarded hospitals like Apollo and Wockhardt in India are 60 percent to 90 percent lower than those of the average American hospital, according to a 2007 study by the consulting group Mercer Health and Benefits (where Dr. Milstein is affiliated). Even compared with low-cost American hospitals, the offshore fees are 20 percent to 50 percent lower"

Typically, they are people who have either no health insurance or meager coverage. Though not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, they cannot afford a good health plan. But lately, even some people with good coverage have been encouraged to take advantage of cost savings abroad.

A few pioneering American insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina and self-insured employers like the Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain sent American doctors to evaluate foreign hospitals. Favorably impressed, they now offer payment for travel expenses and cash incentives as high as $10,000 for choosing offshore hospitals.

For very costly operations like open heart surgery or hip joint replacement, savings far exceed these payments. That is not to say that offshore surgery could substantially lower health care costs. Less than 2 percent of spending by American health insurers goes to the kind of non-urgent procedures that Americans seek overseas. "

Read the full story here

Gallup found that 29 percent of respondents would consider traveling to non-U.S. destinations for a major problem or procedure, 24 percent would seek cancer diagnosis and treatment overseas, 15 percent would travel for orthopedic procedures, 14 percent would go abroad for heart treatment and 10 percent would travel to get plastic surgery.

The poll concludes that the uninsured are the most interested in medical tourism options, with 37 percent of uninsured respondents saying that they would consider cancer care overseas. Only 22 percent of those with health insurance shared this sentiment.

Gallup says the survey results indicate that the increasing cost of medical care in the United States and large numbers of uninsured is making medical tourism a viable option.

"If strides in insurance reimbursements, overseas hospital quality, and affordability continue, it will be an increasingly attractive option for Americans," Gallup says. "The data suggest the estimated population of 48 million Americans without health insurance are motivated by costs and would be more likely than those with health insurance coverage to consider seeking medical care from alternative sources."

Americans from Mid Western region are the least willing to consider medical treatment abroad. Westerners are the most open to Medical Tourism,while Southerners are also below average in their enthusiasm for medical tourism, with the exception of hip or knee replacement.