Availing Medical Tourism to India
Posted on May 8, 2008 in Travel by Prarthna
“Medical tourism” is all about availing medical and/or surgical treatments while on a vacation or travel to a foreign country. The skyrocketing treatment costs in developed countries are pushing people towards foreign countries which are probably providing better care at low costs. In India it is a developing concept which offers medical and relaxations assistance to overseas patients at fairly reasonable prices. Posing stiff competition with Thailand, India has the lowest surgery costs in the entire of South East Asian region.
Most popular health care services provided to overseas patients include:
- Dental care
- Heart surgery
- Cosmetic surgery
- Knee transplant
- Infertility treatments
Why is India Preferred?
India is preferred because it is almost a par with leading countries like the United States, Europe and UK in providing – quality professionals, best hospitals and centers, low treatment costs and eloquent service providers.
India is also one of the most popular tourist destinations thereby giving the tourists the opportunity to make the most of their trip by curing their ailments too. This combined beneficial effect of tourism and medical treatment is what gave rise to what is popularly called to day “medical tourism”.
It is also believed that the cost of flying to India for surgery is far less. In addition, the facilities provided are considered to be better as in the home country, be it, the United States or UK. As matter of fact, India is capitalizing on the goodwill associated with low costs, provision of trained professionals and well-equipped treatment centers which is making medical tourism in India more rampant, robust and popular.
Benefits of Medical Tourism
Some benefits of medical tourism are listed here below:
- The insurance companies save more money as the treatment costs are less in countries like India and Thailand
- All expenditures of travel including the treatment and accommodation is covered by the insurance carrier
- The paid holiday provided to a patient also allows an additional member to go along
- The savings are shared between the insurance companies and the patient in some cases
- In India, the hospitals or treatment centers also look forward to providing visa facilities, accommodation and travel arrangements for the patient and assisting member of the family
Dental care is the most sought after solution for many foreign nationals. For Indian nationals settled abroad, the option of flying down to India for a dental check up would be far feasible than paying exorbitant prices abroad.
Many dental hospitals and clinics are upgrading their facilities and equipments in order to provide the best care to overseas patients. Though the costs of dental care can vary from clinic to clinic or center to center, a root canal treatment can approximately be $50-90 in India as compared to $400-700 in the United States, tooth cleaning and polishing can take $15-50$ in India as against $150-350 in the US, tooth filling takes $15-20 in India and $100-200 in the US and finally, braces can cost you about $500-1000 in India whereas in the US it can cost you $3500-6000.
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