Plan to promote Indian hospitals abroad

The Federation of Indian Export Organisations is set to promote and market the Indian hospitals in Indonesia and Malaysia.

The Union ministry of commerce, in tandem with FIEO, is taking a 16-member delegation to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia in the second week of August.

The 16-member delegation, which comprises representatives from hospitals such as B M Birla Heart Research Centre Kolkata, Apollo Speciality Hospital Madurai, Manipal Hospital Bangalore, Asian Heart Institute Mumbai, Dharmshiel Cancer Hospital Delhi, Bangalore Institute of Oncology, Ramachandra Medical Hospital Chennai and Sarawasthi Eye Hospital, will study the prevailing insurance and other stipulations in these countries for patients who visit other countries.

A preliminary delegation comprising the director general and experts from insurance companies had already visited these countries two weeks ago.

"We want to tap the large number of overseas patients coming to India by offering an organised package and thereby make the whole trip hassle-free. As part of the package, the hospitals will take care of the patients right from the time they arrive at the airport till they leave India," M Rafequee Ahmed, president of FIEO, told Business Standard.

"It was found that there is a huge potential from Indonesia in areas such as heart surgery, oncology, orthopedic and ophthalmology treatments. Singapore is considered as a medicare hub and thus we expect to have exchange programmes," he said.

Around 150,000 patients visit Singapore, while the arrival of foreign patients to India is around 100,000 patients, he added.

"India offers quality healthcare facilities at much lower costs than in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Confederation of Indian Industry has estimated the Indian healthcare sector to grow from $20.6 billion in 2001 to touch $46.6 billion by 2012. The results of a recent study conducted by McKinsey too revealed that India could earn over $1 billion from inbound medical tourism," Ahmed said.

Ahmed said that they were in talks with a few international rating agencies to grade the hospitals in India to boost the brand image of the Indian healthcare.

"There is also a similar visit planned to the Middle East countries by the end of this year," he said.