Medical tourism in India has a huge potential to contribute to its gross domestic product (GDP). The requirement is for the country’s government to take growth-oriented steps to enhance its medical tourism. If the government properly taps this sector, the contribution could go up to 25% of the entire GDP over the coming five years. However, the challenge is to organize the country’s infrastructure and manage its highly skillful medical resources. India has been able to provide high-quality healthcare services at very affordable costs. The need is to continue this practice with improved resources.
Several factors have currently been leading India to lose its medical tourists to other neighboring countries. Some of the issues include the faulty or not-so-transparent billing system, improper patient documentation, lack of common platform to promote the growth of medical tourism, etc. Such factors have limited the contribution of medical tourism to the country’s GDP. Currently, the medical tourism sector amounts to about less than five percent of the Indian GDP and it is expected to reach a low of nearly three percent by the end of the current year.
The above figures are quite insignificant as compared to the growth that other neighboring Asian countries are making in the medical tourism sector. Asia holds about 13 percent share in the global medical tourism market. Many major healthcare facilities in India are also benefitting hugely by tapping this market. However, an organized medical tourism system can lead these numbers to shoot up instantly. If billions of dollars constantly flow in, it is ultimately going to affect the Indian economy very positively. Thus, India should not only focus on developing its medical facilities, but also keep a check on the quality of healthcare services being delivered by these facilities.
Along with the general infrastructure and services development, the Indian healthcare sector also needs to work using latest technology and medical equipment. The overall health system should give a strong competition to other nations. The hospitals’ management should also be oriented toward creating friendly policies for medical tourists. Various services also require a stronger coordination. This would improve accommodation, transportation and aftercare service options for medical tourists. Postoperative assistance and insurance options are also priorities of many medical tourists before the selection of an appropriate destination. Thus, if India needs to boost up its GDP contribution through medical tourism, it should concentrate on all these aspects and make significant improvements.
