Kurt Berger was on top of the world — but not for long. Living in pain had become commonplace for the 81-year-old, who was doing considerably better after having a cardiac angioplasty. The retired engineer was able to go out cycling and was even working out twice a week at the local YMCA. However, the constant activity started to become too much for his knee, making it extremely painful to move. “I was in a catch-22,” says Berger.

“On one hand I was supposed to improve my cardiovascular system, on the other my knee wouldn’t permit it. I knew I had to do something.”

After visiting seven hospitals near his home in Berkeley, Ontario, and facing an average waiting list of one year, Berger decided to travel halfway around the world to New Delhi to have knee-replacement surgery at one of the many corporate hospitals in India.

“If I had to have surgery and I couldn’t get it done here in a timely fashion, I wouldn’t hesitate to go back there,” says Berger in a telephone interview from his home.

The January 2005 operation cost Berger approximately $9,000, not including airfare, and he says the money was well spent, considering the knee has healed and has received a seal of approval from several orthopedic surgeons. “I would recommend it to others if they cannot get it done anywhere here,” says Berger. “It was a positive experience.”

Berger is just one of the many people who are taking advantage of “medical tourism” to India, where foreigners flock to Indian corporate hospitals looking for deals on everything from heart surgery to dental work. Non-resident Indians have a history of jetting back to their homeland to have cheaper surgical work done, and they’re being joined by a growing number of Westerners who are taking advantage of cheaper rates for medical procedures. A report done last year by Ernst and Young, a multinational advisory firm, heralds medical tourism as the next big success story for India, worth over $333 US million, with about 100,000 foreign patients now receiving treatment every year, compared to 10,000 patients a mere five years ago.

But why this sudden surge of interest in Indian medical care? Many Americans are attracted to the price of surgeries in the country. A heart-bypass procedure can run an uninsured patient in the United States a bill of more than $100,000; in India the surgery can be done for $10,000, according to a recent Time magazine article. Canadians are motivated by sheer frustration over surgery waiting lists, which can mean months and sometimes years of living in pain.

“The [Canadian healthcare] system is not able to deliver the basic care that so many Canadians expect,” explains Alan Flowers, the marketing manager for MedSolutions, a Burnaby-based travel agency specializing in medical tourism. Flowers says medical tourism provides an option for people who don’t want to wait any more. MedSolutions, which was established a year and half ago, sent 100 patients, mostly Americans, abroad last year. Flowers adds the industry will continue growing, especially if the condition of Canada’s ailing healthcare system isn’t improved. “The system is in real trouble and there’s not enough money to fix it.” 

Dr. Colin McMillan, president of the Canadian Medical Association, agrees. He cites long waiting times and a lack of beds as the main reason Canadians are choosing treatment overseas. “People who have the financial means are using this as a last resort,. It’s another symptom stemming from the defects of our own system.”  

Vishal Bali, CEO of the Wockhardt Hospitals Group, which runs 10 hospitals throughout India, says the increase in affordable and quality service being offered in India is the result of a combination of factors. “The doctors’ fees are more rational, the administrative costs and the employee costs are more competitive and the cost of setting infrastructure is not as high as the west,” Bali explains. He adds that Indian doctors are considered the best in the world and Wockhardt’s hospitals, along with other hospital chains such as Apollo Group, have received accreditation from the Joint Commission International, an American-based organization that sets quality standards for healthcare facilities worldwide. Factor in state-of-the-art medical technology and an extremely favorable currency exchange and it’s easy to see why India is poised to become the destination of choice for patients worldwide.

Flowers says research is key for Canadians interested in medical tourism. Prospective clients who come to MedSolutions are asked to fill out an online questionnaire informing the company of their preferred destination and the surgery needed, after which they’re given a preliminary quote. This is sometimes followed by x-ray or MRI requests that are sent to the Indian doctor, allowing the company to give the client a more personalized quote. From there it’s up to the patient to decide if they want to carry on. “If they don’t want to do anything there’s no charge. A lot of people seem to just be looking for prices.”

But patients must also understand the realities of going halfway around the world for medical treatment. Susan Prins, communications director at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia, says although local doctors will not refuse to treat a patient who has had surgery overseas, it’s the patient’s responsibility to make sure he or she is receiving quality care. “We hope that any patient opting to go overseas for treatment would do his or her due diligence to ensure that they feel confident about the treatment provided,” says Prins.

McMillan also cautions patients who expect to be reimbursed for the cost of their treatment. “They cannot assume they’ll get reimbursed for their surgery.” If complications arise, necessitating medical care in Canada, the patient may be responsible his or her own bills, he adds. “Unless they have prior approval from their provincial or territorial organization, they may not be covered.”
Flowers says patients should also expect to add a couple of days onto their trip to include initial rehabilitation. Berger opted to spend an extra 10 days at the hospital after his knee-replacement surgery, while extended follow-up care, Flowers says, is usually done by the patient’s Canadian physician.

For patients willing to make the trip, facilities around India are ready to provide top-notch service. Anjali Kapoor Bissell, vice president of communications and public affairs at Apollo Hospitals, says their chain offers international patients translators, airport pickups and a wide array of cuisine, not to mention plush private suites and trips to nearby tourist attractions. “Patients come in for hip- or knee-replacement surgery, orthopedic surgery and dental surgery,” she says, listing some of the more popular procedures provided by the group, which is Asia’s largest healthcare provider with 44 hospitals throughout the continent.

Aruna Thurairajan is a veteran of India’s burgeoning medical tourism industry. Born in Sri Lanka, the 53-year old Thurairajan says she ventured to India for surgery for the first time in 1971, while she still lived in her homeland. “In that region India is a leader for medical care. It’s not just myself; the whole country [of Sri Lanka] went to India,” she says. Even after settling in Canada 12 years ago, Thurairajan prefers to travel abroad for her medical care because of the long wait times and her inability to get a quick diagnosis in Canada. “I’ve never really received treatment here. I’d rather fly out.”

Thurairajan was so impressed with medical care abroad that she opened her own medical travel agency, Overseas Medical Services Canada, in January 2004 in Calgary. Three years later, the company has opened offices around the world, including in Shanghai, England and the U.S., which is Thurairajan’s biggest
market.

“I want to make people aware that there are other options . . . for faster recovery and better healthcare,” she says.  Although early last year she was caught up in a controversy over organizing transplant surgeries in Pakistan and China, business has been on the rise, with Thurairajan organizing trips to parts of Europe, Thailand and other Asian countries. But since April of last year, Thurairajan has stopped sending patients to India. “I cut off services to India because of the substandard services I experienced as a patient.”
In one of her most recent surgeries, a spinal procedure done in October 2003, Thurairajan says the surgeons were excellent but the service she received in the hospital afterwards didn’t meet her expectations. Although she did not opt for the private suite preferred by most foreign patients, instead booking a shared room, she didn’t expect to be treated like a second-class patient. “I was not given any cutlery for my food,” she explains. “Then when I asked, I was given plastic cutlery and when I asked why I wasn’t given proper cutlery they said because you’re in a shared room.” In another incident, Thurairajan requested a cold towel that never came; she had to ask a hospital visitor to fetch one for her. She made sure the hospital heard about her complaint and she received a letter of apology, but not before being asked why she hadn’t just booked a private room. 

Thurairajan believes Indian medical tourism has the ability to become a world-class industry and she feels it’s the job of medical travel agencies to ensure certain standards are met. Recently, she agreed to start working with India’s Fortis Group of Hospitals after having a favourable meeting with the chairman of the company. “If agents take the responsibility to educate the hospitals they are working with, then it will be a wonderful thing; it’ll be a win-win situation.”

Source : www.mehfilmagazine.com.