India, a Medical Tourism Hotspot for Westerners

Srinath Reddy, President of the World Heart Federation who is eager to see how Dr. Shetty's revolutionary business model will impact healthcare systems worldwide said, "It shows that costs can be substantially contained. It's possible to deliver very high quality cardiac care at a relatively low cost," reported Bloomberg.

“Global health-care costs are rising rapidly and as countries move toward universal health coverage, they will have to face the challenge of providing health care at a fairly affordable cost,” added Reddy.
In India, Chennai has been named the health capital. Multi- and super-specialty hospitals across the city bring in an estimated 150 international patients every day. This city attracts about 45 percent of health tourists from abroad arriving in the country and 30 to 40 percent of domestic health tourists. Low cost, less waiting period and facilities offered at the specialty hospitals in the city are the main factors behind the tourists’ inflow in the city.

The government of India in order to boost medical tourism in the country has removed visa restriction on tourist visas and also introduced a visa-on-arrival scheme for tourists from some selected countries that will allow them to stay in India for 30 days for medical related reasons. This in a way will not just improve the economy of the country but also help foreign nationals gain easy access to medical treatment in India.

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