Medical Services in India

India is a world-leader in the medical tourism field, with world-class medical infrastructure available to Western patients at a fraction of the cost they would expect to pay at home. What’s more, the majority of these services can be provided with little or no wait time; an attractive selling point to those with ailments requiring prompt attention.

India responded early to global trends toward international outsourcing, and innovative foresight led health-care providers to modernize infrastructure in a bid for medical tourists. As a result, health tourism has become a multi-billion dollar industry in India, spurring the development of state-of-the-art facilities.

Given India’s size, there is a leading specialist here in every field. While many medical tourism destinations are best known for their work in minor or non-essential health care, India is best-suited for major medical procedures. Medical tourists come for heart surgery, cancer treatment, major orthopedic surgeries, and infertility treatments.

All of these procedures cost tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of dollars in the US but can be performed in India at 10 to 20 percent of the cost. Holistic medicine, especially ayurvedic treatment, is also very popular.

Foremost among India’s health-care providers are grand-scale hospitals in leading cities like Mumbai and New Delhi. These institutes are essentially the same as large Western hospitals, offering a similar caliber of care. In most cases, doctors in these hospitals have studied alongside their Western peers in prominent US- and Europe- based universities.

The rampant success of India’s medical tourism industry has caught the attention of the private sector, resulting in the establishment countless private clinics around the country. Much smaller than hospitals, these facilities specialize in one or two specific procedures. The smaller scope of clinics translates into ultra-modern equipment embracing the latest breakthroughs in medical research.

There are thousands of clinics across India, especially in the medical tourism hub of Chennai. This can make choosing the right clinic a difficult task for anyone based in a foreign country. The best avenue to a reputable private clinic in India is through an equally well-reputed travel agency in the tourist’s home country.

When choosing a clinic, consider the number of cases related to yours that the facility addresses each year as well as the overall success rate. Well-reputed clinics are eager to disclose this sort of information.

India is a safe travel destination, accustomed to a massive influx of tourists each year. Hospitals and clinics work hard to distance themselves from the India’s less seemly districts, and it is possible for medical tourists to arrive in India, undergo their medical procedure and return home without ever setting foot outside hospital grounds.