RESETTING MEDICAL TOURISM IN INDIA POST COVID - KEY CHALLENGES AND STRATEGIES TO OVERCOME
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The comeback of Covid-19 in India has ripped apart the healthcare system creating a severe dent in the image of being a globally leading medical tourism destination. The pride that the country projected of successful pandemic handling followed by the vaccine rollout has nosedived. Although economically developed nations are also not spared from the successive Covid-19 onslaughts, India’s situation has been somewhat grimmer given the sheer vastness of the population.
India’s high ranking in the global medical tourism market (5th among 41 major destinations) can be attributed to its world-class medical facilities and affordable cutting-edge treatments. Medical tourism in India skyrocketed with 6.97 lakh foreigners visiting the country on medical visas in 2019 before the deadly pandemic struck.
A massive global medical tourism business is in the waiting
Nearly $50 billion of global medical tourism business has been put on hold owing to pandemic-induced restrictions. According to the World Economic
Forum, 28 million elective surgeries might have got cancelled during the peak of global lockdowns. An additional week of disruption in medical services could lead to 2.4 million cancellations.
According to FICCI’s MVT Report, India’s Medical Value Travel was projected to touch $9 bn by 2020 before the pandemic-led downfall. Given the global pent-up demand for medical tourism services, India’s market potential could be well between $3-4 billion which needs to be tapped soon. But post-pandemic medical tourism will be more complex with patients less willing to travel beyond the border. If they need to do so at all, they will look for more convenience, better solutions and outcomes that would be worth considering amid so many restrictions.
Tougher challenges for resuming medical tourism in India
Just when things started looking up in the first quarter of this year, India got hit by a more devastating second wave. The bad news -the world is closing its travel doors to India. The good news, India’s Vaccination Drive 3.0, the world’s largest vaccination program brings hope of the pandemic receding
fast. The signals are imminent. Despite fresh hopes of a revival, resetting the healthcare system to its pre-Covid form will take time.
Travel will not be easy as different countries will experience successive waves at different times, likely to persist for the next 2-3 years. The second wave has created an overwhelming situation leading to a severe crunch in facilities, support service, and workforce. On top of this, the frontline healthcare workers subjected to extreme trauma and burnouts may not be physically and mentally wellequipped to offer quality service to medical tourists.
Globally reputed healthcare facility chains in India catering to foreign medical tourists are forced to diversify their resources in pandemic management. Non-essential surgeries and non-emergency medical services have been put on hold for the time being with uncertainty prevailing in the resumption of regular services.
India has the potential for a quick bounce back
The pandemic might have put India’s healthcare system to test but not its expertise. Given the sheer vastness of the country, rates of infection and mortality remained lower than many nations with robust healthcare systems. India is the global pharmaceutical capital and its capacity in drug and vaccine production and supply which is the largest in the world speak a lot of its expertise and resource base.
Confidence building with improved solutions and service – the need of the hour
To hold on to its commendable position in global medical tourism, India needs to work on specific areas to reinstate the confidence of medical travel in the global market.
Creating a safer healthcare haven
Safety first. Above all factors, this would influence the decision-making of global medical tourists. Countries curbing the infection better will have a better edge. How India will be perceived as a medical tourism destination is a milliondollar question. And this would draw India’s medical tourism growth curve in the next few years.
Focus on strict safety protocols and bio-bubbles
As travel restrictions ease, India should enforce proper safety and health protocols in place through vaccine passports and testing certificates for foreign medical patients. Creating bio-bubbles or green travel corridors between the source countries would make cross-border patient travel more feasible and risk-free.
Revamping healthcare resources
India has planned to build up a robust base of healthcare workers by roping in fresh young medical trainees. The country takes pride in nurturing brilliant brains in its top-class medical schools who are set to be the strongest pillars of the healthcare system. Very few countries could produce such a vast number of medical and supporting paramedic professionals every year.
Reorient medical tourism offerings
World-class medical services and affordability alone will no longer be the only pull factors for medical tourists unless there are some special add-on services. Foreign patients are likely to opt for long-stay schedules to fulfil quarantine regulations which could be utilised with suitable offerings.
A dynamic approach is needed where patients should be allowed enough flexibility in program selection and rescheduling. With the future travel becoming more unpredictable, such flexible components add more convenience to patients and help in trust-building.
Integrate wellness practices
People are showing interest in preventative wellness programs along with the curative ones to live a diseasefree life or manage their existing conditions better without any costly medical intervention. Tailor-made programs integrating medical treatments and wellness therapies to meet specific needs would be more acceptable for patients. They won’t mind spending on wellness programs or therapies provided the outcomes are guaranteed.
India's wellness tourism potential to complement integrated programs
India with its time-honoured Ayurvedic healing philosophy and exotic tourism products has a competitive edge over others. International patients mainly visit India for complex transplantation and life-saving surgeries and treatments. Specific pre- and post-treatment wellness programs in reputed resorts and facilities can facilitate better recuperation. Wellness resorts in India have made a mark in global wellness tourism which could be partnered for more value-added medical tourism packages.
Proper communication is crucial
All new strategies and offerings should highlight patient safety and communicated clearly to the target market. Prospective medical tourists should be fully aware of what they are likely to experience while on a medical trip to India. Providers should focus on sympathetic communication and transparent dealings to reinforce reliability and trustworthiness in medical tourism in India.
“needed“A dynamic approach is where patients should be allowed enough flexibility in program selection and rescheduling.
Showcasing innovations in a new way, using the latest information technologies, and cultivating personal exchange with customers despite COVID-19: This all contributed to the highly successful premiere of KOCHlive. Following up with KOCHlive 2021, the special machine manufacturer KOCH Pac-Systeme promises nothing less than "The next dimension in packaging".
KOCH has transformed the virtual trade fair into a platform offering more intensive live experiences and more content: Experts, showroom, webcasts, videos. A real highlight are the KOCH webcasts, featuring Innovation Talks where KOCH specialists share their expertise on trending topics in packaging, provide information about KOCH's special competencies, and respond to open questions.
Personal appointments can be booked with the "Experts" for an exclusive live presentation. In the showroom, guests get to watch a live demonstration of the machines, learn about eco-friendly types of packaging, and a whole lot more. Also new is our “Videos” section that provides illuminating insights into the great world of packaging with KOCH Pac-Systeme.