Rajeev Taneja, Founder of Global Care, India’s largest medical value travel company talks about how a partnership between the private and public sector help in the growth of media tourism in India
Public-Private Partnership (PPP) has over the years aided many services sectors in their growth and can be helpful to scale up medical value tourism as well. Owing to the technological advancements, the collective efforts of the community and the initiatives by the government of India, the medical value travel industry has witnessed unprecedented growth and has become a crucial contributor to the economy of the country. Medical value tourism has been one of the most rapidly growing industries in India, especially after the government’s initiatives to position India as a holistic wellness destination. Approximately 70 per cent of the total medical services inbound forex in India is from medical tourism. This has made the sector one of the key contributors to the economic growth of the country. MVT is targeted to achieve 9 billion dollars.
A PPP can further this growth. The private sector with its investment and experience is the perfect match for the conducive policy framework and global outreach that the public sector brings to the table.
With PPP the industry can achieve medical prowess. The private sector is applauded for its highly skilled medical staff and state-of-the-art infrastructure. Besides this, the corporate structure of the private sector helps in managerial proficiency.
Currently, India is one of the top 10 countries in the world for medical tourism. As an industry, with PPP the country can aim for a massive share of the global medical value travel market. Medical value tourism involves trade in services from two major sectors – medicine and hospitality. The industry, therefore, stands to generate funds for not just the private sector but also various government bodies. The life-saving services offered by the Indian hospitals also generate goodwill for the country. Therefore, a PPP is the need of the hour. With the sizeable private sector investment and the government access to opportunities globally, PPP is the perfect way to position India as the global destination for medical tourism with state-of-the-art facilities and cost-optimisation.
Here’s how a PPP can augment the growth of medical tourism in India
Superlative medical facilities: The private sector offers patients a chance to experience the best of healthcare. With superlative facilities, skilled doctors and support staff often trained from premium institutes, they make sure that the patients get the best possible treatment. To add to this, the corporate structure and management expertise of the private sector in building and running operations add to the seamless experience.
Favourable costs: One of the major factors for overseas patients is the cost-effectiveness of the medical treatments available in India. PPP will help further extend this service to them. It functions on a high volume and low margin module as it is backed by subsidiaries and incentives from the government. This partnership would ensure comprehensive healthcare solutions at affordable costs without compromising quality.
Technological prowess: Medicine is ever-evolving. With new technological advancements across the globe, a PPP partnership can help bring new and innovative treatments to the country. The application of technology in play by the private sector can have a wider reach when backed by the government sector.
Enhanced infrastructure: The private sector is known for its impressive infrastructure, advanced equipment and constant investment in R&D. The public sector can add to this by ensuring that cities are connected via proper roadways and there’s proper infrastructure for pre-and post-treatment care as well.
There are multiple ministries responsible to aid medical value tourism in coordination with the stakeholders of the industry. From visa facilitations to an online repository, there are many rungs of this ladder wherein the public sector can make a massive difference. This in turn will ensure that patients can access relevant and important information easily and have a great experience when visiting our country. This experience will not only be limited to the treatment but also in tertiary sectors like transportation, recovery, hospitality, interpretation etc.
Currently, we are at a level that offers superlative treatment facilities that are cost-optimised but this is mostly seen in the private sector. We need investment to not only build infrastructure to match the International standard. Besides this, a partnership with the public sector will also bring in unanimity and a set framework for the sector. The standardisation that is most needed in clinical care and the treatment cost for the same can further be divided as per the kind of treatment the patients are looking for like surgeries, wellness, Ayush etc. This will ensure that the treatments remain cost-effect and the process is transparent, and thus building trust with the patients.
For the long-term sustainable growth of the medical tourism industry, public and private partnerships are key. It will generate trust in the various programs at hand and help in the growth of tertiary industries as well such as tourism, hospitality etc.