New Delhi: Medical tourism is currently the buzz word of Indian healthcare, Now India is finding patients are coming from USA and Canada for niche high cost orthopedics surgeries like hip replacement or advanced knee replacement.
The fact that surgeries by many Indian doctors have given good results and they have wide experience helps to win over the confidence of overseas patients. The India doctor is no stranger to an overseas patient as the Indian practitioners run almost 25% of health service in the UK, USA and Canada..Word of mouth publicity and the Internet are proving the biggest connecting links as they are able to help establish patient confidence in the surgeon even before they meet, said 38-year-old Cara Maria Gudeus of Las Vegas. For the real estate developer the decision was influenced by a highly rated television programme and Internet search.
I found that not only are many of the doctors in India trained in the US and Britain, but they are also offering the latest surgeries like surface hip replacement not as yet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration," Gudeus added.
I chose S.K.S. Marya at Max Healthcare Institute after corresponding with him through e-mail. The fact that I could address all my queries without waiting for an appointment or paying $200 for a five minute consultation were some of the deciding factors, she said.
Post her surgery and a three-week stay in the hospital, Gudeus is confident of being able to get back to her favorite sports - squash and tennis -, something that would not have been possible with the conventional hip replacement surgery.
Unlike in the US, Canada or Britain where the waiting time is anywhere between 12-24 months, leading private Indian hospitals like Max Healthcare and Apollo Group are among those that are able to give dates at short notice.
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According to Marya, director of Orthopedics and Joint Replacement at Max Healthcare, several patients now also seek Rotating Platform Flexion (RPF) or advanced knee replacement surgery that offers greater flexibility including bending and kneeling.
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Patients are increasingly opting for surgeries like surface hip replacement and RPF despite the higher cost as they are very suitable for Asian life-style, offering greater flexibility of movement with more longevity than conventional techniques, said Marya.
The list of patients having benefited from these surgeries include many from the US, Canada, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and the Middle East countries, said R. K. Sharma of the Indraprastha Apollo Hospitals.
Most overseas patients opt for RPF and surface hip replacement surgeries as they allow for greater flexibility to continue with activities like gardening and games, said Sharma, senior consultant orthopedics and joint replacement at Apollo.
The attraction of India is that we are offering surgeries that are still not approved by US FDA or the cost is too high back home. The orthopedic patient community search the website when making a decision, said Sharma.
Most of the surgeons like Sharma have ongoing correspondence with patients overseas. With many of the preliminary tests done, the wait for surgery is reduced to the minimum once in India for treatment.
The package offered to the patients has no hidden costs. It includes post-operative care either in tie-up with some five-star hotel or services apartments with full regime of dietician, physiotherapists, room service and even a holiday on recovery.
With Indian hospitals offering high standards of surgery and post operative care, we have a large number of non-resident Indians as also foreigners coming here for surgery, said Harshwardhan Hegde, orthopedic surgeon at Sitaram Bhartiya Institute of Medical sciences in the capital.
Formerly attached to Apollo Hospital in Ahmedabad, Hegde said non-resident Gujaratis formed large part of his patient profile
