In recent years, India has emerged as a medical hub for patients looking for affordable, accessible and efficient treatment for various chronic diseases. Founders of Vaidam.com  Manish Chandra and Pankaj Chandna, share their thoughts on the growing scope of medical tourism in the country in an interview with Rajbala of Elets News Network (ENN).

Manish Chandra, Co-Founder, Vaidam Healthcare

Manish Chandra, Co-Founder, Vaidam Healthcare

Medical Tourism is considered as an emerging trend that has potential growth for the Indian healthcare growth. It is interesting to note that the scope and opportunity for India in the medical tourism sector is very high. How do you look at this?

Medical tourism is a growing market within the healthcare industry in India with huge potential. Over the years, we have seen a large number of people travelling across continents for medical reasons like cost-effectiveness, quicker and efficient services, dedicated healthcare and enhanced medical treatment when compared to their countries. According to various industry reports, the healthcare industry in India is expected to grow to be a $280 billion industry by 2020. This growth will invariably have a positive impact on the scope of medical treatment provided by hospitals.

Thanks to this exponential growth, hospitals across India have invested hugely in enhancing their medical services by integrating technology; up skilling doctors and nurses; increasing medical education; building of more medical facilities and infrastructure; and finally enhanced research and development in Made in India medical equipment and other pharmaceutical development processes.

This has led to the rise of state-of-the-art medical facilities and the increase in healthcare tourism, with over 500,000 people visiting the country every year. This number is expected to double by 2020, while being valued at $8 Billion dollars.

Pankaj Chandna, Co-Founder, Vaidam Healthcare

Pankaj Chandna, Co-Founder, Vaidam Healthcare

The impact of this growth in medical tourism will see its reverberations around the country, with huge impact on other industries like food and beverage, tourism, logistics, language translation and so many more.

How do you ensure that patients visiting India get connected with the right medical experts, hospitals or travel partners? What do you do to make them feel like they have made the right healthcare choice?

We started by conducting extensive research into the medical tourism space. Our observations found that India is a go-to medical destination for international as well as domestic travellers, especially for various advanced surgeries. This led us to create the Vaidam.com platform for medical travellers in 2016. The objective of the platform is to offer reliable, verified, efficient and quality medical treatment and travel information and care through one channel for ailing patients. All this is done through a careful process of hiring staff that is knowledgeable, highly efficient and carries expertise in their respective domains. Our in house staff comes from various industries and backgrounds with skill sets like medical consultation, operations management, language translation, travel and logistics, engineering and digital marketing. Having the right people in the right place has greatly helped our patients identify and make the right healthcare choices.

In addition, we conduct market research and communication on an ongoing basis with industry players, doctors and our patients. We channel this information to meet our patients needs and try out best to exceed market expectations.

Healthcare costs are surging due to different reasons which also puts financial burden on the patients. So, how do you offer quality treatments within the budget of the customer?

You would be surprised to find that the cost of medical treatment varies substantially across hospitals and cities. We have MOUs signed with 80+ hospitals located in different cities in India. This allows us to present affordable options that greatly benefits the patient.

So far, our patients have come from 45+ countries. To create ease in availing services of high quality healthcare, we present options according to their budget. Patients have the option to choose hospital, stay and services according to their budget – while not compromising on quality.

“India is emerging as the most preferred destination for Medical Treatment and has an enormous potential to grow. Tourists choose India because its economically feasible and providing quality healthcare fits every budget.”

Treatment to travel, please explain this in more detail.

Treatment to travel at its core is an initiative, that assists our patients at every step with relevant services. This includes helping patient find right hospital, medical visa complete travel and logistical services like flight booking, airport pick and drop, and accommodation. We help patients get priority appointments with doctors and help them with other day-to-day needs in India during their stay. In addition, we help them with their daily travel requirements to and from the hospital and other day-to-day needs, while in India.

What are your expansion plans and roadmap for the future as a medical tourism organisation?

In last two years, Vaidam.com help become Indias leading medical travel platform. Our objective is to become the largest medical tourism brand in India and around the world. We look-forward to entering into more partnerships with medical institutions, health organisations, and ministries of countries from where patients travel to India.

This will enable us to penetrate deeper into the industry and which will make Vaidam a credible name in the Indian medical tourism industry.

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