Healthcare Infrastructure: Backbone of Medical Tourism

1. Healthcare Infrastructure: Backbone of Medical Tourism Medical tourism is emerging as a popular option for medical tourists across the globe. The term medical tourism is an opportunity for medical tourists to travel to other countries in order to obtain medical, dental and surgical care while at the same time touring, vacationing and fully experiencing the attractions of the country that they are visiting. In simpler words, it can be stated that healthcare tourism is a phenomenon or an attempt to attract medical tourists by promoting medical and healthcare facilities of a certain country. More than 130 countries around the world are competing for a pie of this global business. [Pull Stat] “The Indian healthcare industry is projected to continue its rapid expansion, with an estimated market value of USD 280 billion by 2020, with expenditure on healthcare facilities estimated to grow 14% annually” Role of Infrastructure in Healthcare Tourism The healthcare industry is growing at a massive pace due to its influential popularity among medical tourists, virtuous services and augmenting investments by the private as well as government organizations. There are various factors which are responsible for the growth and promotion of the health tourism industry and the most important and significant fragment of this industry is an efficient healthcare infrastructure. And by infrastructure, we mean the no. of multi-specialty hospitals, modern treatment techniques, availability of qualified doctors.

2. [Pull Stat] “In 2017, the Malaysian government had invested around USD 6 Billion into the healthcare industry to enhance the healthcare infrastructure, medical facilities, pharmaceuticals and medical tourism” Let’s delve into some points on how optimized healthcare infrastructure encourages and establishes a stable and productive medical tourism industry. Stimulates Government Initiatives into Healthcare Tourism When the need for better healthcare facilities generates, the government starts constructive actions towards development of these facilities. Various medical tourism accreditation bodies like International Society for Quality in Healthcare (ISQAH) and Joint Commission International (JCI) have approved that a better healthcare infrastructure will increase the inflow of medical tourists and the overall healthcare income of that particular country. Realising its capability, many national governments have prioritized healthcare tourism and are working towards its dynamic advancement. The government of respective countries and their initiatives, policies, and guidelines contributes to promote health tourism by advancing their medical infrastructure.

3. Increases Job Opportunities in Medical Industry As mentioned earlier, advancement of healthcare infrastructure not only comprises of constructing hospital buildings or accommodating more tangible assets to the hospital, it also includes the introduction of latest technology, appointment of proficient doctors, and inculcation of cutting-edge medical equipment. When demand for these factors increases, new job opportunities also generates in order to cover the human resource demand for professionals (doctors) and manage medical equipment. Accommodating new demographics to the health tourism industry accelerates the advancement of healthcare infrastructure which eventually allows the smooth development of medical tourism. Transpires the Need for Medical Tourism Providers Many countries have adopted a proactive approach for medical tourists and are facilitating it as a revenue-generating business. Healthcare tourism providers form one such approach to globalize health tourism. An efficient medical infrastructure ascends the need for experienced medical tourism providers. When the medical industry develops adequate infrastructure which includes an efficient lot of professional doctors, state of the art medical technology and unparalleled health care facilities, then acquiring an efficient medical tourism provider becomes the need of the hour as it helps organise and devise a favorable experience for patients touring to the country. They render services such as hotel and flight bookings, scheduling meetings with doctors, following up with the doctor regarding patient recovery status, etc.

4. Conclusion A major reason behind patients repeatedly visiting a particular country to avail its advanced medical services is dynamic evolvement of its healthcare infrastructure. When doctors are supported by strong, comprehensive and radical medical equipment and technology, the medical industry tends to cultivate a better and efficient healthcare infrastructure.