The Real Disease – The Cost of Healthcare

At the Indian exhibition Healthex 2010, the CII National Health Council chairman, and founder of the Apollo Hospitals Group; Pratap C Reddy called for increasing the doctor-patient ratio. The only way to do this is by increasing the number of hospitals across India, Reddy claims.

Dr. Prathap C. Reddy, founder of the Apollo Hospitals Group

“We want the government to provide more world class medical institutions such as All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS) in other parts of the country,” he says. He is second by Naresh Trehan, cardiologist and chairman of CII National Committee on Healthcare, who spoke on the recent decision by the PSU health insurers to withdraw cashless hospitalization. Trehan says: “The decision to withdraw is only a symptom. The real disease is the cost of healthcare in India. There is a need to facilitate a dialogue between insurance companies, hospitals and patients,” he says.

The four-day exhibition is of medical, surgical and diagnostic equipment technology, supplies, materials and allied services, and has attracted nearly 70 companies.

On a global perspective, India is seen as one of the most cost-effective healthcare nations of the world, attracting foreign patients for its high service and quality care. Nevertheless, it is obvious that even the shining star of medical tourism has a devout debate about how to lower the cost of healthcare while maintaining or surpassing the current quality. India is surely not the only country in the world battling with the cost of healthcare and too few doctors. This is actually on of the main reasons why patients go abroad for medical and wellness treatment. As discussed many times before in this blog; this increasingly popular phenomenon is called medical tourism. If you want to find out more about medical tourism; visit the Novasans website later this year, or our Facebook page already now!

Fighting Obesity; Interview with Dr. Arun Prasad

Dr. Arun Prasad

As devoted readers of this blog have noticed, the growing obesity trend is becoming an increased problem all over the world. With obesity levels skyrocketing in Europe and the U.S., more and more people are incapable of losing their excessive weight through diet and exercise. Therefore, the number of bariatric surgeries has boomed all around the world. But going through a weight loss surgery is not a walk in the park. It involves careful preparations and the right after care, a satisfactory general health, and money. Because these surgeries are expensive, and in most countries the patients might have to pay for the entire cost themselves. Therefore, a growing number of obesity patients choose to go abroad for weight-loss treatment. Some of the most popular destinations for bariatric surgeries are India, Thailand and Singapore.

I had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Arun Prasad, one of the most prominent doctors in India practicing bariatric and laprascopic surgery, at Glow 2010 in Kuala Lumpur this spring. During the tourism and wellness congress, Dr. Prasad held an excellent speech on weight loss surgeries in India in general and in Apollo Hospital in New Delhi in particular, where Dr. Prasad works as a Senior Consultant Surgeon since many years. Dr. Prasad was one of the pioneers within laprasopic surgery, and he is also one of the youngest surgeons in the world with an experience of over 5,000 laprascopic surgeries.

During my meeting Dr. Prasad at Glow 2010, I took the opportunity to ask Dr. Prasad about his work and his take on the future of weight-loss surgeries.

Your passion for your profession shone through your speech at Glow 2010. what is it that you cherish the most with being a doctor?

• What I cherish the most with being a doctor is to be able to directly help human beings reduce their suffering.

In your speech, you addressed the issue of obesity surgical tourism, an area that most experts believe will skyrocket in the future. What do you see as the main challenge with obesity surgical tourism?

• The main challenge is definitely to find centers that give a dedicated complete care for obesity.

You have previously worked in England; could you briefly compare the infrastructure, equipments, level of patient care, security and pricing in Indian hospitals to those in Europe?

• I would say that the infrastructure and the equipment level is the same. If you are talking about private hospitals, the level of patient care is a little better in India. NHS Hospitals in England have priorities of resource management and emergencies, and therefore patient choice in treatment does not get much attention. Security is not a problem at any of the places. But pricing in India is about 25% of Europe.

Today, you work as a Senior Consultant Surgeon for Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, approximately; how many international obesity patients do you cater to per year? Which is the most common treatment; gastric bypass or gastric banding?

• I cater to about 100 patients per year. Both procedures (gastric bypass and gastric banding) are equally common.

How long does your surgical obesity patients stay in the hospital, and how long after surgery do you usually follow up on each patient? How much time do you advice that the patient set aside for going through with a surgery in India?

• I advice patients to stay in the hospital between 2-5 days, depending on which procedure they are having. Another week in India after being let out of the hospital is recommended, this to have time to recuperate.

Many patients going abroad for an extensive surgery have fears before the journey; how do you as a doctor handle these fears and anxieties?

• I start with talking to them on the phone or through video conference. This instills confidence in the patients. So does communication with previous patients and our website. Medical tourism facilitators who have dealt with us previously can also talk to them, which usually lessen their fears.

How do you control the cost of healthcare in your organization?

• Market forces control the pricing level.

Lastly, for anyone with a BMI (Body Mass Index) over 30, considering an obesity surgery; what would be your best advice?

• Try diet and exercise first and if that fails, consider bariatric surgery. We usually operate patients with a BMI of 35 and above.

If you want to know more about weight-loss surgery in India, or Dr. Arun Prasad’s work; contact us at Novasans!

Glow 2010 – a Success

Andrew Jacka

Last week, Novasans participated in Glow 2010 – one of the major medical tourism and

Naresh Jadeja

wellness congresses in South East Asia this year. The congress was held at Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, due to the city’s central position among the four main target countries; Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The congress adressed many valuable issues for those working in the global healthcare market, and the discussions were sometimes intense and engaging. Some of the head speakers at the event were Andrew Jacka, who is a chariman of Asia Pacific SPA & Wellness Coalition, Naresh Jadeja, President of International Wellness and Healthcare Travel Association, Upasna Kameneni at the Apollo Group of Hospitals in India and Reinhard Petry, Project Manager at the European Spas Association (ESPA).

Some of the major issues addressed were the new era of wellness in the South East Asia Region, understanding the spa/wellness and medical tourism inustry to globally expand a business, the importance of accreditations for hospitals, and how to attract international patient from all regions.

With the congress, the VMAC Business Group arranging the event, managed to raise topics regarding the latest trends and techniques that empasise on health and wellness, feasible approaches for the wellness and medical tourism industry to remain competitive during the recession, and other means to promote and market their services. Novasans would like to thank Joshini John with colleagues for their excellent arrangement of Glow 2010. We already look forward to Glow 2011!

Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010 Opens Today

Today, one of the largest medical tourism congresses and fairs opens its doors; Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010. The event is held at The Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre and will last between the 12th and 13th of April. The keynote speaker and opener of the event is no less than Malaysia’s health minister, mr. Y.B. Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai. Other speakers today are Josef Woodman, author of Patients Beyond Borders, mr. Raymond Chong Chin Wah, Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer of the Samitivej Group of Hospitals, Thailand, and Dr. Umapathy Panyala, Chief Executive Officer of the Apollo Hospitals in India.

Novasans are proud media partners to the congress, and will cover the fair and its main topics here and on our Facebook page.