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!

Meet the men behind Oasis Spa

”We offer a beautiful space and indulgent pampering treatments to awaken your zest for life” one reads on the website of famous Oasis Spa in Thailand. Now, who does not want to awaken his zest for life, I wonder?

This, equally confident and tempting, statement of course had to be experienced with real eyes, body, and mind. Therefore, I went to the Oasis Spa’s Bangkok branch, to find out if my dreams of a total relaxing experience really could come true.  Follow me, as I gradually understood the real meaning behind the words “true relaxing experience”.

When entering the lush private garden of Oasis Spa Bangkok it is hard to believe that you are actually in the middle of the bustling city, only a short walk away from the Premier Minister’s house. The sound of traffic on nearby Sukhumvit is suddenly transformed to the soothing sound of pouring water and bird song. I am greeted by sheer smiles from the staff, which bring me to my private villa for a four-hand treatment. This treatment, together with the King of Oasis and the Ayurveda package are the most popular treatments at Oasis Spa. After enjoying the private outdoor shower I am directed to lie down on a bed, and thereafter I gradually transform into a state of utter relaxation and comfort, as the two therapists massage me with the outmost meticulousness, to make sure that their individual movements leave the same pressure and movement on my body. The one-hour treatment passes too fast, and it is with a heavenly feeling that I unwillingly leave my state of peacefulness.

After the treatment I am once more taken through the beautiful garden to enjoy a refreshing cup of tea and a chat with the serviceable and amiable staff. I decide to accept their offer of letting Oasis Spa’s private driver assist me back to the Bangkok Skytrain. At the train station, I am once again surrounded by the noise of the traffic and passer-by ‘s on the street. But the feeling of outmost tranquillity is left in my body during the rest of the day.

But who is then the envisioning force and originator behind this unique and award winning centre for wellbeing? Mr. Toby Allen, one of the two founders, tells me. “I am actually an engineer by profession but have always been interested in other cultures and have travelled to over 70 countries. When coming to Chiang Mai I was in charge of an orphanage for three years. Slowly, the idea of starting a small foot massage parlour came to me.” When facing customers, he and his business partner, Khun Pakin Playphicha, realized the need to create more a complete customer experience. Slowly, the small massage studio expanded to a spa, featuring outdoor showers, Jacuzzi, steam bath and beautiful private treatment villas – all set in scenic lush surroundings.

Pakin Ployphicha and Toby Allen at Glow 2010.

During the recent medical tourism congress Glow 2010, held in Kuala Lumpur in May, I had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Toby Allen and Khun Pakin Ployphicha. By combining their business and marketing expertise they have developed Oasis Spa with its five branches to one of the fastest growing and most successful spa organizations in Thailand.

You have a very definite philosophy behind Oasis Spa – has this philosophy developed over time?

Our philosophy stands on two corner stones: letting our customers enjoy the tranquillity of a garden villa spa in the middle of a bustling city, and value for money. We give our customers a five-star hotel spa product, at a four-star spa price.

Your business has grown fast, and Oasis Spa currently has five branches in four cities. What is next?

Well, we started with a small spa in Chiang Mai and developed that market first. When the market grew, we opened up another spa in the city. Due to our longevity in Chiang Mai, this is still our strongest market. Back when we started the business, there were very few other spas in Chiang Mai that could deliver what we wanted to give our customers. Many had invested in the facilities, but not in the human resources, which is the most vital element for any spa customer. At Oasis Spa, we try to give our customers a full experience, carefully thought trough, in everything from the facilities, the ambience, the room temperature, the volume of the music, the aroma, and the gentle touch of our therapists. We believe that the spa experience starts as soon as the customer leaves their home to visit our spa; therefore we also offer free transport to and from the spa, a service that about 60-70% of our customers employ.

Could you try to define an Oasis Spa experience?

For us it is important to meet the customer’s expectation, and take them beyond that. The highlight of a visit to the Oasis Spa is of course the actual treatment, but as I mentioned before, we pay careful attention to every small part of their visit. We are also very meticulous in finding the right therapists. They have to be comfortable and relaxed, but at the same time act very professional. For instance; at Oasis Spa, the same therapist does all the treatments in a package on the same customer. This is to make the customer feel relaxed and secure.

You are very meticulous with having the right therapists; are these hard to find?

It is very difficult to find good therapists. We always hire them because of their personality, not skill. Then we train them ourselves. In Chiang Mai we have an academy that does all the training. The course lasts for a few months, but then we pair them up with a more experienced therapist that they have to work with and learn from for a long time. As a spa therapist, you learn for life, and therefore we are careful with having ongoing schooling for all our therapists. We have about 90 therapists employed at the moment, and the entire organization has about 180 employees. We are a young organization filled with creativity. For us, attitude and personality is everything.

Can you tell us a little about your spa menu?

We try to have the same comprehensive and innovative spa menu at all our locations. Every year, we add two new treatments to the menu. We of course also offer different kinds of packages. One of our most popular treatments is the Golden Lanna Massage. Pakin spent a year just developing the right kind of music together with a composer for this treatment! This treatment is really over the top, with two therapists using gold flakes on the customer’s body during the massage.

Our normal four-hand massage is also very popular, and very technically advanced. The two therapists have to train together for a long time to make sure that the movements and amount of pressure is exactly the same. The King of Oasis is also very liked. This treatment uses a combination of thai-massage, hot compress and aroma massage. It is a very strong massage that really softens up the muscles.

Where do most of your clients come from?

It depends on the season and location. We have many Thais visiting our spas, and many Europeans. About 10% of our customers are American, and another 10% are Japanese. The great thing with being a day spa is that you get customers from everywhere!

What is the next plan for Oasis Spa?

We want to focus more on training and expanding our own academy. We want to give other spas the opportunity to send their therapists to Oasis Spa Academy, so that new ideas and experiences can be exchanged.

Finally, why should customers choose Thailand as a destination for their spa treatment?

Easy – for the value for money, quality of treatments and quality of service.

And why should customers choose Oasis Spa?

Simply, because we are the best on all those things!

And for the record; was my “zest for life awakened” ? You bet!!!

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For more information about the Oasis Spas, visit their website:

www.chiangmaioasis.com

Chiang Mai Branch:
Address: 102 Sirimangkalajarn Road, Chiang Mai 50200

Tel: 053 815000,

Website: http://www.chiangmaioasis.com

Business Hours: Open daily. Private villas for treatments.

Bangkok Branch:

Address: 64 Soi Swaddee Sukhumvit 31 Road, Phrakanong, Bangkok 10100

Tel: 02-262-2122 ext:

Website: http://www.bangkokoasis.com

Business Hours: 10.00 AM – 10.00 PM

Hospitals; Know the Possible Risks of Medical Tourism from a Patients Point of View.

Mr. Naresh Jadeja, speaking at Glow 2010 in Kuala Lumpur.

During last week’s Glow 2010, Mr. Naresh Jadeja, president of International Wellness & Healthcare Travel Association, discussed the value of understanding the possible fears that potential patients might have before making the big decision of going abroad for healthcare, and how healthcare providers can benefit from this, and use this in their own favour.

In most cases, a patient considering going abroad for healthare or medical treatment starts with looking around to find the right source of information. This information usually comes from their own doctor’s recommendation in their home country, from their insurance company, from colleagues or from friends. However, the main current source for informational research is of course the Internet. Thus, the importance of being visible on the Internet for any healthcare provider marketing to medical tourists can’t be stressed enough.

There are many things to consider with international patients and medical travellers, things that you don’t have to bother about when you treat local patients. For instance, there are many more stages that need to be managed, such as arrival, stay, recouperation, departure and follow up from another location. If the patient speaks another language, there can also be an information gap or miscommunication. The above factors might not seem very complicated to the healthcare provider (be it hospital, clinic or wellness center), but to the future patient, they are all big steps up the ladder.

There are several steps along the way where the patient’s fears might be extra big, and where you, as a living person working at a hospital or clinic, must be extra keen and attentive. Some of the moments to consider extra are during the actual decision making of the patient to choose your facility, the first interaction with the doctor (usually over the phone or email), departure from the patient’s home, at the airport, the first step into the hospital, the duration before the patient actually get to his or her room and the moment waking up from surgery.

There are also legal issues that need to be taken under consideration with international patients; such as patient consent form, professional and ordinary negligence from the healthcare facility and it’s employees, privacy act, miss communication, extra costs for potential complications from uninformed conditions, and cultural issues (each country has cultural issues that might be very important to their inhabitants, but that are probably not as important to you).

The patient will come with high demands on you and your facility, and expects them to be met, and hopefully surpassed. Patients will expect that  you maintain confidentiality and use proper guidelines when releasing medical information to them. They will also expect that you practice within the scope of training and capabilities, and that you prepare and maintain medical records accurately.

Finally, how can you as a healthcare facility build trust in the patients? Here are some good advice:

• Make sure that your facility is accredited.
• Release quality outcomes data and infection rates.
• Leave a guarantee of outcome; in case of negligence from your side, offer free business class tickets for the former patient with spouse.

Remember, building a good brand takes a long time, but destroying it could be done in seconds. Make sure that your core quality and service values are allocated amongst the entire body of staff, and that you all work towards one common goal. If you obtain these merits, the customers will come by themselves!

Transform your healthcare facility or region into a Global Destination for Medical Tourism

Dato' Dr. Chan Kok Ewe, Chairman at the Penang Health Association, holding a speech at Glow 2010.

One of the biggest challenges for healthcare professionals striving to expand their current business and market share is to reach out to new potential patients and customers. With faster, easier and cheaper communications, a treatment in another country doesn’t seem so menacing to patients anymore. The medical tourism and global healthcare trend has opened many doors for owners and manager of hospitals and clinics all over the world. But how do you actually turn your healthcare facility into a global destination?

This question was raised and discussed by Dato’ Dr. Chan Kok Ewe, chairman at Penang Health Association, during his excellent and entertaining speech at Glow 2010 in Kuala Lumpur recently.

Dr. Chan Kok Ewe started with pointing out that medical tourism and health tourism often get mixed up, even though there is a clear difference. Medical tourists travel to another country for medical treatments, while health tourists are more concerned with their general health and well being.

So, what are then the distinctive factors that all medical and healthcare facilities must achieve to be competitive on the global market?

Below, you will find some of the key issues that Dr. Chan Kok Ewe touched upon:

Distinctive features of services

• Facilities must be more comprehensive (the patient care and equipment must be better than what the international patients could find at home).
• Better outcomes of treatment (the patient must be reassured that the result will be better than anticipated for the same treatment at home).
• Shorter waiting times (treatments for urgent procedures must be available very fast).
• Attractive comparative rates (the treatment, service and stay must be cost effective).

Comfort of cultural and language factors

• Minimal personal adjustment (the patient must not have to adjust too much, which might influence the healing process).
• Almost like home environment.
• Easy setting for accompanying persons (the patients’ potential relatives or friends that are brough along for assistance and comfort should be able to stay with the patient during the visit).

Infrastructure convenience

• Ease of entry, stay and exit (it should be easy for the patient to get to and from the facility, as well as the country of care).
• Communication facilites to reach expectations (the means of pre and post communication with the patient must be well functioning).
• Safe and clean environment.
• Facilitated monetary transactions (it should be easy and fast for the patient/customer to make payments for their treatment to the facility).

Ready accessibility

• Direct convenient rapid access (the patient/customer must be able to get to the facility fast and easy).
• Facilitated transfer to treatment center.

Realistic targeting of potential

• Current and future economic development of target markets (make sure to carefully investigate your target market).
• Continuing advantage points.
• Ability to cater to demands (with the raised level of quality; the patients will also have greater demands that need to be met or surpassed).
• Political alignment is not out.

Getting the “buy-in”

• In-country presence (the healthcare facilities must have an agent or office in the country that they cater to).
• Sharing of know-how in related areas.
• Cultivation of good will.

Total patient satisfaction

• Continual quality service upgrade.
• Language proficiency (the healthcare facility must make sure to speak the patient’s language to bridge any potential gaps in communication and understanding).
• Appropriate cultural responses through acquaintance (the healthcare provider must make sure to do its best in understanding the patient’s culture).

According to Dr. Chan Kok Ewe, the effect of the economic downturn that has hit all markets during the last few years is expected to be less in medical tourism and global healthcare in comparison to other markets. However, even though there might be a current downturn, this must not affect the service. Efficiency is always required, and there can be no compromise in patient safety. Instead, Dr. Chan Kok Ewe advices healthcare providers to use the challenging times to develop a manpower enhancement, quality audit and improvement.

Are you a professional working at an international healthcare facility, such as a hospital or clinic; what do you see as the main factor to attract international patients? Comment below or on our Facebook page.

Photos from Glow 2010

Directions and Trends of the Wellness Industry presented by Dr. Leena Chatterjee

Dr. Leena Chatterjee from Super Religare Laboratories Limited, speaking at Glow 2010 in Kuala Lumpur last week.

At last’s week Glow 2010, Dr. Leena Chatterjee, General Manager for Wellness at Super Religare Laboratories Limited in New Delhi, held an excellent speach on the current trends and future directions of the wellness industry. Super Religare Laboratories Limited (SRL) is the largest pathology laboratory network in India, servicing nearly 4,00 hospitals and path labs, and over 50,000 doctors. SRL is striving to develop predictive and preventive capabilities; providing advanced analytical support for better health management; taking Wellness beyond physical health by focusing on lifestyle value adds such as emotional wellbeing.

Dr. Leena pointed out that the countries in South East Asia all differ in their approach to wellness. For instance; in India luxury yoga, Ayurveda and medical tourism are the main focuses, while Thailand is more known for its thai massage and of course medical tourism. Malaysia has a range of traditional therapies that their wellness facilities provide for patients. This is combined with medical tourism and more luxury oriented spas. South Korea is known for its traditional and mineral spas.

Dr. Chatterjee pointed out personalized medicine, pharmacogenomics, customized treatments and wellness diagnostic services as some of the main future trends in the wellness industry. From this we can conclude that the days when regular massages were the core business of spas and wellness centers are over. In the future, spas will do their outmost to cater to the spa customer’s needs, anticipations and desires with more personalized treatments.

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!

Come Join Us at GLOW 2010

Tomorrow and Friday, May 13-14th, Novasans will partake in GLOW 2010, which is one of the key congresses for Medical Tourism in South East Asia this year. We will give you live reports from the congress on our Twitter page, and post articles on the congress here on the blog. If you have anything in particular that you want us to report or follow up on, please place your comments below or on our Facebook page. We hope to see as many of you as possible on the congress!