India: the next big wave

On August 28th, USA Today ran a story that according to the US Census results, 47 million Americans had no health insurance. Each day the media reminds us that millions of American families are one medical emergency away from financial disaster.

Should you or a loved one experience a medical emergency and you not have adequate medical coverage, knowledge of your options in purchasing quality health care can make a huge difference in the direction of your family’s fortunes.

Some of the healthcare problems are being caused by the increased globalization of the US economy. Traditional jobs have moved overseas and American businesses are increasingly relying on temp employees to adopt a flexible organization structure.

Leveraging the Global Economy

The same global economy also provides some options to individuals and businesses to get quality health care at a fraction of the cost. Much as the global economy places the pressure on the individual to update skills and take ownership of skills and career, in the same way, the global healthcare economy provides opportunities for those willing to take the initiative and do the research to seek out healthcare on a global basis.

In the August 2007 issue of Forbes, Steve Forbes writes that "Medical tourism is an exciting glimpse at the huge savings, productivity gains and medical advances that could be had if we got genuine consumer-controlled health care here--as well as overseas."

According to a detailed study done by McKinsey & Co; Indian Healthcare – The Road Ahead, October 2002, Medical Tourism is going to be next success story from India.

Make the wonder of outsourcing work for you

Outsourcing works for large corporations. All US corporations have adopted the strategy of outsourcing work to cheaper locations like India and China to reduce costs and increase profits. This phenomenon has worked for large corporations and has essentially been against the average middle class person. This book can guide you in making a well researched decision in making globalization work for you and “outsourcing” your health care needs without compromising quality.

According to McKinsey & Co, overseas patients from developed countries will go to India for various reasons. Some of them are:

• Lower cost, e.g., cardiac surgery at 1/10th the price of a comparable procedure in the US
• Purchase of elective surgeries that are not reimbursed by insurance. For example, knee replacement, cosmetic surgery, lasik surgery etc.
• Quality of service: no waiting time, personal attention from doctors
• Treatment of lifestyle diseases: Diseases caused by the ravages of the modern western lifestyles e.g. stress related diseases. Yoga, meditation and massages can be availed of at low prices and the combination with a vacation experience can be an exceptionally good value.

The ugly truth of outsourcing

In his book "The World is Flat", Thomas Friedman tells us how US corporations began outsourcing work to locations in India for purely cost reasons…..it was cheaper!! They could afford to have two Indians do the work of one American and still save money. But the “ugly truth” they realized was that in certain areas, it was the other way around…..one Indian could do the work of two Americans and actually do it better and cheaper!!

Of course, this is only part of the story. The complete truth is that India is still a developing country with a third world infrastructure. There are islands of excellence comparable to the best in the world. This book will try to provide you the tools and the directions guide you on your quest to find these “islands of excellence” in healthcare and use them to your benefit.

Leverage the "islands of excellence" in a developing economy like India
As India’s economy develops, there are parts of the economy that develop faster than the rest. These "islands of excellence" have thrived and delivered world class services and products in a third world infrastructure. So, you will read about the World Class work being done by India’s technology firms and professional services firms. Recognizing this availability of talent, all American companies like IBM, Citicorp and Pepsi are now expanding their operations in India and also looking to use Indian personnel in their global operations.

It’s the same situation with the health care business. Indian doctors have long been recognized as highly qualified and motivated. If you go to any US hospital, you cannot help but notice the large number of doctors of Indian origin that work there. They were drawn to the US in the decades past to work in hospitals that had world class equipment and facilities. The Indian government had long subsidized higher education like engineering schools and medical schools but ironically the economy did not offer opportunities for these qualified individuals. All that is changing.

There are hospitals being built all over India that have the latest medical facilities. They are certified by globally recognized certification agencies and are attracting the brightest and the most qualified doctors from all over the world. But costs to deliver services are still low by international standards for various reasons. There is low malpractice insurance cost, cost of living is low so salaries can be kept low and finally, since the land to build the hospitals is often provided by the government at a subsidized rate, the total cost of delivering services can be kept low. Besides, what is a less known fact, it is not the highly compensated doctors that really raise the costs of healthcare. It’s also the administrative costs. Administrative expenses are increasing 11.2 percent a year. Currently at $111 billion, they are projected to rise to $223 billion in 2012.

(Source: American Health Care: Why So Costly? Testimony for the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee, Karen Davis, Ph.D., and Barbara S. Cooper, The Commonwealth Fund, June 11, 2003)

Since administrative costs are low for hospitals in India due to reduced labor costs, reduced compliance obligations etc, they can afford to keep the cost of healthcare to the patient low.

The web site www.medical-treatment-in-india.com provides the tools to guide you on how to navigate these “islands of excellence” to get world class healthcare at a reasonable price. Check out the blog at www.medical-treatment-in-india.blogspot.com and join the debate.