Medical Tourism: Emerging Challenges and Future Prospects

Abstract

India is emerging as a prime destination for health and contributing a lot towards the social-economical development of the society by enhancing employment opportunities and an increase in foreign exchange earnings and helping in uplifting the living standards of the host community by developing infrastructure and high quality education system. Today Indian hospitals are well equipped with the latest technology and houses highly qualified and experienced staff that can provide timely and quality medical treatment to patients. Present paper highlights the potential of Medical Tourism industry in India. It also helps in introspecting the Hospital Accreditation system for Medical Tourism, examining the role of Government in promoting infrastructure for Medical Tourism and analyzing the latest trend to increase the flow of Medical tourism. For analyzing the potential and significance of medical tourism in India, the data has been gathered through secondary sources which include Books, Magazines, Journals, E-Journals and websites etc. After analyzing all the facts it can be concluded that India is in an advantageous position to tap the global opportunities in the medical tourism sector. The governments role is crucial to the development of medical tourism. The government should take steps in the role of a regulator and also as a facilitator of private investment in healthcare. Mechanisms need to be evolved to enable quicker visa grants to foreign tourists for medical purposes where patients can contact the Immigration Department at any point of entry for quick clearance.

Keywords: Medical Tourism, Medical Tourist Management, Medical Care, Rejuvenation Centers, Quality Policy, Medical-Visa

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