Connecting Wave: HEALTHCARE

AbstractWhile most of its previous developments have focused on products, services, and infrastructure, India is also beginning to play a major role in healthcare. On a recent business visit to Apollo Hospitals1 in Delhi, an MBA student commented that she was surprised at the level of healthcare technology available in India. I replied, “Me too.” In 1982, I had to be rushed to a small private hospital with minimal amenities for emergency surgery after I was told I would have to wait at least 72 hours for the procedure at the large and very popular government hospital. It turned out that most of the doctors were on leave to celebrate the opening ceremony of the Asian Games in Delhi. A lot has changed in India in terms of the availability of medical care in urban areas in the last 25 years. Medical tourism — in which foreign nationals come to India to get various types of surgeries performed at a lower cost than in their home countries — has played a major part in this development. A liver transplant might cost USD45,000 in India, as compared to USD140,000 in Europe or USD280,000 in the United States, while heart surgery that costs about USD5000 in India would be close to USD30,000 in the United States. It is expected that by 2012 medical tourism will become a USD2.1 billion industry in India…