By Cynthia Ryan
The Accidental Medical Tourist
After an unexpected encounter in India, a cancer survivor finds herself once again in a foreign land of medical care
By Cynthia Ryan
What’s different, Tucker says, is that care is more personal in Singapore and there’s an “absence of bureaucracy” to which Americans have become accustomed. In fact, Tucker suggests, “the best Asian hospitals are significantly better than the average community hospital in the United States.”
But how can American patients be certain that the international facility they choose is among the best? Woodman suggests that the growth of medical tourism—and the increased participation of major hospitals and insurers in the practice—has resulted in “quality assurance components that help to ensure safe medical care.” For instance, patients can look for a foreign medical institution that has received Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation, which ensures that standards of quality health care have been met. What’s more, he says, the number of Western-trained doctors in international hospitals is rising, as is the number of American-managed and American-branded hospitals overseas. And all of that means that potential patients can research the credentials of physicians and facilities long before ever boarding a flight.
A Medical Tour
With these 21st century regulations and evidence of quality care in mind, I set off to learn firsthand about medical tourism in south India, where a variety of health care services, including orthopedic procedures and cardiovascular and cancer care, are offered to foreigners. Admittedly, it would be just a peek at a global phenomenon. Growing at a rate of 30 percent per year in medical tourist services, the country ranks alongside Malaysia, Singapore, South Africa and Thailand as one of the top places that Americans and other Westerners visit for medical care.
My assignment from CR to investigate medical tourism was just one reason for my journey. I had already signed on to teach a course in travel writing to a group of university students, accompanied by an art history professor with expertise in the art and architecture of ancient India. Between planned visits to temples and museums throughout the state of Tamil Nadu, I had arranged meetings with representatives at hospitals, where I hoped to learn more about what patients might expect if they traveled to this part of the world for care. I was anxious to meet the medical professionals and marketers who create the medical tourist experience.
One of my most anticipated stops on this tour was the Apollo Hospital in Chennai. The Apollo chain, with JCI–accredited facilities in Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad, is well-respected in the professional medical tourism community. As I neared the hospital, I recognized the sleek, modern buildings that house various medical specialists—including an orthopedic surgery center and a cancer center—from my earlier perusals on the internet. What I did not know before passing through the main entrance of the hospital was that my view inside would be limited primarily to the expansive waiting area, which was decorated in the soft hues and textures common to most American doctors’ offices graphs of the facility in promotional materials handed to me by my host.
At Apollo, the health and safety of patients is a priority, the hospital’s manager of public relations, Suganthy Sundararaj, assured me as we spoke in his office—a crowded space occupied by many employees working in the marketing division of the organization. Doctors at Apollo “keep patients until they are physically able to leave,” he says, and they recommend another “seven to 10 days of recovery in a local hotel” before patients return to their own country. In addition to following up with patients during the remainder of their stay in India, physicians also provide all information about the treatment to a patient’s primary physician back home.