For SelinaKarl of Vienna December 2011 will always remain memorable.
All alone,on a holiday in Goa she found herself in agony one early morning. A shootingpain in her tooth revealed that she had a dental emergency.
New to theplace she was all at sea. She knew nothing about doctors in the state. Being aforeigner she feared about the cost factor too.
As luckwould have it, an internet search led her to the Goa Medical Travel (GMT)website, which offered a host of information about healthcare in Goa.
Dr Millisha Silveiraa homeopathy doctor who hosts the website came to her aide. “Within minutes DrSilveira helped me find a good dentist and within days I had a surgery done onmy dental problem,” a beaming Karl said. The services in Goa were as brilliantas in Austria and the charges were reasonable too, she added.
TheGovernment of Goa may have realized the potential of medical tourism recently.But for doctors like Millisha Silveira the value of healthcare service toforeigners was a chance opportunity, which led her to host the GMT website.
The surge inmedical tourism is being driven by rising health-care costs and growing numbersof uninsured or under-insured people in developed countries.
“Prospectivetourists while researching for medical options face authenticity and costissues,” Dr Silveira said. GMT helps overseas and domestic clients to take careof these medical issues, she said. Being a few months in the business, DrSilveira is presently concentrating on building goodwill among her clients.“But in the near future GMT will earn through advertisements placed on thewebsite,” she said.
Having abackground in medicine helps, Silveira discovered and elaborated how she guidesher clients to a particular doctor after reading the client’s ailments.
“Goa is a preferred destination for medical treatment by tourists. However,there are no statistics about the number of tourists visiting the state formedical treatment,” she said.
Silveira hasa branch office in the United Kingdom offering easy data access to her clients.
A source inthe industry disclosed that hospital penetration in Goa, especially in thecoastal belt is high. “This is one of the indicators that medical tourism is onthe rise in the state,” the source said.
A boomingindustry has its risks too. “If Goa needs to strengthen medical tourismindustry, the government should introduce an accreditation policy forhospitals,” Silveira said. Accreditation will ensure quality treatment tothose in need. The accreditation policy will also help in consolidatingauthentic service providers, she added.
According toa study by McKinsey and the Confederation of Indian Industry, medical tourismin India could become a $1 billion business by 2012.
"By2012, if medical tourism were to reach 25 per cent of revenues of privateup-market players, up to Rs 10,000 crore will be added to the revenues of theseplayers,” the report said.
