Healthcare & Medical Tourism Insights

Medical Tourism in India Grows Manifold

Amongst the affordable countries for medical treatments, India has emerged as a most-preferred choice of destination for high-end medical treatments in the last one decade and is poised for a further exponential growth as the country now takes leadership position in multiple industries across the developing as well as the developed nations.

As patients in developed countries like the U.S. and U.K. find it increasingly difficult to get timely treatments done for chronic and non-chronic medical issues, many are now finding the quick turn-around time in patient care in India very convenient for prompt and proper treatments.

For patients coming into India from abroad, the government of India has over the years made visa rules highly simplified.

Through the ‘Heal in India’ program, government of India has positioned the country globally as a premier destination for integrated and holistic healthcare. With strong digital facilitation, policy support and initiatives like AYUSH Visa, there is a never before seen uptake in the arrivals of foreign patients who are availing India’s healthcare offerings. Government statistics of 2025 show that more than half a million foreign patients came to Indian cities for treatments.

India is the largest supplier of generic medicines in the world and is widely known as the ‘pharmacy of the world’ as she supplies about 20% of the global supply in volume terms with about 60,000 generic brands across 60 therapeutic categories. 40% of the generic demand in the United States is met by Indian manufacturing companies. India also supplies about 60% of the global vaccines like the WHO-recommended vaccines like DPT, BCG and for measles.

It is expected that soon India will host more than a third of the global medical tourism related patients. India has about 70,000 hospitals with 1.2 million registered doctors to cater to a wide population. With accreditations from NABH, ISQua and JCI, patient care in hospitals conform to developed countries’ specifications and standards to cater to patients from all classes.

Help for Patients through Multiple Modes

Often times, when patients try our various treatments in their city of living and are then frustrated with the services provided, or rather a lack of proper services, they wish they had access to top notch quality and prompt healthcare delivery.

Right now, major cities in India like Mumbai, Delhi-NCR, Pune, Chennai or even smaller metropolitan cities in India are able to cater to foreign patients with seamless services round-the-clock.

Patients get assurance once consultants are able to provide for free online consultations even before they take a flight to India. A professional consultant will ensure that there is prompt set-up of an online consultation with a healthcare expert who can deal with the particular disease, followed by details like cost of treatment, insurance, travel and stay arrangements, inclusive of a medical visa for the patient and also medical attendant visa.

Upon arrival in India, there will be a meet-and-greet at the airport, transfers to the hotel nearest to the hospital depending upon the budget of the patient party, food in the hotel according to the liking of the patient (in consultation with the doctor who will advice about food intake in terms of type and quantity), et al.

One of the added advantages in India is the fact that foreign patient can freely use the English language as its predominantly used in India and the medical tourism consultant and team will be able to assist in situations where translation services may be required, by way of use of technology or in person wherever possible.

So, the action plan, as far as a medical tourism consultant is concerned, is as follows:

Before Treatment

• Initial free of cost medical issue evaluation by expert/s
• Bespoke treatment plan
• Pre-arrival co-ordination
• Diagnostic / screening tests upon arrival
• No fee to be paid upfront until reaching hospital

Upon Treatment

• Patient is informed about the treatment plan, including any operations, if needed and its effectiveness vis-à-vis the patient’s on-arrival medical condition/s
• Facilities in the hospital for all-round treatment plans, including any exigencies
• Supportive therapies which may be needed along with the main course of treatment
• Condition monitoring up until discharge

Various payment modes are accepted in India which are internationally accepted. However, most patients tend to pay by a credit card as its very convenient. Receipts of payments are issued immediately. Upon reaching hospital, payment related discussions will be helped by your medical tourism consultant while dealing with doctor and/or hospital.

Post Treatment

• Medicines which may be needed for upto a fortnight or more may be issued upon discharge
• Proper explanations of each medicine which needs to be taken with dosage and timings
• Monitoring of patient condition to be monitored remotely once patient leaves for home country
• Follow-up visit related support, if needed
• On-going communication with the medical tourism team for any support or information needed

Every individual medical case is unique and comes with its set of challenges. However, if your medical tourism consultant in India provides you with all or most of these services without much confusion or fuss, you can be rest assured of a wonderful experience of the famed expert level service and treatment which Indian doctors and hospitals can provide.