Hospitals in Gujarat need to be accredited to attract more foreign medical tourists as the state prepares to become a health care hub, a study said today.
"Hospital accreditation is a useful tool to increase the consumer confidence and helps to obtain high-end insurance driven medical tourism business," a joint study by Ficci and YES BANK said.
The Gujarat government has decided to set up a Medicity which would be a one-stop shop for all kinds of medical treatments like ayurveda, homoeopathy, massage and yoga, it added. Referring to countries like Singapore and Abu Dhabi which have made Joint Commission International accreditation mandatory for hospitals, it said, similar laws should be promulgated in India for health service providers to ensure quality standards and safety of the patients.
"This will also dispel the myths regarding the standard of Indian health care. Foreign patients will come to India only if the services provided here are unique," the study said. It further said there was a need to develop corporate medical tourism and develop suitable logistics especially for the foreign patients.
"The hospitals can tie-up with airlines, local tour operators, guest houses to ensure that the foreign patients have a hassle free medical treatment and also a smooth post-operative phase," it said.
It stressed the need to improve local infrastructure and integrate various developmental schemes for development of roads and various other infrastructure projects to push up the medical tourism.
