The Indian government says that special facilities are not offered to foreigners seeking medical treatment at the cost of domestic patients. And no special or additional incentives are being given to doctors or healthcare facilities that see foreign patients. Officials say, though, that working out packages with hospitals to serve foreign patients facilitates usage of India's natural strengths.
A new e-service has been launched by the Singapore-based FlyFreeForHealth. The new service assists patients with medical travel arrangements to Singapore, while also pairing them with the appropriate hospitals to meet their healthcare needs. The FlyFreeForHealth platform is a medical concierge network that additionally provides medical advice to patients. FlyFreeForHealth will be joined in offering the e-service by the Tourism Authority of Thailand and CTC Holidays, a travel agency in Singapore.
An inquiry into a scandal involving nearly 4,700 haemophiliacs infected by NHS blood that was contaminated with HIV and hepatitis C has determined that the British government should provide "significant compensation and healthcare support" for those patients. The report goes on to say that these incidents could be the worst treatment disaster in NHS history.
According to Global Industry Analysts, Inc., the global hospital information system market, which touts the United States as the largest representative of that with the Asia-Pacific region following closely behind, will grow to more than $35 billion over the next 5 years. The U.S. system's customized technology, such as laboratory and radiology information systems, is growing as well, paving the way for other systems, including electronic medical records.
While it's important to be a conscientious healthcare consumer, many patients are still not categorizing themselves that way, due, in part, to a lack of related information. And providers are facing obstacles in offering real healthcare consumerism. These problems will persist, too, if organizations move toward a single-payer of government-run healthcare system.
Research by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions found that 750,000 Americans traveled abroad in 2007 for some form of medical care. That number could rise to more than 6 million in the coming years, analysts say, as the trend continues to grow. Patients are looking to foreign medical facilities for care that includes dental work, surgery, and joint replacements, and all at lower costs. Critics worry, however, that language barriers and the inability for patients to return for follow-up care could stand in the way.