SOPs to restart medical tourism in Gurugram sent for approval

According to the SOPs, hospitals will have to carefully select patients, especially avoiding those with serious co-morbidity issues. Both patients and the attendants will have to take the RT-PCR tests 48 hours prior to their scheduled flight.

Several rounds of testing and strict isolation are some of the new rules that are likely to become operational for medical tourists seeking treatment in the city, if a new set of standard operating procedures (SOPs) are approved by the Central government.

As international flights become incrementally operational, medical tourism companies are now working on the protocols to reopen the sector, which generates nearly Rs400 crore monthly in Delhi-NCR region, as per industry experts. (Raj K Raj / Hindustan Times)

The medical value travel (MVT) companies, which promote medical tourism in Gurugram, along with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), have submitted a set of comprehensive SOPs to the union ministries of commerce, civil aviation and health and family welfare that are supposed be followed by international patients, who come to India for surgeries and cancer treatments, which are offered at relatively cheaper prices.

As international flights become incrementally operational, medical tourism companies are now working on the protocols to reopen the sector, which generates nearly Rs400 crore monthly in Delhi-NCR region, as per industry experts.

“A set of SOPs have been prepared in consultation with the MVT companies and hospitals. The safety of people is of utmost importance in a pandemic situation but at the same time economic activity has to be resumed. FICCI has come out with the policy recommendations for medical tourism as many countries have started opening up their air services. However, the Central government will have to take the final call on the resumption of international flights and entry of foreign medical patients into the country,” said a senior representative of FICCI, privy to the matter.

TESTING AND ISOLATION

According to the SOPs, hospitals will have to carefully select patients, especially avoiding those with serious co-morbidity issues. Both patients and the attendants will have to take the RT-PCR tests 48 hours prior to their scheduled flight. Only Covid-19 negative patients will be allowed to enter the country.

On arrival, the patient will be reviewed for influenza-like illness (ILI) and respiratory infections at the airport. They will have to undergo RT-PCR and Covid-19 antibody tests, following which they will be quarantined. If found symptomatic, the patient will be directly shifted to the isolation ward of the hospital where he/she had to be admitted for the surgery or treatment. Hospitals will conduct the RT-PCR and if found negative then the patient will still have to wait for five to seven days, after which the antibody test will be conducted. If both the tests are negative by day 10, then the patient will be taken up for the planned health procedure, as per the SOPs.

In case the patient is Covid-19 positive but asymptomatic, then they will have to be shifted to isolation units set up by hospitals in nearby hotels/guest houses. The final planned treatment of the patient can start once 14 days from the date of arrival is complete. Considering the international patient can be in a ‘carrier state’ even after being tested Covid-19 negative during the course of treatment, a final antibody test upon discharge would be conducted.

THE COST FACTOR

Testing and isolation facilities will add up to the overall costs of medical treatment for such patients, said Amit Sharma, founder and CEO, Expedise Healthcare, an MVT company. “There is over 30% hike in the price package for surgeries and oncology treatment for foreign patients. The testing and isolation bed costs have also been added to the overall cost of the treatment. It is being communicated to the patients that the cost would go up due to pandemic,” said Sharma, who has got queries from 36 patients in Bahrain, Oman, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates. Sharma is hopeful that by September, at least 100 international patients can fly down to Gurugram, if the Central government approves.

Vidit Bahri, managing director, Sukoon Health — a part of Fortis Healthcare that deals with medical tourists requiring psychiatric treatment — said that there is still an uncertainty till international flights are fully operational. “In Delhi-NCR medical tourism generates almost ₹400 crore per month. It is important to gain the confidence and trust of the patients that they can be safely treated. Before Covid-19, 15-20 patients approached the centre per month but now there is a dip of at least 70%. Of late, we have received the request of only five to six patients. Approximately, two-and-a-half to three months are needed build up the demand,” said Bahri.

Agreeing with Bahri, Dilip Chopra, president, Foundation for Health and Wellness Promotion, an association of MVT companies, said, “There is a lack of clarity, as many states are still under lockdown. In these states, how will the patients be transferred, how different hospitals will handle the patients are still unknown. Some of these questions will have to be addressed before the sector can open up,” said Chopra.