I am not sure what to call it but the interest is increasing for this service in India. Let?s call it something better than medical tourism. Humm how about offshore operations or outselfing or A Long Trip to the Hospital.

Getting on a plane to India to have an operation or your teeth fixed is slowly on the rise in India. It seems a perfect fit with so many excellent doctors in India but somehow Thailand is way ahead of India.

My guess is that the Indian hospitals are not up to the levels of the Indian doctors. In other words the facilities and the Indian experience don?t appeal to the Western customers. The patient may get great service in India but from a Westerner?s perspective the facilities just don?t look familiar.

If I were Apollo hospital in Bangalore, I would hire an American consultant to help improve the little things. This may seem silly but if you are an American checking into the hospital and they give you a file folder for your records and from your perspective it looks like it is leftover stock from 1955 then you worry a little. And if the area where your blood is taken is not spotless then you worry some more.

I am sure there are other things to be bridged for medical outsourcing to take off. The customer needs someone to hold their hand and guide them and match them with quality doctors and hospitals. A service that coordinates hotels etc would help. And hospital standards or benchmarking would give the customer a way to evaluate hospitals. Perhaps a website where customers can rank Indian hospitals. So I guess it is more than just file folders. But as soon as some of these things are worked out it is my guess that this form of outsourcing will accelerate.

And one more thing would help. If someone were really smart they would make the hospital a little outside the city and have a nice hotel nearby or build a hospital by Eagle Ridge golf course. The patient can play golf after having his arteries cleaned. It would help him adjust to the huge cultural differences. But this is just my opinion.

I have had very good experiences with a Bangalore dentist and a heart check up at Apollo hospital. So if you are an American take A Long Trip to the Hospital. It is much less expensive compared to the outrageous costs in the USA. So for now forget the golf course and settle for the 1955 file folder.