Medical tourism also referred to as health tourism, can be elucidated as the process of traveling outside the country of residence for receiving medical care. Growing fame of medical tourism has apprehended the consideration of policy-makers, researchers and the media. In other words, it can be defined as the travel of patients from one country to other to look for cost effective treatment also patients from less developed countries travel to developed countries to seek better medical care. Global Medical Tourism Market is valued at USD 82.27 Billion in 2017 and expected to reach USD 274.37 Billion by 2027 with a CAGR of 12.8% over the forecast period. Patients seek medical treatment majorly in cosmetic surgery, dental surgery, cardiology, orthopedic surgery, neurology, and oncology.

According to the Global Medical Tourism market report  the main medical tourism destination are North America, Mexico, Canada, United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy, China, Japan, Cuba, Russia, gulf countries, Finland, Malaysia, Thailand including India. India currently has around 18% of the global medical tourism market and it will have around 20% by 2020 and the average revenue per medical tourist is USD 15,000. The Indian Medical Tourism market is expected to grow from its current size of USD 3 billion to USD 7-8 billion by 2020.

Major companies for Global Medical Tourism Market are Aditya Birla Health Services Ltd, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited, Asian Heart Institute & Research Centre Pvt Ltd, Barbados Fertility Centre, BB Healthcare Solutions Ltd, Fortis Healthcare Ltd, Healthbase, KPJ Healthcare Berhad, Prince Court Medical Centre Sdn Bhd, Seoul National University Hospital and others.

The cost of surgery in India, Thailand or South Africa can be one-tenth of what it is in the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less. A heart-valve replacement that would cost $200,000 or more in the US, for example, goes for $10,000 in India--and that includes round-trip airfare and a brief vacation package. Similarly, a metal-free dental bridge worth $5,500 in the US costs $500 in India, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one fifth of what it would in the States, and Lasik eye surgery worth $3,700 in the US is available in many other countries for only $730. Cosmetic surgery savings are even greater: A full facelift that would cost $20,000 in the US runs about $1,250 in South Africa.

Even though India is having poor public health system, still India is an ideal medical tourism destination.  This is due to the development of outstanding healthcare delivery centers in private sector.  Some  other  factors  which  are  motivating  medical  tourism in India are availability  of  skilled and experienced physicians,  technicians  and  nurses  who  have  national  and  international  certifications, modern  medical  technology,  internationally  recognized  standards  in drugs, equipment, implants and medical supplies, ease of travel, no language barrier as English  is  commonly  spoken  in  many parts of the country, favourable  exchange  rates,  cheaper air travel,  medical care is also cost effective.

India is one of the budding nations to become a ‘global health destination’. However, this position will only be evocative if the opportunities provided by medical tourism can also be consumed to improve the access, delivery and quality of healthcare services in the domestic public health system. Government can persuade the revenue generated from medical tourism to the development of the public health sector and lessen the deviation in quality of care provided in public and private sectors, establish association between the public and private sectors is also important as since this could possibly help in increasing the financial capability of the public health sector which leads to the reduction in the difference in standards and working settings between the two sections.