Health Care Consulting & Medical Tourism in India

We are starting a health care consultation and medical tourism company in India. In 2008 over 200,000 patients have visited India for medical tourism and this number is growing day by day. However, there are no big players in this industry and we aim at becoming the #1 medical tourism provider.

Every day hundreds of people visit India to avail medical care. There are 3 important reasons for them to do so:

1. No waiting period

2. Low cost (60 %+ lesser)
For example, a heart bypass surgery that costs US $144,000 in USA costs only US $8,500 in India.

3. Experience of the doctors, success rate and facilities available.

Nevertheless, the patients face a major inconvenience when they come to India. The difficulties come in the form of language problems, cultural change, insecurity, cheating etc. This is where we come into place.

We provide A-Z services to the patients who come to India through us. Right from initial consultation, appointment setting, visa assistance, airport pickup, lodging, food, surgery, post-surgery care, travel arrangements and post-surgery tourism, we will take care of all the needs of our patients.

We also have a secure account on our website for our patients where they can upload and store all their medical documents and records, which can be accessed from any part of the world.

Cash Payback Period:

The estimated payback period is 12 months from the start of the business.

Stage of development:

1. Our website is under construction and will go live on 30-11-2011.

2. We have got an agreement with Apollo Hospitals to pay us a commission for the patients we refer to them.

3. We are in talks with other hospitals and service providers to include them in our business.

Following are the competitive advantages we have:

1. We have a state of the art website with wide range of information for the patients, which will be constantly updated.

2. We have a discussion forum which will play a very important role in the development of this business.

3. We have 24/7 live support and phone support.

4. Our city of operation is Chennai which is the hub of the top hospitals in the country. This is a major advantage for us as there are no major competitors in our city.

5. We will appoint a service manager to each patient who will personally be with them and take care of each and every need of the patients, while our competitors just refer patients to hospitals and other services.

6. One of our partners has been working in a major hospital for over 20 years, dealing with the international patients who come to their hospital. So, we have the huge advantage of having an experienced person in this field.

7. Our other partner is an online marketing specialist who will play a major role in bringing customers.

The competitors can repeat our success but we grow and keep improving ourselves, leaving no room for the competitors.

Income will flow in the following ways:

1. The hospitals have agreed to pay us a % of the total bill of the patients we refer to them.

2. Hotels, service apartments, guest houses, medical shops, scanning centers, travel & tourism operators and Forex traders will pay us a % from the patient's bill.

3. Depending on the patient's country we will charge a small fee as service charge on a monthly basis.

For a heart bypass surgery, a patient will bring in a profit of $2000 USD
We are also in negotiations with other service providers who can provide the necessary service to our patients.

With proper marketing we can easily capture a major market share within 1 year.

There are other players in the market who provide a similar service and earn good money. But most of them stop with just referring patients to the hospitals and service providers.

There is a big difference between the number of patients who come to India and the number of service providers who are available for them.

The initial investment is for a period of 6 months after which the business will run and grow with its own money. Here is how the finance will be used:

1. $6000 - Office Rental
2. $3500 - Server Expenses
3. $20,000 - Salary for employees
4. $15,000 - Online and Office Marketing
5. $5500 - Misc Expenses and Backup Money

Investment can be made on a monthly basis of $8300 for 6 months.