Medical Tourism in Developing Countries: A Contemporary Approach

This book provides a detailed insight into the amalgamation of the healthcare and hospitality sector, which brought forward the concept of healthcare tourism or medical tourism. There have not been comprehensive resources in this particular area. The available quality resources focus on the Western world. Countries like India are an upcoming and one of the most favored destinations for medical tourism, and this trend is going to increase exponentially in the coming years.  This book is developed in a very simple and lucid manner to enable even a layman to grasp the key components of the healthcare and hospitality sector at different levels and gradually link it to the present scenario where factors like accreditation, health insurance, corporatization, and public policy make an impact. Scholars in these sectors attempt to provide the recent trends and prospects supported with updated information. Therefore, it can solve the problem of a single source of detailed information relevant to different yet interconnected industries with a focus on developing countries.

Dr. Bhupinder Chaudhary is presently working as associate professor at the Department of Hospital Management and Hospice Studies at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India. He is associated with the healthcare sector for more than two decades. Pursuing the bachelor’s in medical sciences and master’s in health and hospital administration and formally working in this industry for more than 15 years provided him an opportunity to explore this sector in cross-sectional view. After completing Doctorate in Hospital and Health Management, he successfully completed Post-doctorate in Healthcare Studies from the United States. He possesses industry exposure having worked with the public sector as hospital administrator and accreditation co-ordinator in one of the largest teaching hospitals in western India. During his industry tenure, his contribution was significant in the areas of NABH, NABL, HMIS, and RSBY apart from routine hospital administration. Professionally, he is an academician, researcher, and trainer in the ever changing healthcare and allied sectors. His areas of interest include health economics, healthcare delivery system, quality management, disaster management, healthcare tourism, aging, healthcare-IT, and HRM in healthcare. His research acumen has also been excellent and has many publications and presentations to his credit in national and international Journals and conferences. He has also conducted and organized various trainings with reference to different aspects of health and hospital administration.

Dr. Dinesh Bhatia pursued his PhD in Biomechanics and Rehabilitation Engineering from MNNIT, Allahabad, India with Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Mumbai University. He completed his MBA (Dual Specialization) from IMT Ghaziabad. He is currently working as Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong, Meghalaya, India. He was selected for the Young Scientist Award (BOYSCAST) by Government of India to pursue research in osteoarthritis (OA) for one year at Adaptive Neural Systems Laboratory, Biomedical Engineering Department, Florida International University, Miami, Florida, USA, where he was leading a multidisciplinary team of researchers. He is also the recipient of INAE Fellowship Award by the Indian National Academy of Engineering. He was selected as one of the twelve young biomedical scientists by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Government of India, to pursue research fellowship in the field of sensory prosthetics at University of Glasgow, Scotland, UK. He has attended biomechanics and human gait training at Munich, Germany, and training of use of rTMS, EEG, and EMG equipment(s) in disabled children in Ivanovo, Russia. He delivered an Invited Talk on Gait and Osteoarthritis in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He has several research papers in reputed journals, conference, seminars, and symposia with teaching and research experience of close to 20 years. He is invited panel member of many professional bodies, editorial boards, committees, government bodies, societies, and forums. He has worked on several funded projects from Government of India on physically challenged, disabled, and paralyzed persons and few projects are still ongoing. He has authored/published 300+ articles, 14 books, and 30 books chapters till date and supervised several UG, PG, and doctoral students. His research focuses on understanding muscle mechanics, joint kinematics, and dynamics involved in performing locomotion and routine tasks and undermining it effects during an injury or disease. His areas of interest are medical instrumentation, biomechanics and rehabilitation engineering, medical informatics, signal and image processing, marketing, and international business.

Dr. Mahesh Patel is a seasoned healthcare executive whose expertise spans over 15 enriching years within the realms of hospitals, ambulatory care centers, healthcare quality management, projects, and multi-site leadership.  He has master’s degree in Hospital Management from the Apollo Institute of Hospital Administration and a Homeopathic Medical Graduate from the Maharashtra University of Health Science. He is associated with Aster DM Healthcare as a Head of Operations, Licensing and New Initiatives, and has worked with reputed JCI Accredited organizations like Apollo Hospitals, India, and NMC Healthcare, UAE.

He is a keen academician and has served 6 years as a visiting faculty and examiner at the Department of Hospital Management, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University, India. He is more than an accomplished executive; his fervor for knowledge shines through as an ardent scholar, boasting an impressive collection of published works in indexed journals. Also, he recently published a chapter on “Principles and Implementation of Quality Management and Patient Safety Systemsin Hospitals" in the book “A Guide to Hospital Administration and Planning” published by Springer Nature. 

Dr. Sunaina Singh is currently the regional head of digital transformation for a consulting firm in Singapore which has presence in 10 countries, working with cross-functional teams on new value realization, digital transformation, CX, and strategic initiatives. She has global experience spanning across South Asia, Middle East, Africa, and South-East Asia for growth and strategy consulting and was part of the transformation health team in a leading consulting firm. In her consulting stint, she has been a part of advisory teams for large public and private organizations strategy and transformation.

She has done her post-graduation from Indian Institute of Health Research in 2009 and holds a six-sigma black belt for continuous process improvement. She has high inclination toward data-driven business strategy, technology, and digitization. She has published several papers in leading journals, including whitepaper presented at the World Health Assembly, and held several editorial posts since college. She is passionate about education and has co-founded Avsar Foundation which provides support to rural schools in India.

Dr. Sushman Sharma

He is an alumnus of IIHMR WHO Collaborating Centre, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India. Prior to joining this institute, he was associated with various state governments like Government of Assam and Gujarat as hospital administrator. He has PhD and graduated and post-graduated in Hospital Management. His contribution to the areas like NABH, HMIS, RSBY, Hospital Administration, etc. has been significant, and he also received appreciation from bureaucrats and other state authorities for his administrative excellence. His academic as well as extracurricular record has been excellent, and his area of interest includes HMIS, human resource management, public relationin healthcare, and hospital administration. He has delivered his lectures with various central, state government universities, and institutes. He is currently on panel with various state public service commissions as subject expert.  He has participated and presented research papers in various conferences and journals of national and international repute. He is reviewer and editor for many national and international journals. His objective is to contribute as per his capacity and experience in the healthcare industry and teaching.