Mediescapes India have been featured in leading dailies like Financial Times, Business Standard, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Times of India and contributed to several Medical Journals listed with PubMed, IRMA, IGI Global etc. and has in particular worked as an author, market researcher and business strategist on a large variety of projects and reports related to the deployment of Medical Value Travel (Medical Tourism) in emerging markets.

A look into our newsroom………….

Please watch this space for recent updates;

Media's take on Mediescapes India

(1) Sperm donation fad, thanks to Bollywood
(Source: Times of India, New Delhi ePaper edition May 21st., 2012)

Couples demand IIT + IIM,or IAS/ IPS/ Doctor,or IIT + CA sperms by their clinical cocktail names, says D Arun Kumar, chief executive officer of Delhi-based medical tourism firm, Mediescapes India. With Indians excelling in professional fields now, patients from other countries are also looking at Indian sperm donors. In the past six months, there has been an increase in foreigners coming to India for sperm donors. Price revision in European ART clinics has made it unaffordable for them in their home. We routinely get at least two patients a month from USA and Europe seeking screened donor sperms, he says.
Link -
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/delhi/Sperm-donation-fad-thanks-to-Bollywood/articleshow/13323298.cms 

(2) REGULATORY ASPECTS OF TRADITIONAL MEDICINE: FOCUS TOWARDS UNANI COSMECEUTICAL PRODUCTS
(Source: International Journal of Phermacutical Science and Research (2012), Vol. 3, Issue 06, February 19th., 2012)

The regulatory authorities are now focusing on the regulatory issues of traditional medicines under which Unani system of medicine falls. Today we are witnessing an increase in the use of traditional medicines throughout the world raising the questions as to how safe these preparations are. People are now bending towards the Unani system of medicine because of its safety, efficacy and lesser side effects and hence raising the popularity of the Unani system of medicine. The major problem associated with Unani system of medicine is the lack of regulatory issues that ultimately leads to counterfeiting of Unani medicines.
Link -
http://www.ijpsr.com/V3I6/37%20Vol.%203,%20Issue%206,%20June%202012,%20IJPSR-1303%20Paper%2037.pdf 

(3) Medical tourism on the rise despite superbug reports
(Source: Business Standard, Oct. 24th., 2011)

Operators managing health tourists in India have their hands full these days. Patients from the Western countries in need of surgery are travelling to India in large numbers in the last quarter of the calendar year, so that they can be well during Christmas and New Year celebrations, according to doctors and executives at medical tourism companies. This is despite reports of high levels of ‘superbugs’ in and around some Indian hospitals.

Confirming the trend, Dr Arun Kumar, CEO of Mediescapes, a medical tourism company, told Business Standard the number of overseas travellers coming for treatment to India has risen since the beginning of October. These are mostly high-end health tourists and are coming from the US, UK and Europe. “We are fully booked till December, as patients want to be in the best of health around year-end festivities,” he said.

The bookings for October to December have risen by around 17-18 per cent, compared to the previous months of the year, according to Kumar. When asked about the impact of superbug reports on medical tourism, he laughed it off.
Link -
http://www.business-standard.com/article/companies/medical-tourism-on-the-rise-despite-superbug-reports-111102400026_1.html

(4) Get well soon
[Source: Quality Council of India (QCI)]
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It is in these timelines and legwork that the medical tour operator steps in efficiently. Explains Dr Arun Kumar, founder, Mediescapes, a medical tourism travel agency. “The first step is to send current medical records (clinical findings, diagnosis reports, radiology films, CT, MRI scans, lab. slides). We take the next step by getting opinion from highly experienced specialist with cost and duration estimations and the same are passed on to the medical tourist for approval and more questions and answers, if any. Once the final confirmation is given we make all arrangements in real-time basis at the shortest possible time.“ Just what the doctor ordered
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If all medical records are available it takes under 20 days to arrange all services. On an average a medical tourism patient takes roughly 35 days to decide/arrange all resources to put into trip format with assistance from us,” adds Kumar. He surely knows the logistics, on an average he handles 330 medical tourists annually.

Like the choice of hospital, the Average Length of Stay (ALOS) also depends on the procedure. For example, Cardiac surgery: eight days in hospital, 10 days in the city; Joint replacement (unilateral), neuro and spinal surgeries: seven days in hospital, 10 days in city; Joint replacements (bilateral): 10 days in hospital, 10 days in the city; Cosmetic procedures: 2-3 days in the hospital, seven days in the city, further adds Arun Kumar.
Link -
http://www.qcin.org/nbqp/qualityindia/Vol-2-No4/12_15.php

(5) Sun, Sand and Surgery
(Source: The Telegraph, Calcutta December 13th., 2009)
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Cosmetic surgery tourism in India is no longer a serious, hospital-bound affair. “People don’t want to travel half way across the globe just for nip-and-tuck cosmetic surgery. They prefer to do it while they are on a holiday in India,” says Arun Kumar, director, Mediescapes India, a Delhi-based medical tourism firm. He adds that 55 per cent of...
Link -
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1091213/jsp/7days/story_11857913.jsp

(6)  Sun, Sea and Surgery
(Source: Journal of the Royal Over-Seas League, UK, June - August, 2008)

India’s catch-line to attract medical tourists from overseas is simple: there is no waiting list for surgery, and everyone understands and speaks fluent English. It is also a lot cheaper than private healthcare in most other countries in the world. A bone marrow transplant, for example, would cost five times as much in a private clinic in the UK. It has been estimated that more than 150,000 medical tourists went to India to be treated in 2002, bringing in earnings of US$300 million. Since then, that number has increased by 25% each year. Medical tourism is expected to make India around US$2 billion by 2012, based on a survey by the lobby group Confederation of Indian Industry. A just-released report by the Planning Commission says that the superior quality of medical service, coupled with the low cost of surgery, has made India one of the most attractive destinations for medical tourism in the world.
Link -
http://www.rosl.org.uk/magazine/pdf/4.pdf

(7) Medical Value Travel; An Amalgam for Analysis
(Source: eHealth, A Monthly Magazine on Healthcare ICTs, Technologies & Applications, Vol. 3, Issue 1, January 2008)

The new phenomenon, the new industry we are talking about is Medical Value Travel or Medical Tourism, as it has popularly come to be known now…

We can sum up this discussion with the strong comments from D. Arun Kumar, Chief Executive, Mediescapes. He says, “While India strives to emulate the success of Thailand, Singapore or Turkey, there also exist a number of drawbacks to consider; such as, overall hygiene levels in India’s International patient arrival gateway cities, poor infrastructure at international airports and a bureaucratic approach to issuing medical visas"

"One main issue in India regarding medical tourism is that when patients come to India, their primary reason is low cost and no waiting list. They like to go to high quality facilities with experienced doctors; and we have excellent facilities and great doctors in India. However, most of the patients need to stay in a nearby hotel, resort, service apartment or guest house for a week to a month depending on their procedure, before returning home. But it is increasingly becoming difficult to get good hotels at affordable cost in a good neighborhood. We are looking for accommodations of around $60 per night, but the current cost (in a good hotel) is 3 to 5 times more”
Link -
http://ehealth.eletsonline.com/2008/01/11073/

(8) India towards Economic Leadership Confluence - 2007
(Source: IIM, Ahmedabad November 22nd., 2007)

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According to Mediescapes India, medical tourism in India is growing by 30% per annum.

(9) Medical tourism’s no longer pep pill
(Source: The Economic Times, August 16th. 2007)

The traffic from North America and UK has actually receded in the last year. In fact, medical tourism itself grew only by about 10-12% last year against the expected growth of 30% and above, says Arun Kumar, CEO of Mediescapes, a Delhi based organisation that offers medical tourism packages.
Link-
http://articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com/2007-08-16/news/27687782_1_medical-tourism-international-patients-apollo-hospitals

(10) MEDICAL MALPRACTICE OVERSEAS: THE LEGAL UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDING MEDICAL TOURISM
(Source: Duke Law Scholarship Repository, USA, August 8th., 2007)
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Mediescapes India similarly warns its clients that it “does not control or operate any Treating Institution” and therefore is not responsible for a Treating Institution’s negligence. After Espalin, disclaimers like those made by MedRetreat and Mediescapes India are probably valid if voluntarily signed and may be sufficient to defeat a medical-tourism plaintiff’s claim that the medical tourism firm should be held vicariously liable based on the apparent agency theory.
Link -
http://scholarship.law.duke.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1428&context=lcp 

(11) Good Medicine for Tourism
(Source: Published in TTG Global Publishing, Cyprus, August 1st., 2007)

Rising medical costs throughout the West have prompted a wave of lower cost, yet just as specialized alternatives in Asia and the Middle East...

“In 2005, about 175,000 medical tourists came to India in search of what we call first world healthcare at third world prices. Medical procedure cost estimates in India were anything between 30 to 80 per cent cheaper than the West,” said Chief Executive, Mediescapes India, Arun Kumar...

(12) ‘Miracle Cure’ for Paralysed Paraplegics. Stem cell therapy offers hope
(Source: Maharashtra Herald, Pune, 13th. June, 2007)

CHENNAI: The unlikely spectacle of four completely paralysed paraplegics, on the mend but good enough to move on their own with some help were presented to the press dramatically....

D. Kumar said “We harvest between 100 and 200 ml of stem cells in fluid form from the afflicted patients themselves and inject them into their spinal cords carefully to bring about this ‘miracle’ which accords totally paralysed patients who had no hopes of moving at all with the ability of taking care of their personal needs. Our methods have been cleared not only in India, but also in all major statutory medical institutions abroad including the U.S. Further, our facility has the highest global rate of success,”