Take a Health Vacation to Mend Your Heart

Health Vacation for Heart Surgery

Stress and hypertension might trigger your first health vacation to an unfamiliar country. The Center for Disease Control projects heart disease and stroke will be the leading cause of more than 20 million deaths globally a year by 2020.  And since rising costs and long waits are becoming such a major problem in Western health care, traveling abroad might be the only way to save a “broken” heart.   

Best Hospitals for Heart Surgery in India

Some of the best hospitals for heart surgery in India hope to draw foreigners who face the reality that rising costs are a major problem in health care.  Apollo Hospitals is an Indian hospital chain that advertises “27,000 heart surgeries with a success rate of 99.6%, on par with global standards.”  Staffed by doctors, some who have completed medical training and experience in the United States, Apollo offers special amenities that appeal to foreigners such as Internet access, air conditioning, and cable television.  Apollo even provides special staff to assist international patients during their health vacations.  

Are Health Vacations Worth the Low Price?

Scenes of beggars and garbage surrounding the best hospitals for heart surgery in India do not inspire confidence.  But low pricing is hard to ignore also.  Rising costs in American health care were what led a self-employed carpenter from North Carolina to seek heart valve surgery in India.  When he arrived, he was startled by the chaotic street scenes in Delhi.  This caused him to question if an operation in India was really worth it despite costing only 3% of the US price tag. Fortunately, the operation was a success and this “unnamed” medical tourism traveler now has a healthy heart.  But tourists on a health vacation to the best hospitals for heart surgery in India must do homework to discover patient safety statistics.  Hospitals in India do not have to share information on treatment outcomes according to Vishal Bali, vice president of operations at Wockhardt Hospitals Ltd.