Hospital woos US patients for surgery

PUNE: After having bagged a Rs 6.5 crore deal with the Oman government last year to treat 272 patients with advanced orthopaedic complications, the Sancheti institute of orthopaedics and rehabilitation here is now trying to attract those US patients without health insurance.
“The idea is to get some of those patients who require either a knee or hip replacement surgery, but can’t afford it due to the prohibitive cost of treatment there,” said Parag Sancheti, medical director of the institute.Parag has just returned from the US after doing a three-month fellowship at Lenox Hill hospital, New York.
Helping the Sanchetis in this endeavour is renowned orthopaedic surgeon C. Ranawat from the Lenox Hill hospital, who will be visiting the institute here on September 30.
“We will finalise the modalities during his visit,” Parag said, confirming that Ranawat would help send some of the US patients to Pune for replacement surgeries. He said that the institute, after the Oman tie-up, has also started getting patients from other countries in West Asia, like the UAE.
In the US a knee or a hip replacement surgery costs no less than US$ 30,000, Parag said. At the Sancheti institute, the same surgery can be done at a cost of US$ 5,000 (Rs 2 lakh approximately) or even less.
Interestingly, data released by the US Census Bureau reveals that the number of uninsured Americans stood at a record 46.6 million in 2005, with 15.9 per cent of Americans lacking health coverage.
Every year in the US an estimated 1.7 lakh people undergo a total hip replacement and another 2.67 lakh patients require a knee replacement.
Parag said an exclusive joint replacement centre - equipped with the most advanced computer-aided gadgets - will become operational by December this year. “We are investing Rs 20 crore for the 60-bedded exclusive centre, which will cater only to patients with an arthritic condition of the hip and knee.
“The aim is to provide treatment, both surgical as well as non-surgical, at an affordable cost and with the best technology available,” Parag said.