As a part of contributing to Nepal Tourism Year 2011 and reap benefit from the year-long tourism promotional campaign, private hospitals in the capital are doing groundwork to promote Nepal as a medical tourism destination.
They have started upgrading their services and facilities and establishing tie ups with international medical councils and insurance companies to better serve the foreigners.
“There is a need to establish such a tie up because foreigners visit only the hospitals recommended by their medical councils and hospitals collect treatment charge from insurance companies,” said R P Mainali, public relations officer of Norvic Hospital at Thapathali.
The hospital has also started upgrading facilities and establishing ties with medical councils of different countries and insurance companies.
“We are also preparing to start air ambulance service to better serve international tourists. We have already entered into an agreement with an airline, while discussions with other airlines are underway,” Mainali added.
He further added that it has become a necessity for them to establish ties with insurance companies as almost all international tourists have insurance policy.
Mainali disclosed that the hospital has already entered into an agreement with insurance companies in more than 100 countries. The hospital also plans to add 100 beds in the near future.
“We are looking forward to serve more than 70 percent of international patients. We will complete all our preparations by April of 2011,” Mainali added.
Though private hospitals have started preparation to make the most of the year-long tourism campaign, government-owned hospitals have no such plans at hand.
Another private hospital – B & B Hospital at Gwarko – has also started preparation to better serve international patients. Purna Chandra Pradhan, administrator of the hospital, said the hospital has also started the process to establish relations with international medical councils and insurance companies. “We are busy holding internal discussions about making our service more effective,” he added.
Nepal Republic