IJN wooing patients from India

Malaysia's National Heart Institute (IJN) is looking at attracting Indian patients by offering advanced healthcare at a fraction of the price they pay at hospitals in the United States and Europe.

Its manager for medical tourism and business development, Chow Khoon Liam, said the focus on India was part of a wider marketing effort to get people from South Asia to use Malaysia's top cardiac care centre.

At present, about 10 per cent of the institute's patients come from overseas, mostly from Southeast Asian nations, Travel News Alliance said.

"We get a lot of people from Indonesia, Myanmar and Cambodia. Now we want to get a little bit further; we want to venture into South Asia," Chow told the online portal.

An angioplasty procedure that may cost US$100,000 (RM305,741) in the US is, for example, available for US$13,000 (RM39,750) in Malaysia, according to Chow.IJN will be working with Indian healthcare facilitators to promote its packages.

NewStraitsTimes