A long-time osteoarthritic finds relief at an Indian hospital through Healthbase and gets a handle on his life.
It has been 12 weeks since his bi-lateral hip resurfacing surgery and Richard Paquette is snorkeling in the sunny Southern Californian beaches. In the past, Richard had problems walking from his car to his front door until Healthbase, a Boston-based medical tourism facilitator, arranged for his hip surgery at the Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai, India.
“I am currently walking 6 miles a day, 42 miles a week. I would like to take it to 50 miles a week starting next week. I use an exercises bike in conjunction with my other physical therapy routine. I am loving life with my new hips,” testifies Richard who is an avid sportsperson and a very active individual.
Richard had been suffering from osteoarthritis in his hips for a long time but was unable to get surgery in the United States, earlier because of unavailability of the procedure in the country and later because of the extravagant costs of it in the US. Richard used Healthbase (http://www.healthbase.com) to find the hospital and surgeon expertise required for the procedure. Healthbase also took care of his travel arrangements including visa.
Saroja Mohanasundaram, the CEO of Healthbase says, “Going overseas for surgery requires a lot of planning and research. Using the secure, easy to use and information-
Richard had his hip surgeries done by Dr. Kaushal Malhan. Dr. Malhan who has worked with the pioneers of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Surgery is a world-renowned expert in the field with over 650 hip resurfacing procedures under his belt. Richard adds, “I can’t say enough about Dr. Malhan’s and his staff’s professionalism, their knowledge and their expertise. The people who work there are the most amazing people.”
A bilateral hip resurfacing surgery, which is a more bone conserving alternative to total hip replacement, is estimated at $80,000 in the US. For the same procedure in India, Richard who took advantage of medical tourism with Healthbase paid only $15,000 resulting in a savings of over 75% even after adding up round-trip airfare, hospital stay, physiotherapy, and other related costs.
