Now, blood samples in UK take flight to India

NEW DELHI, CHENNAI, APRIL 29: A blood sample taken in the UK is flown to a diagnostics lab in India, the sample is analysed and a report sent electronically to UK. All this, in the time it normally takes in the UK to hand over a report to a patient.

For diagnostics labs in the UK, Middle East and elsewhere, it's time to worry. India's outsourcing boom now extends to diagnostics and pathology, as the country forays into what promises to be a multi-billion dollar opportunity. Outsourcing diagnostics to India saves foreign hospitals 20-30% in costs.

SRL Ranbaxy has tied up with UK-based hospitals to outsource their pathology and lab-testing services. "We have been bringing back pathology samples from the UK and Middle East on a daily basis since March. Our round-the-clock central lab in Mumbai analyses these and reports are sent electronically," said Harpal Singh, chairman of SRL Ranbaxy and Fortis Healthcare.

The company has airlifted around 25 lakh samples of blood, tissue and serum from these places till date. According to estimates, the UK market for diagnostics services is close to £ 2 billion per annum.

"Outsourcing of pathological tests to low cost countries is an option that developed countries have been considering for some time," says Dr Sushil Shah, chairman of Metropolis Health Services, a diagnostics chain. Mr Shah believes that scope for outsourcing pathological tests is more in high-end tests that consume a lot of time.

"More than the cost, we provide quality. We are a College of American Pathologists (CAP)-accredited insbreastute," claims Mr Singh. "We only do the more complex tests where results come out between 48 hours to seven days," Mr Singh added.

On the anvil are plans to get radiology reports in an electronic form from the US and UK, and send back analyses.