issue 1 - Roland Berger

in india a heart operation costs one-eighth as much as in the united states
industry report f
medicine
Long known for its
sophisticated programmers,
India is
becoming a destination
of choice for
Western medical
patients. Britons in
particular are avoiding
the unpredictability
of their
health-care system
and are traveling to
the subcontinent for
treatment. They benefit
from the fact that
the know-how in the
best Indian clinics—for example, the Apollo chain—is
state-of-the-art, and from surgery costs that are only
one-fourth to one-eighth of what they are in the
United Kingdom or the United States.
Indian doctors are particularly competent in the
areas of cardiology, oncology, minimally invasive
surgery and joint surgery. The Indian government
estimates that “medical tourism” will develop into a
$2 billion-per-year industry by 2012, and is supporting
it with tax breaks.
The pharmaceutical industry also sees new opportunities.
Pfizer Inc., of New York, as well as Eli Lilly and
Co., of Indianapolis, Indiana, are already testing clinical
drugs in India and having X-rays analyzed there.
The British government is currently considering having
all blood and urine samples collected by its
National Health Service tested there too.
They calculate that the cost of shipping the samples
is more than made up for by the low personnel costs
in Indian laboratories. In addition, the laboratories
are in operation around the clock, seven day a week.
Savings of 20 to 30 percent are expected, especially
for more complex tests.
fuel cells
Rechargeable batteries that run for days are the
dream of every notebook user whose batteries are
running down far from an electrical socket. Advances
in fuel-cell technology may soon make this dream a
reality. Global companies such as Japan’s Toshiba
and South Korea’s LG, or German startups such as
SFC Smart Fuel Cell and Masterflex have developed
prototypes that can power a notebook for up to 35
hours—10 times longer than traditional rechargeables.
Up to now, these cells have been too large to
be built into portable computers. That should change
in the coming year, according to the manufacturers.
Thanks to the variety of potential applications—in
printers, LCD projectors, laptops and cell phones—
experts foresee the development of a market that
could significantly surpass the markets for rechargeable
and disposable batteries.
Fuel cells are seen as a clean alternative to batteries
because they burn hydrogen or methanol “cold,”
transforming them into power efficiently and with
few emissions. In addition, the technology is flexible
and allows for customized solutions. In the automotive
industry—in the Ford Focus (see photo), for
example—fuel cells have already proved their suitability
for everyday use.
think: act 49