INDIA: Indian medical tourism businesses call for government support to avert crisis Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:37:31 GMTYears of promises by politicians to support the business of medical tourism have come to nothing. India has no national strategy, no national marketing, and a dormant trade body. Government promises to support medical tourism businesses have turned out to be limited to small grants for attending fairs and conferences with the official long overdue announcement of detail still awaited. None of this is any surprise to local hospitals and businesses that expect national and state governments to be inefficient, slow, corrupt, and more concerned with political infighting and rhetoric than any real action or fiscal support. The Progress Harmony Development (PHD) Chamber of Commerce and Industry decided they could not wait any longer for state action so commissioned their own report on medical tourism and held a summit for medical tourism businesses. After hearing reports of isolated incidents concerning poor quality health services at hospitals and wellness units in India, delegates at the ’Medical & Wellness Tourism Summit’ 2014 in New Delhi, called for a government supported national level accreditation board for medical tourism units in Indian hospitals and clinics, a quick solution to the long standing problems on visas and medical visas where ill visitors have to attend local police stations, and improvements on infrastructure so medical tourists can easily get to hospitals and clinics. The current state of medical tourism was emphasized in a paper at the conference from PHD...

GLOBAL: International tourism: strong peak season anticipated Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:41:23 GMTMedical tourism tends to increase as tourism numbers increase. Demand for international tourism remained strong in the first four months of 2014 according to the latest UNWTO World Tourism Barometer. International tourist arrivals worldwide grew by 5%, the same rate as during the full year 2013. Prospects for the current peak tourism season remain very positive with over 460 million tourists expected to travel abroad in the May-August 2014 period. Destinations worldwide received 317 million international tourists (overnight visitors) between January and April 2014, 14 million more than in the same period of 2013. This 5% growth consolidates the already strong increase registered in 2013 (+5%) and is well above the long-term trend projected by UNWTO for the period 2010-2020 (+3.8%). Growth has been widely spread with nearly all sub regions recording increases in international arrivals of 4% or higher. By region, the strongest growth was registered in Asia and the Pacific and the Americas (both +6%), followed closely by Europe and Africa (both at +5%). By sub region, Northern Europe, Southern and Mediterranean Europe, North Africa and South Asia, (all +8%) were the star performers. Most destinations share in growth.• Asia and the Pacific (+6%) consolidated its growth of recent years, with South Asia (+8%) and North-East Asia (+7%) in the lead.• Growth picked up in the Americas (+6%), with all four sub regions showing significant improvement compared to 2013.• Europe, the most visited region in the...

SOUTH KOREA: Strikes signal union opposition to medical tourism Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:44:44 GMTOver 400 employees at one of the biggest public hospitals in South Korea, Seoul National University Hospital launched a two-day strike demanding the government cancel its recent push to privatize medical services in the country. The strike is the union’s response to the Health Ministry’s recent decision to allow hospitals to set up for-profit subsidiaries in an effort to promote medical tourism. SNUH is a public hospital but is taking a major role in the government’s plan to privatize medical services, by pushing for medical tourism projects and launching a for-profit subsidiary. In 2012 it launched a commercial subsidiary, HealthConnect, as a joint venture with SK. The venture aims to provide healthcare services based on information technology, was criticized for being illegal. No public hospital was allowed to run commercial businesses back in 2012, according to the nation’s Medical Act. The hospital and the Health Ministry have been arguing that the subsidiary was launched based on the Establishment of the SNUH Act, a special law that is independent from the Medical Act. Inspectors from the National Assembly recently concluded that the SNUH is categorized as a public institution and it was illegal for the hospital to establish the for-profit business. So the government brought in new law in June that public and private hospitals and clinics will be allowed to open meditels- hotels for foreign medical tourists, within the hospital grounds from August 2014. They will...

NIGERIA, ZAMBIA: Government opposition to medical tourism Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:52:02 GMTThe Niger State government has resolved to stop outbound medical tourism outside the country and entered into a partnership with Primus Hospital based in Abuja for referral treatments. The state governor Israel A. Ebije has agreed to money being used to encourage Nigerians to rely on hospitals within the country and wants to encourage hospitals in the country to attain the status of those abroad- “Niger state government is interested in curbing the shameful traffic of Nigerians on medical tourism in foreign countries by directing attention to home based hospitals for referrals instead. Though Primus is owned by Indians, it’s a positive step towards encouraging home based hospitals grow. Already the partnership between Niger state government and Primus hospital is yielding results as over 400 referral cases have been seen. Successful knee and spine surgery and dialysis have been carried out. Niger state government and the hospital will jointly establish a diagnostic center with MRI and other modern technology by the end of the year. Land next to the hospital has been donated by the state as its contribution to the diagnostic Centre. It is expected to take patients from all 25 local government areas of Niger state and patients from nearby Nigerian states. Another country where there is a growing undercurrent against medical tourism is Zambia. While most of the population suffer a poor or non-existent local healthcare service, the same politicians who claim there is not...

MALAYSIA, INDONESIA: New study highlights impact of medical tourism on domestic healthcare Thu, 07 Aug 2014 11:55:41 GMTAre Indonesians travelling as medical tourists to Malaysia helping the destination country at the expense of the Indonesian healthcare system? According to a new academic paper by Meghann Ormond, ’Solidarity by demand? Exit and voice in international medical travel’, just published in Social Science & Medicine, the volume of Indonesians traveling to Malaysia for healthcare does not help the struggling Indonesian healthcare system and has measurable micro and macro economic and social impact. It also suggests that medical tourism is not a benign commercial animal but is a form of political engagement that effects healthcare, economy and social attitudes in both home and destination countries. Following on the identification of medical tourism as a growth sector by the Malaysian government in 1998, over the last 15 years significant governmental and private sector investment has been channeled into the development of the industry. This development is unfolding within the broader context of social services being devolved to for-profit enterprises and market-capable segments of society becoming sites of intensive entrepreneurial investment by both the private sector and the state. The paper attempts to meaningfully assess medical travel’s real and potential economic and healthcare equity impacts in Malaysia with attention to the Malaysian government’s multiple roles as funder and provider of public-sector healthcare, regulator and pre-eminent investor in commercial healthcare. Notwithstanding their diverse engagements with the Malaysian government, medical travel industry and healthcare providers and users,...

CANADA, USA: Idaho hospital targets Canadian medical tourists Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:39:45 GMTThe Coeur d’Alene Resort and Northwest Specialty Hospital in Post Falls, North Idaho are teaming up to provide bundled pricing to Canadians and others who receive medical care at the hospital and whose family members are staying in Coeur d’Alene at the same time. Vaughn Ward for the hospital says, "The vision of Northwest Specialty Hospital is, and has been, to provide high-quality medical care at an affordable cost. Our launch into Canada represents an opportunity for us to extend those services beyond our own borders in a way that provides life-changing services to those desperately in need of them. The bundled pricing will be offered to anyone, but the focus is to tap into the Canadian market. Our neighbors to the North are heading south for medical care in increasing numbers due to long wait times for procedures. If you are suffering from obesity and your life is in jeopardy, you may not have time to wait six months. We are giving Canadians the ability to move to the proverbial front of the line to access our health care. We believe that anybody can compete with what we are offering." NWSH anticipates the highest demand for its services will come from Canadians looking for knee replacements. The total bundled price for a knee replacement, for example, including a five-night stay at The Resort would be $22,500, which is nearly $10,000 cheaper than advertised comparable bundled packages...

CYPRUS: Research on medical tourism in Cyprus Thu, 28 Aug 2014 16:42:37 GMTMedical tourism in Cyprus has the potential for further development and establishment as a sustainable lever for economic growth. This is the main finding of a small research report published in Health Management by Marios Georgiou of Karaiskakio Foundation, “Medical tourism in Cyprus: challenges and prospectives" which looks at the current state of medical tourism in Cyprus. It investigates what is happening plus associated problems and weaknesses. It suggests some solutions. The report is limited as it is a detailed study of the views and opinions of 23 people with local knowledge of the subject. The findings reveal a high degree of consensus (75%) in most of the questions answered by the experts. The promotion of medical tourism, the accreditation of medical facilities, the quality of the associated services, the generation of incentives and the active participation of the government through public-private ventures are among the proposals put forward for the development of medical tourism in Cyprus Proper analysis of the key aspects of medical tourism in Cyprus must entail the identification and assessment of many parameters that affect the organisation and prospects of the medical tourism product. Recent years have witnessed significant investments in the health industry. Beyond the public sector, a number of modern private hospitals and clinics as well as specialised medical centres and clinical laboratories have been established. The potential of Cyprus to establish itself as an important destination of medical tourism depends, in...

NEW ZEALAND: Cross-border healthcare covered by insurance Thu, 28 Aug 2014 17:22:23 GMTNew Zealand has limited medical facilities so it is common for locals to go to Australia for some treatment. A new health insurance from a local insurer acknowledges this by covering treatment in both countries with limited treatment elsewhere. Another tweak is that the insurer will effectively pay its customers’ health insurance if they choose not to claim and instead opt to use the public system. The country’s biggest life insurer, Sovereign, has revamped its health insurance range. Private Health Cover and Private Health Plus, give customers fast access to private treatments such as diagnostic scans and surgical treatment, avoiding lengthy waiting times in the public health system. If a policyholder opts to use the public system for a treatment that would have been covered by the policy, the following year’s premium will be free, as long as the treatment required a stay in hospital of two nights or more. The new policies also allow for higher excesses of up to $4000, in response to calls from older policyholders who are struggling to pay rising health-insurance premiums as the cost of treatment continues to race up faster than inflation. The two new policies also allow people to seek treatment in Australia. They can also go anywhere else in the world in the rare case that the wait for private treatment in New Zealand is longer than six months. Sovereign will also pay $30,000 a year towards treatment overseas...

MEXICO: Baja potential on health tourism Thu, 28 Aug 2014 17:23:41 GMTA study by the Tourism Observatory of Baja California says the state could attract hundreds of thousands of visitors from California whose purpose of travel is related to health. But most of these are not medical tourists or even health tourists; they are just buying cheap legal drugs. The state of Baja California sees health related tourism as a boom area for economic development that is strongly backed by the State Government as it foresees huge demand for medical services by Americans. Within the state are a number of private hospitals and clinics including SIMNSA Hospital in Tijuana, Excel Medical Center, Hospital Angeles Tijuana, Codet Vision Institute, Vita Spa Tijuana, Protegencell, Cosmed and Hospital and Medical Center Prado. In Playas de Rosarito are Serena Senior Care and Hospital Almater Mexicali, Family Hospital, the Hospital Hispano Americano and Women’s Hospital. According to the Tourism Observatory study "Characterization of international visitors in the border cities of Baja California: Mexicali and Tijuana" done in winter 2012 and 2013 by the Tourism Observatory Baja California state attracted a flow of 840, 000 visitors from California whose purpose of travel was related to health. This is a massive number for the 13 hospitals and clinics it lists in the region. The figures are a grossing up of numbers from a relatively small sample of actual visitors. The size of the sample is not known. Ethnicity percentages were 37 % Anglo, 52 % Hispanic and...

AUSTRALIA, CHINA, UK: Study on Cosmetic Surgery Tourism Thu, 28 Aug 2014 17:24:04 GMTA University of Leeds led study on cosmetic surgery tourism ’Exploring the Cosmetic Surgery Tourism Industry’ offers many insights into the business but also warns that better regulation is vital to protect patients. Surgeons and clinics should be accredited and inspected. The regulation must be transnational not national, and patients find legal redress difficult to access if surgery goes wrong. Key findings-• Patients are ordinary people on modest incomes.• They tend to spend as little time away from home and family as is possible/ recommended by their surgeon because want to get home to families/ friends.• Cosmetic surgery pathways often follow cheap flights.• Clinics are often located at tourist resorts.• Different patients have surgery for different reasons.• Nobody wants to look like a particular celebrity or achieve a perfect body.• Patients do not make snap decisions• Most patients considered surgery for 5 to 10 years before they decided to have it. Once they made the decision they want surgery as quickly as possible to minimise the time spent dwelling on risks.• Patients lack knowledge of the places they travel to.• Patients are mostly not well travelled and have poor foreign language skills. Most have never visited their destination country prior to surgery.• Patients experience positive outcomes.• 97% are happy with the outcomes of their surgery and would recommend their surgeon to a friend.• Cosmetic surgery tourism agents play a key role in patient experience of place and...

BELIZE: New medical tourism association Thu, 28 Aug 2014 17:25:23 GMTThe tiny Central American state of Belize is the only one that has English as the official language, and a population smaller than many British towns, but it now has a medical tourism association. The Belize Medical Tourism Association is open to healthcare and tourism professionals and institutions committed to providing specialized quality services to international medical travellers, while enjoying a unique tourism experience in Belize Within the next five years the BMTA seeks to be the official, self-sustainable, and inclusive association driven by Belizean stakeholders, made up of internationally accredited entities. Within ten years it seeks to position Belize as a leading regional destination for medical tourism. The reality is that the country has a population of 340,000 and depends heavily on the million tourists it gets, 60% of which are American. Once known as the British Honduras, it is on the North Eastern coast of Central America. Belize is bordered on the north by Mexico, to the south and west by Guatemala, and to the east by the Caribbean Sea. Its mainland is about 290 km long and 110 km wide. Belize has a diverse society, with many cultures and languages. Originally part of the British Empire, it became an independent Commonwealth realm in 1981, retaining Queen Elizabeth II as head of state. Most available medical procedures are cheaper in Belize than in the USA, but many locals head north into Mexico for treatment, where costs are lower,...

PHILIPPINES: Hospitals accredited, by relaxing the requirements Fri, 29 Aug 2014 11:36:45 GMTFor many years hospitals and accreditation bodies have been accused that not having enough accredited hospitals is a key reason why medical tourism in the Philippines has not taken off. So they have solved the problem by making it easier to get accredited. International accreditation is still a long way off, and may never happen for most hospitals, but national accreditation has become simple. To get basic accreditation all they have to do is sign a performance commitment. Many hospitals have failed to get accreditation as they did not meet PhilHealth rules of having enough medical personnel, hospital beds, facilities and equipment, and patient safety assurance, among others. No longer will they get checked, but all they have to do is sign that they are doing their best to get there. The insurer argues that this form of " trust me - I am a doctor” will work as if they do not meet those commitments, they will get a telling off from the insurer. For some of the one hundred and fifty hospitals this new deal is a lifesaver as they can now be eligible for reimbursement of hospital expenses and professional fees from PhiHealth. The Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) does not do the accreditation itself but uses the new Hospital Accreditation Commission (HAC). To be fair to PhilHealth, they were forced into a corner by the Department of Health who had given all these hospitals...

GLOBAL: Medical tourists take 90 days or less to decide where to go Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:00:38 GMTIt takes 90 days or less for medical tourists to make their buying decision, according to Placidway’s latest report ’Medical Tourism Global Consumer Demand Survey’. In the last decade, medical tourism has been transformed from a niche marketplace to a highly competitive environment with more and more medical providers seeking customers for their hospital, clinic or specialist service. As customers find it almost impossible to differentiate between competing claims on knowledge, technology, specialisms and medical skills, people are putting a heavy emphasis on the price, the country’s overall reputation in healthcare services, and peer reviews. When it comes to choosing the healthcare provider, consumers look first at countries with advanced economies that have long offered advanced medical care such as Germany. But high costs in those countries drives individuals to look for alternatives in emerging countries, such as Mexico and Latin America (for people in USA and Canada), India (for African consumers), Turkey or Poland (Middle Easterners & Europeans). According to survey author Pramod Goel, "Medical travellers take their time to ensure the decision they make is the right one, so if we are talking about the best hospital in the world, or the top specialists for a particular treatment, it all comes down to price, country reputation and peer reviews. Even if the exact same services are available in their home country they will first look up the prices for the...

AUSTRALIA: Health insurer officially launches medical tourism initiative Fri, 29 Aug 2014 15:01:44 GMTAustralian health insurer NIB has launched a national campaign to promote cheap dental treatment in Thailand. NIB is acting as a medical tourism agent. NIB is offering offshore cosmetic surgery and dental packages that give patients a 12-month guarantee on overseas surgery, provided they use approved hospitals with luxury accommodation in Thailand under a new business that is not restricted to its health fund members and does not involve health insurance. The NIB Options package includes treatment, airfare and accommodation, covering both dental and medical procedures. It also offers aftercare in Australia and the option of treatment within Australia. Since the launch of the pilot in early 2014 NIB has been getting between 30 and 40 inquiries a day for its offshore package, with about half of that for dental work. So far, the most popular procedures have been for crowns and implants, with full or partial mouth reconstructions also in demand. Australians are being driven overseas by the high costs of local dental treatment and are attracted to fixed price packages as many Australian dentists refuse to tell people or guarantee what costs will be for any treatment. Dental care is excluded from the Medicare health plan. Read More >>

CANADA: Medical tourism could force Canada to bring in private healthcare Wed, 10 Sep 2014 16:13:44 GMTThe on-going row between medical bodies and hospitals in Canada over medical tourism is escalating. Ontario could be vulnerable to legal challenge because of medical tourism. Allowing international patients to pay for health care sets Ontario up for a challenge by Canadians who want to do the same. Doris Grinspun of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario, says the practice of some hospitals accepting foreign patients for profit may lead to demands by Canadians to be allowed to pay for private medical care. If Ontario fails to order all hospitals to cease accepting any medical tourists immediately -the nursing union threatens a court challenge over the right to pay out-of-pocket for health care. Inbound medical tourism in Canada is particularly sensitive in certain provinces that do not allow either private healthcare or private health insurance. Medical tourism is a threat to public healthcare because it creates a double standard that could see well heeled Canadians demand to pay out-of-pocket to jump the queue and get quick treatment. The court threat is not as idle as it may sound. In September, British Columbia is headed to court on a legal challenge over patient access to private surgery centres. The union threat is that the legal costs to hospitals and government will more than offset any income they make from a small number of medical tourists. Health Minister Eric Hoskins says international patients can be treated...