Category Archives: Reports,Features, Statistics

Medical Tourists to Korea Expected to Reach One Million per Year in 2020

Posted on November 13, 2013 | Comments Off on Medical Tourists to Korea Expected to Reach One Million per Year in 2020
Advertisements for Korean plastic surgery clinics crowd the walls of Seoul's subway stations and buildings.

Advertisements for Korean plastic surgery clinics crowd the walls of Seoul’s subway stations and buildings.

The number of medical tourists to Korea is expected to reach about 1 million in 2020, generating 3.5 trillion won (US$3.2 billion) in revenue.

According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of tourists who visit Korea for medical treatment is forecast to more than double to 998,000 in 2020 from about 399,000 in 2013.

The tourism organization said tourists’ per-capita medical expenditures in Korea this year will be about 2.53 million won (US$2,358.65) and expect it to reach 3.56 million won (US$3,318.10) in 2020, generating 3.5 trillion won (US$3.3 billion) of revenue in 2020, compared to about 1 trillion won in 2013.

The estimate is made amid the growing popularity of Korea’s high-quality medical services for medical tourists, particularly those from China.

According to the China Daily, 62 percent of 31,000 Chinese tourists to Korea last year came for cosmetic surgery with a 15-day medical tourism visa.

source : http://www.businesskorea.co.kr/ Business Korea / Home / November 13th, 2013

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Posted in Associations/Organisations/Government/NonGovernment, Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Reports,Features, Statistics

Singapore, Malaysia tough rivals to Thailand’s quest to be medical hub

Posted on November 12, 2013 | Comments Off on Singapore, Malaysia tough rivals to Thailand’s quest to be medical hub

THAILAND SHOULD prove itself more if it wants to become a regional hub for medical tourism in the long term, competing with arch-rivals Singapore and Malaysia. One major barrier to this quest is politics. If political demonstrations become chaotic to the point of closing airports, this will undermine patients’ confidence, and they might decide to go elsewhere, said Pongsakorn Chindawatana, a professional doctor and also senior director of communication at Bangkok Dusit Medical Services.

So far, there have been no cancellations of trips to the company’s hospitals. The political scenario at present is still considered acceptable. However, the company will have to keep monitoring the situation closely over the next few months, he said.Speaking after a seminar on “Business Power for the Future of Thai Tourism” held by the Department of Tourism, he said Thailand was second to no other country in the region for the quality of its medical services. The country’s medical advancement is also internationally recognised for its high standards. It is essential for the government and private sectors to make a joint effort to promote this service on the global stage.It is already true Thailand is a hub, but only geographically. So far, there is no clear evidence to show that any country in the region, whether Singapore, Malaysia or Thailand, will succeed in the goal of becoming such a hub permanently. All three nations are still scrambling to adopt marketing strategies to publicise their services and claim status as the regional medical-service destination.

Singapore has a competitive edge as a Chinese-speaking nation, which makes it attractive to the large number of affluent mainland Chinese. Also, the island nation has earned a reputation for its medical services founded by Britain during its colonial period, boosting patients’ confidence. Most important, it has marketed these services aggressively.

Also, Singapore is a rich country. Pongsakorn said it was most likely that the country would expand its service regionally, especially into Thailand, by establishing hospital networks or other forms of medical services, after the opening of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) in 2015.

Meanwhile Malaysia, as a Muslim nation, has kept in touch with Arab patients. These two examples, he said, show that cost may not be a key factor for some foreign tourist groups when they decide where to go. They will choose to go to the country where they feel most comfortable, especially in terms of culture and language. But Thailand has its own attractions. The Kingdom is rich in natural tourism resources, from beach to mountainous destinations, where patients can recuperate after their treatments. Friendly service and good hospitality are also magnets.

Beyond Bangkok, provincial choices include Chiang Mai and Phuket.

In terms of cost, Thailand is also 10-15 per cent cheaper than those other two nations. More important, 35 private hospitals here have been certified by The Joint Commission, a US-based accreditation organisation for healthcare services. This will help strengthen confidence among patients, especially from the United States and Europe.

Pongsakorn said Thailand should keep its focus on the Asean market, which shows big potential, especially after the AEC opening. Because of their less advanced medical development, the number of people from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia coming to Thailand for treatment is on the rise.”We have no need to adjust ourselves much to serve people from Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia because they share similarities with Thai culture,” he said.

source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com / The Nation / Home> Business> Medical Tourism / by Bamrung Amnatcharoenrit / November 04th, 2013

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Posted in Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Reports,Features, Statistics

New medical township in Kerala beckons foreign health tourists

Posted on November 11, 2013 | Comments Off on New medical township in Kerala beckons foreign health tourists

KeralaCT11nov2013

A medical township comprising nine superspeciality hospitals – offering the latest state-of-the-art technology to treat a host of diseases including cancer – is coming up in Kochi with an eye to promote Kerala as a top medical health tourism destination.

Aster Medcity, which is being built on what was a huge garbage dumpyard, is to start functioning by March 2014. D.M. Healthcare, a big name in healthcare in Gulf countries, is building the complex on 38 acres of land at Cheranallur in Kochi.

Phase I of the complex, being built at a cost of $150 million, would have on offer 540 beds across the nine hospitals, Harish Pillai, chief executive officer Aster Medcity, told IANS.

The medcity plans to add another 500 beds later in Phase II. The township will have residential quarters, hotels, a convention centre, cafetarias, guest rooms and later also a home for the elderly, said Pillai.

‘We are aiming to attract foreign health tourists to Aster Medcity. We have the latest facilities, including minimally invasive treatment and diagnostic techniques for the diagnosis and treatment of various cancers and heart diseases,’ Pillai told IANS.

India gets 150,000 medical tourists every year, and it is expected to grow by 15 percent annually, he said.

Among the latest technology that Aster will boast of is the ‘True Beam’ that provides radiation treatment in a shorter time and minus most of the usual side-effects of current treatment, said Pillai. The ‘True Beam’ technology is a radio-surgery treatment in which high-energy X-rays are used to destroy tumors.

‘Conventional therapy takes a very long time, but this system delivers concentrated radiation with pinpoint accuracy on the tumor,’ Pillai said.

‘As it is a concentrated high-dose treatment, the process is over in a few minutes for patients,’ he added.

An added advantage of the new system is that it uses 25 percent lower X-ray dosage compared to conventional ones. This reduces greatly the radiation exposure for patients.

‘The conventional radiation therapies are accompanied by various side-effects, but with True Beam the impact of radiation is greatly minimized and it also doesn’t impact the normal tissues,’ Pillai said.

The medcity will also have cardiac cath labs or catheterization laboratories – diagnostic imaging equipment used to visualise the arteries of the heart to detect any abnormalities. The cath labs will have an added advanced technology , called ‘clarity’, to reduce the radiation levels for patients, doctors and lab technicians, said Pillai.

This has been introduced keeping safety and efficiency as the hospital’s top priority, he said.

‘You would be surprised to know that so far there has been no study of how many cardiologists in the country acquire cancer due to long exposure to radiation. So this is the reason the cardiac cath labs with option of ‘clarity’ are being introduced,’ Pillai said.

The ‘clarity’ cardiac cath lab reduces radiation exposure by almost 73 percent.

‘This is the newest technology that is being introduced in India for the first time,’ he said.

Another new technology being introduced is the hybrid byplane cath lab that can convert the imaging and diagnostic device into an operation theatre for any emergency surgery.

‘Besides cardio, this technology would be used in interventional neuro-radiology cases. We will be bringing experts trained overseas for using this technology,’ Pillai said.

The medical township also has a large artificial lake in the complex, which adds to the pleasing environment of the township.

Source: IANS/Shradha Chetri

source: http://www.health.india.com / Health / Home> News / by Agencies / November 07th, 2013

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Posted in Associations/Organisations/Government/NonGovernment, Health /Medical Treatment For Overseas Treatment, Medical Tourism/Health Tourism, Medical Treatment/Health Treatment Subject By Speciality, Reports,Features, Statistics, Travelling For Surgery Abroad / Medical Surgery Overseas

Medical Tourism’s Supposed Rise And Enormous Market Appeal A Myth: Report

Posted on November 10, 2013 | Comments Off on Medical Tourism’s Supposed Rise And Enormous Market Appeal A Myth: Report
A tourist from Shanghai, China, goes through a health checkup organised by the hospital to promote medical tourism in Taipei. / Reuters

A tourist from Shanghai, China, goes through a health checkup organised by the hospital to promote medical tourism in Taipei. / Reuters

It’s one of the most buzzed-about trends in 21st-century travel, but British researchers are warning governments and health care decision-makers across the globe to “be wary of the myths and hype surrounding ‘medical tourism.’”

In the University of York-led study, to be published in the journal Policy & Politics, researchers defined medical tourism as when people leave their own country to seek medical treatment abroad. “They are typically treated as private patients and the costs are fully recouped,” the study noted, adding, “this is distinct from ‘health tourism,’ where there is not always an intention to pay.”

The report’s authors — who include academics from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Royal Holloway University and the University of Birmingham — challenged the very notion that an ever-greater number of global citizens are prepared to travel across national borders to receive medical treatment.

“In the past decade or so, the global health policy literature and consultancy reports have been awash with speculation about patient mobility, with an emphasis on how even greater numbers of patients are traveling across national jurisdictions to receive medical treatments,” lead author Dr. Neil Lunt of the University of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work said in a statement released with the report. “Our message is: Be wary of being dazzled by the lure of global health markets, and of chasing markets that do not exist.”

Lunt and his colleagues highlighted what they called the three myths of medical tourism: the apparent “rise” of medical tourism, the “enormous global market opportunities,” and the idea that national governments have a role to play in stimulating the medical tourism sector through high-tech investment.

Countries from Jamaica to Thailand, India and Singapore have invested heavily in recent years in medical tourism, but the researchers said there was absolutely no hard evidence to back up the widely held assumption that it’s in any way a booming market. Dr. Daniel Horsfall of York’s Department of Social Policy and Social Work carried out the statistical analysis for the study. He found that existing networks, historical ties and relationships might play a larger part in the success of any particular destination.

“The destinations of medical tourists are typically based on geopolitical factors, such as colonialism and existing trade patterns,” Horsfall explained. “For example, you find that medical tourists from the Middle East typically go to Germany and the U.K. due to existing ties, while Hungary attracts medical tourists from Western Europe owing to its proximity.”

Lunt cautioned, however, that authoritative data on numbers and flows of medical tourists among nations and continents was “tremendously difficult” to identify. “What data does exist is generally provided by stakeholders with a vested interest rather than by independent research institutions,” he noted. “What is clear is that there exists no credible authoritative data at the global level, which is why we are urging caution to governments and other decision-makers who see medical tourism as a lucrative source of additional revenue.”

The University of York-led study was funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research, and uses findings from a two-year study into the impact of medical tourism on the U.K.’s health system to make broader observations that the researchers said apply globally.

source: http://www.ibtimes.com / International Business Times / Home> Media & Culture> Travel / by Mark Johanson / November 05th, 2013

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Posted in Reports,Features, Statistics

Senator Bazard completes health care compliance course

Posted on November 9, 2013 | Comments Off on Senator Bazard completes health care compliance course
Cheryl Bazard

Cheryl Bazard

Nassau, Bahamas :

As medical tourism becomes the buzz word in the nation’s number one industry, one innovative attorney is taking steps to stay ahead of the curve.

Founding president of the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers, Senator Cheryl Bazard has taken a proactive approach towards compliance in the challenging and, at times, high-risk healthcare world.

Last month, the principal of the boutique, inner-city law firm of Bazard & Co. completed a Certification in Health Care Compliance with emphasis on Latin America from the School of Business Administration, Executive Education programme at the University of Miami.

“One has to be proactive and qualify oneself so that when the expertise is needed, you are ready to act,” said Mrs. Bazard. “We should never wait to catch up with the market, rather we should anticipate it. We should be progressive thinkers.”

Mrs. Bazard was the Caribbean’s only representative at the intensive, three-day educational and training programme which provided strategies and instruction on building a robust, healthcare, due diligence environment.

According to organizers, the course provides participants with the “knowledge and experience they need to successfully navigate the increasingly complex pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device regulatory environment.”

Mrs. Bazard’s participation in the course comes as The Bahamas seeks to add surgery to its internationally acclaimed features, which up to now was limited to sun, sand and sea.

In recent times, Doctors Hospitals – the country’s leading private health care provider – has moved aggressively to attract more international patients particularly to its Bahamas Medical Centre on Blake Road, a stone’s throw away from the Lynden Pindling International Airport.

With health care providers seeking to get their piece of the global medical tourism pie, it was only a matter of time before innovative compliance professionals followed suit.

Mrs Bazard’s course ran from October 23 – 25. Compliance professionals in the health care industry came from Argentina, Brazil, Panama and the United States to learn how to meet the industry’s challenges through “highly interactive” training modules.

Moreover, the course covered aspects of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, Anti-Kickback Statute and the Williams Act (USA) which is concerned with bid rigging.

The course also focused on the ethics, reputation and sustainability of the health care industry.

Additionally, participants conducted a review of the Industry Health Professional Codes and Standards of Latin American countries.

The course was facilitated by distinguished professors from the University of Miami and industry practitioners including Professors Anita Cava, Clivetty Martinez, Michael Scher and Antonio Caram.

source: http://www.thebahamasweekly.com / The Bahamas Weekly.com / Home> Community / by Precision Media / November 05th, 2013

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Posted in Health/Medical/Wellness Marketing And Management, Reports,Features, Statistics, Uncategorized