MMedsolution – Medical Dental Tourism Resource On-line

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines may have found its next sunrise industry in the medical tourism field.

A study titled “Philippine Medical Tourism Compendium 2011: Facts, Figures & Strategies” estimated that the country earned a total of $1.30 billion from health care and wellness services in the period of 2006 to 2010.

The study also projected that the Philippines has the potential to earn as much as $1 billion in additional annual revenue by 2018 or earlier if it would invest thoroughly on healthcare infrastructures, more open and liberal travel arrangements for medical tourists and lay down an extensive international marketing promotions campaign.

The study, conducted by healthcare business intelligence firm Healthcore, indicated that the earnings were from overseas foreign tourists and balikbayans who visited during the period of the study.

The research noted that the Philippines has a high potential to grab a larger market share in the global medical tourism industry based on the following criteria: High level of quality in healthcare;

Competitive cost of healthcare services; Large supply of competent healthcare professionals; English communication skill, and culture of compassion and service; and Geographical proximity to countries that have expensive medical services such as Guam and Micronesia, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.

The study noted that top tertiary hospitals in the Philippines have state-of-the-art medical and hospital facilities and were staffed with highly qualified medical consultants, doctors, nurses and other personnel.

It added that at least eight hospitals and clinics were now accredited by various international accreditation agencies.

The Philippines also has a competitive edge since these world-class healthcare services generally cost lower than in most developed countries like the United States and Canada.

The Philippines, being a major source of medical professionals to the global workforce, boasts of world-class medical doctors, highly qualified nurses, therapists, and medical technicians.

The Filipinos’ high level of English communication skills, and unique culture of compassion and service – the same competitive advantage that made the country one of the top BPO providers in the world – will also help place the Philippines among the top global healthcare providers.

International research firm Deloitte, the research added, has identified the Philippines as one of the emerging players in the multi-billion dollar industry, which currently is dominated in Asia by Singapore, India, Malaysia and Thailand.

The study concluded that medical and tourism sectors and other related industry stakeholders should work together and further develop broad-ranging strategies and facilitate the implementation of programs in the field of healthcare infrastructure and service, likewise, the government should liberalize visa restriction for medical travelers and an aggressive international marketing and promotions campaign should be launched in order to catapult the Philippines in the elite circle of medical tourism providers. (advt)

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http://lifestyle.inquirer.net/33165/philippines-emerging-major-player-in-medical-tourism-industry%E2%80%94study

Medical Tourism Resource Online

LOS ANGELES/PRNewswire/ — In what can potentially be a ground-breaking development, the California based medical tourism company Global Medical Excellence LLC has developed an innovative arrangement to tackle the increasing cost of healthcare in the U.S. GME has entered into contracts with U.S. Board Certified surgeons who agree to travel to India or Lebanon (and soon other countries) to perform surgeries on GME’s patients. Contrary to the existing phenomenon wherein U.S. patients traveling abroad are operated upon by foreign doctors, patients can now visit GME’s website and choose to have either a U.S. doctor or a foreign doctor for various elective surgeries such as Joint Replacement, Spinal Disc Fusion, Lap Band, Plastic Surgery, etc. Moreover, GME will be providing a comprehensive insurance coverage to the patients to mitigate all risks.

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India offers low cost Vasectomy with specialist infertility surgeons. Medical Tourism in India is fast becoming popular to foreign patients particularly to the Americans. Welcome to the tourism in India. India is one of the best places for the medical treatment or any other health care. Every year thousand of visitors come to India from around the world just for the medical check up and other high end surgery.

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BRUNEI will have to act fast if it intends to tap into the “medical tourism” market, said an executive from a US medical tourism agent looking at the Sultanate as a potential destination.

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DUBAI — The rapidly developing healthcare sector in the UAE faces challenges to its long-term sustainability due to the relatively high cost of medical provision, according to a recent report.

Competitor countries, particularly in Southeast Asia, have already established a strong reputation for quality, low-cost healthcare provision, and therefore have significant first-mover advantages compared to the UAE, according to “Transforming the Middle East’s healthcare model,” a recently published research report by Grant Thornton.

Commenting on the report, Farouk Mohamed, Managing Partner, Grant Thornton UAE, highlighted the need for cost rationalisation in the country’s healthcare sector, pointing out that the average cost of a heart bypass surgery in the UAE stood at $44,000, compared with an average of $18,500 in Singapore, $11,000 in Thailand, $10,000 in India and $9,000 in Malaysia.

“While the cost of healthcare provision in the UAE compares very favourably with most Western markets,” said Mohamed, “the long-term development of the country’s medical tourism sector remains extremely price-dependent. That is especially true during a period of global economic instability and relatively low levels of consumer confidence, worldwide and here in the Middle East.”

According to Dr Prem Jagyasi, a renowned healthcare consultant, high quality healthcare services with affordability are not a privilege, but the right of the people. “Healthcare should be affordable for every person,” he adds.

Citing the example of the US, Dr Jagyasi, who is also the Managing Director and CEO of ExHealth said that almost 50 million people are uninsured and 250 million are underinsured due to costly healthcare.

He said though low cost played an important role in medical tourism, other factors existed as well. “For instance in Canada and UK, healthcare is available but not easy accessible. In many countries, high-end healthcare is not available so affluent society travels for medical tourism. The key factors are lack of affordability, availability and accessibility,” he added.

“Though healthcare cost should be controlled in the UAE, medical tourism in UAE can’t be developed only on cost effectiveness,” he argues. “Perception of the destination, quality of services and added advantages can help in development of medical tourism.”

Hisham Farouk, International Practice Partner, Grant Thornton UAE, highlighted that Singapore, for example, has stated that it aims to attract one million medical tourists a year by 2012, and that the UAE also has the opportunity and means to become an important regional medical tourism destination.

“The further development of the medical tourism sector in the UAE, although dependent upon more competitive costs, can provide the country with significant direct and indirect benefits,” said Farouk.

“There is no question that the existing infrastructure in the UAE, and especially in clusters such as Dubai Healthcare City, is already well developed,” he said. “There is every reason to believe that the ongoing development of this potentially high-growth area will further enhance the reputation of the UAE as a centre of medical excellence and a leading destination for medical care.”

However, the DHCC is facing issues of its own. Affected by the global financial crunch, the prestigious Mayo Clinic recently shut down its out-patient heart clinic.

Timelines of other important projects such as the University Hospital which was due to be completed in 2011, are also being reviewed, said Dr Ayesha Abdulla, Senior Vice President of DHCC.

“We may not be able to compete on price with India, but we offer quality,” said Dr Ayesha, while speaking to Khaleej Times. The DHCC saw over 200,000 patients last year of which 10 per cent were from overseas.

Source: khaleejtimes.com