South Korea Aims to Develop its Medical Tourism Industry

Seoul, South Korea

As the medical tourism industy grows, more countries want to get their fair piece of the cake. South Korea now pushes hard to develop its medical tourism market, which is anticipated to grow at a CAGR or around 30% during 2010-2012. The industy is boosed by the boom in cosmetic surgery, active government support, and a pool of experienced surgeons. The entire global industry, as well as the healthcare providers, are all demanding more government efforts and initiatives. In February 2009, the South Korean government reserved 5% of the total hospital beds for foreign patients. This was done to ensure that there will be enough space for both domestic and foreign patients. Besides, in an effort to increase the share of private sector in the medical tourism industry, the government has allowed State-licensed clinics and hospitals to directly seek foreign patients.

This joint effort seems to have paid off. According to the research report “Emerging Medical Tourism in South Korea”, the country received 25,000 foreign patients in 2008. This is an increase of 56% from 2007. Many of the patients are coming from China, Japan, and the Southeast Asian countries.

For more information about medical tourism and global healthcare in South Korea, visit this website. When the Novasans website is launched, you will be able to search for and contact numerous hospitals and clinics in South Korea catering to medical tourist.

Directions and Trends of the Wellness Industry presented by Dr. Leena Chatterjee

Dr. Leena Chatterjee from Super Religare Laboratories Limited, speaking at Glow 2010 in Kuala Lumpur last week.

At last’s week Glow 2010, Dr. Leena Chatterjee, General Manager for Wellness at Super Religare Laboratories Limited in New Delhi, held an excellent speach on the current trends and future directions of the wellness industry. Super Religare Laboratories Limited (SRL) is the largest pathology laboratory network in India, servicing nearly 4,00 hospitals and path labs, and over 50,000 doctors. SRL is striving to develop predictive and preventive capabilities; providing advanced analytical support for better health management; taking Wellness beyond physical health by focusing on lifestyle value adds such as emotional wellbeing.

Dr. Leena pointed out that the countries in South East Asia all differ in their approach to wellness. For instance; in India luxury yoga, Ayurveda and medical tourism are the main focuses, while Thailand is more known for its thai massage and of course medical tourism. Malaysia has a range of traditional therapies that their wellness facilities provide for patients. This is combined with medical tourism and more luxury oriented spas. South Korea is known for its traditional and mineral spas.

Dr. Chatterjee pointed out personalized medicine, pharmacogenomics, customized treatments and wellness diagnostic services as some of the main future trends in the wellness industry. From this we can conclude that the days when regular massages were the core business of spas and wellness centers are over. In the future, spas will do their outmost to cater to the spa customer’s needs, anticipations and desires with more personalized treatments.

Glow 2010 – a Success

Andrew Jacka

Last week, Novasans participated in Glow 2010 – one of the major medical tourism and

Naresh Jadeja

wellness congresses in South East Asia this year. The congress was held at Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur, due to the city’s central position among the four main target countries; Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.

The congress adressed many valuable issues for those working in the global healthcare market, and the discussions were sometimes intense and engaging. Some of the head speakers at the event were Andrew Jacka, who is a chariman of Asia Pacific SPA & Wellness Coalition, Naresh Jadeja, President of International Wellness and Healthcare Travel Association, Upasna Kameneni at the Apollo Group of Hospitals in India and Reinhard Petry, Project Manager at the European Spas Association (ESPA).

Some of the major issues addressed were the new era of wellness in the South East Asia Region, understanding the spa/wellness and medical tourism inustry to globally expand a business, the importance of accreditations for hospitals, and how to attract international patient from all regions.

With the congress, the VMAC Business Group arranging the event, managed to raise topics regarding the latest trends and techniques that empasise on health and wellness, feasible approaches for the wellness and medical tourism industry to remain competitive during the recession, and other means to promote and market their services. Novasans would like to thank Joshini John with colleagues for their excellent arrangement of Glow 2010. We already look forward to Glow 2011!

Novasans Announces Media Partnership to Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010

Today, we are proud to announce that Novasans has become Media Partners to Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010, which is one of the key events for global healthcare tourism is South East Asia this year.

Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010 expects up to 150 delegates, with the majority being professionals from the healthcare industry. The official opening’s key note speaker will be the Health Minister of Malaysia, mr. Y.B. Dato’ Sri Liow Tiong Lai. Other distinguished speakers are mr. Josef Woodman, author of “Patients Beyond Borders”, Dr. Paul Chang from the Joint Commission International in Singapore, and Dr. Ramli bin Adb.Ghani at the Ministry of Health in Malaysia.

Novasans participates in the congress with the aim of exchanging ideas and knowledge with other players in the growing medical tourism industry. Novasans will cover the event through newsletters and articles posted on its websites, and of course here on the blog.

Visit Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010’s website for more information on the event.

Focus of the Week: Medical Tourism

Medical tourism – what is it?

This week Novasans focuses on medical tourism, a term that is getting more and more widespread. But what does the term really mean?

The term Medical Tourism (sometimes referred to as global healthcare, health travel and medical travel) applies to people going abroad with the purpose of seeking medical treatment. It also includes healthcare providers travelling to another country to deliver their service. The practice of this kind of travelling has increased rapidly in recent years, and over 50 nations worldwide have identified medical tourism as a national industry. In 2007, an estimated 750,000 Americans went abroad for healthcare, and global healthcare originating in the U.S. are forecast to jump by a factor of ten over the next decade.

Virtually any type of healthcare can be provided for medical tourism patients, although some treatments are more widespread than others. Elective surgery, such as cosmetic surgery, together with more complex and specialized surgery are very common, but the practice also include dental treatments and wellness programs, as well as treatments spanning for a long time, such as cancer treatment and convalescence care.

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Many patients travel from the First World to exotic destinations to combine their treatment with a relaxing holiday. Some of the most popular destinations for medical travel are India, The Philippines, Thailand, Argentina, Singapore, South Africa and Hungary. The South American countries are known for their notable cosmetic surgery travel. However, medical tourim is on the rise in some countries in Europe, such as Poland, Belgium and Slovakia.

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Thailand is a popular destination for medical tourists.