Saudis to Get Hospital Service Abroad

 

Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah

 

The Saudi Arabian Minster of Health, Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah, recently announced the launch of specialized treatment facilities in Malaysia and Singapore for Saudis in a move aimed at providing top quality medical and clinical services for Saudi citizens. The Saudi government has now signed two agreements with the US-owned HCA Hospitals and Parkway Ltd in Singapore, two agreements which according to Al-Rabeeah are “a quality shift that would simplify the treatment of Saudis abroad until their return home in a totally professional and scientific manner under the framework of an integrated program.”

The two agreements involves an exchange of doctors and nurses, bringing Malaysian and Singaporean staff to Saudi Arabia under a doctors’ visiting program, particularly to hospitals in remote areas. He continues, “It will also improve the ministry’s recently launched home care service, single-day surgeries and health administration”.

The HCA owns six hospitals and a number of centers for marrow and organ transplants, stem cell treatments, and treatment and surgery for tumors, in addition to patient assistance such as translation services and logistics.

The Parkway Ltd. is a group of impressive 13 hospitals in Singapore and other Asian countries known for providing health services of a high standard.

With these agreements, the Saudi Arabian government takes another step towards the trend in medical travel, with not only patients going abroad for medical and healthcare treatments, but with physicians going abroad for training and practice.

Indonesia’s healthcare system forces inhabitants abroad for treatment

The English speaking Indonesian newspaper Jakarta Globe, last week posted an editorial about the, inadequacy of Indonesia’s healthcare system, and its urgent need of reform. According to the paper, the public hospitals are both understaffed and under-equipped and have a hard time managing a proper maintenance. The lack of an insufficient number of private hospitals to meet the publics’ growing demand has resulted in thousands of Indonesians going abroad for healthcare and medical treatment. The most common countries to visit are the neighboring Malaysia and Singapore, which both supply world-class healthcare to its international patients. Of course, going abroad for treatment is a luxury that most Indonesians cannot afford.

According to the paper, the scarcity of mental health facilities is even worse that those for medical health. There is today only 35 psychiatric hospitals across all of Indonesia, while the estimated number of people with serious mental problems stands at an estimated minimum of 650,000! According to a 2007 survey conducted by the Indonesian Health Ministry, at least 2.1 million Indonesians suffer from mental illnesses.

The paper argues that the growing number of inhabitants will increase the problem for the Indonesian government in the future, and stresses the importance of an urgent breakthrough and transformation in the country’s healthcare industry. They turn towards the important role that the private sector has in raising the standards as well as the supply of healthcare services in the country. However, this cannot be done if the government does not provide favorable conditions. The editor summarizes: “By having greater private-sector involvement, Indonesians would be able to enjoy world-class quality in health and medical services. Getting there will require a shift in mindset within the government toward bold thinking and transformational ideas. It can and must be done.”

Until the Indonesian government realize the value and benefits of a prosperous thriving private healthcare industry, Indonesians will continue to flock for medical treatments abroad.

BBC reports on the booming medical tourism industry in India

BBC has lately visited India to report on the booming medial tourism industry. In the video, which I unfortunately can’t embed in this post, we follow a couple from Fiji unable to find the procedure they are looking for back home, and are therefore forced to go overseas. While regularly choosing Australia or New Zealand for overseas treatment, they now decided to make the journey all the way to India. In spite of the longer plane ride, the cost for treatment was half of what they would pay in the neighbouring countries.

Today, India is home to a large number of super specialty hospitals, where overseas patients are helped with everything from translation services to VISA forms. These mega complexes (such as Medanta Medicity, which has over 1,500 beds and 1,000 doctors) are all focusing on keeping their costs down, while maintaining the same quality of healthcare.

The Indian government has estimated that the medical tourism industry could generate over 3 billion dollars per year. While the industry today is restricted to a few urban hospitals, the Indian government is keen on reproducing the successful mode to smaller hospitals around the country. The Indian minister of state for health, mr Dinesh Trivedi, states the importance of local hospitals entering the medical travel scene, with implementing the same idea; cut costs and preserve the same quality.

View the interesting video here!

Medical Tourism goes under the microscope

Medical tourism is yet a fairy new subject to be researched by the academic world. Many countries promoting medical, health and wellness travel currently don’t even have the right tools to calculate the number or health tourists visiting their country on a yearly basis. With the industry getting more established, this is about to change.

Global healthcare is now going under the microscope, as a York academic sets out to discover the value for money truth behind medical tourism and its impact on the British NHS. Dr. Neil Lunt from the York University Management School will lead a team of researchers that includes social scientists, health economics and clinicians.

According to Dr. Lunt, the perceived upside of patients going abroad for cheaper elective procedures, such as dental services, plastic surgery, fertility treatment and orthopaedics, is that it cuts waiting lists in the UK while boosting the economies of poorer countries. The downside is of course what happens if something goes wrong after the patient returns home and the NHS might be left to sort out any following complications.

Currently, medical tourism is manly privately funded, and the researchers will seek to establish the amount private persons are paying for it. The study will also be looking to see if people are making informed choices or being sucked into decisions by internet gossip. The latter is exactly what Novasans is trying to prevent, by acting as a complete source for information about medical tourism!

Many players in the market welcome more research about medical tourism, and Novasans will keep you updated on the findings by Dr. Neil Lunt and his team!

Trends in Medical Tourism

Whether you use the terminology medical tourism, medical travel or global healthcare, going abroad for medical treatments, healthcare and wellness procedures is a trend that is here to stay.

According to the World Tourism Organization’s UNWTO World Tourism Barometer, the number of international tourists grew with 7% the first six months of 2010. The number is expected to grow during 2010 and the coming years. Asia and the Pacific (+14%) and the Middle East (+20%) led the growth, with Asia in particular experiencing an impressive re-growth. Here are some of the numbers:

• Sri Lanka +49%
• Japan +36%
• Vietnam +35%
• Myanmar +35%
• Hong Kong +23%
• Singapore +23%

Even though Thailand has had difficult first six months due to the political turmoil, the growth was an encouraging +14%.

The Americas have grown with +7%, while Europe is experiencing the slowest recovery with +2%. This is explained with the USA and some major European markets that have not yet recovered from the economic downturn.

Overall, the international tourist arrivals totaled 421 million during the first 6 month of 2010, which is 7% more than in 2009. However, it is still 2% below the record year of 2008.

Top Ten International Tourism Countries

• France
• USA
• Spain
• China
• Italy
• UK
• Turkey
• Germany
• Malaysia
• Mexico

Medical Tourism figures and trends

While many countries rushed to tell the world about their remarkable increase in medical tourism up until 2008, the market leading destinations have been more silent in proclaiming their medical tourism figures during the two last years. The industry is now rightfully settling down and will with time develop into a full niche market.

As many countries count their figures differently for medical and wellness tourism, it is difficult to get clear overall figures. One often has to settle with benchmarks, which are not always up to date and wholly reliable. If medical tourism and travel were to be counted as a niche tourism sector, it would be much easier to seek out exact figures.

With the increased number of competitors, customers are getting more and more picky. They also demand fast and accurate replies in their information seeking. To gain clients, the healthcare providers have to immediately present their strengths and specialties, and act on the customers’ need and want. The recuperation in the tourism industry will definitely have an impact on medical tourism. How big the regrowth will be depends on the industry players’ and the destinations’ ability to market their services and surpass the expectations of their customers.

Two new books about Medical Tourism on the Market

With the medical tourism industry growing by the day, it is not only the potential patients that are looking for valuable and useful information in the multitude of available sources. The healthcare and medial providers are also searching for guidance in their quest of attaining international patients and market their services in the best possible way. Therefore, the president of the Medical Tourism Association, Renee Marie Stephano, along with the industry expert, William Cook, have authored two medical tourism and international healthcare books, that were just released on the market.

The first book is titled Developing an International Patient Center – A Guide to Creating the Best Patient Experience, and is focusing on the international patient departments at clinics and hospitals, and advising them how to create the best practices and the best patient experience for international patient centers.

The second book, titled The Medical Tourism Facilitator – A Best Practices Guide to Healthcare Facilitation for International Patients, is focusing towards opportunities, challenges and issues for a specific branch of the industry; the medical tourism facilitators, also referred to as medical tourism operators.

Renee Marie Stephano, President of the Medical Tourism Association

Renee Marie Stephano says; “In the last few years, I have been requested by many organizations and individuals to provide them with guidelines and references to help them to participate in the industry. The problem was that there weren’t any resources out there for them. Now, these medical tourism books shall play a roadmap and guide for those healthcare providers and facilitators that would like to attract and serve international patients. I am content that eventually these books will help hospitals and facilitators to serve patients better.”

The books have both received excellent reviews so far, and has an important function in moving ahead with global healthcare.

Novasans is now Media Partner to Medical Tourism Expo 2010

Novasans is happy to present our latest media partnership. This time with the renowned Medial Tourism Expo 2010. The expo is expected to be the largest and most comprehensive medical tourism conference in Asia this year, where top Indian government officials and health ministers will participate and discuss current and future trends in medical tourism.

The Expo is organized by the International Wellness and Healthcare Travel Association, IWHTA, with a mission to provide information, education, collaboration/partnering, and consultation to patients and members and promote cost effective high quality healthcare system that is affordable and accessible to all.

Mr. Naresh Jadeja

India is by many seen as the medical tourism Mecca of the world, and attracts thousands of international patients each year, visiting the healthcare destination for anything from ayurveda camps to heart surgery. The Indian healthcare industry is expected to grow with an impressive 23 percent per year.  How to further develop India’s role as one of the leading medical tourism destination is currently debated, and therefore, the president of IWHTA, Mr. Naresh Jadeja, believes this congress to be of outmost importance.

The Medical Tourism Expo 2010 will feature both exhibition, conference and work shops. Some of the topics discussed at the topic will be the Role of a government to develop medical travel industry, Elevating standards of Hospitals and Healthcare facilities, Developing a Medical Travel destination, and International Law and How to protect your organization. Some of the confirmed speakers are Dr. Ashraf Ismail, managing Director at the JCI (Joint Comission International, mr. Carlos Ariza, Director at International Markets at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida, and David Boucher, founder and President at Companion Global Healthcare.

Novasans is happy to be part of the event, and will cover the expo trough articles, newsletters and interviews, which can all be followed on the Novasans website and its other online media.

Focus of the week: Medical Tourism in Thailand

This week, the Novasans blog will focus on one of the leading medical and wellness travel destinations in the world – Thailand. We will try to explain why Thailand has succeeded as such a popular place for international patients, and the country’s future as a medical tourism destination. Feel free to comment below or on our Facebook page!

Thailand is the largest of all medical tourist destinations, and has the highest total volume of both high-end and low-end procedures. With a long history of tourism, Thailand has in recent years translated that along with high technology medical centres into a convenient package for tourists.

Being the capital, and the largest city in Thailand, Bangkok is of course the country’s hub for medical tourism. Boosting with a large international hospital, and an immensely popular tourism region; the southern town Phuket comes in on a definite second place. Other places with a high concentration of foreign tourists are now rising as options, such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, and the island Koh Samui.

Thai prices and services

In comparison to India, the prices are about 20% higher in Thailand. But many international patients still choose the latter due to the fact that Thailand is considered to be a better tourist experience overall. While India has more specialized medical centres, Thailand offers mega-centres (such as Bumrungrad Hospital or Bangkok Hospital) with full in-house service. Many medical tourists have found this to be an advantage, and fly in to Thailand regularly for dental work, comprehensive physical exams along with minor healthcare procedures.

Popular treatments range from organ transplants, orthopaedic treatments, cardiac surgeries, to cosmetic surgeries and dental treatments. For medical tourists, Thai hospitals are very customer friendly. Many Thai physicians hold UK or US professional certification, and the hospitals offer interpreters in many of the most common languages spoken by their patients.

Thailand also offers a wide range of accommodation in all service levels, pristine beaches and plentiful good and affordable restaurants. For medical tourists searching for a number of smaller procedures, Thailand is a safe alternative. However, those who are searching for specific major surgeries should carefully weigh the benefits between Thailand and India.

Japan enters the Medical Tourism Field

Yet another country in Asia is now jumping on the medical tourism wagon. The Japanese government has recognized the potential in the industry, and the government owned Development Bank of Japan estimates that 430,000 medical tourists will come to Japan in 2020. Currently, there are hardly no international patients seeking healthcare in the country. Wealthy Chinese and Russians are considered the main potential market.

The government has acknowledged the below measures for expansion of the field:

• Creation of a medical service visa system designed to allow foreigners greater flexibility in regards to the duration of their stay.
• Establishing an authorization system for medical and health facilities eligible to accept overseas patients.
• Promoting efforts to develop language-interpreting services at all medical and health institutions.

Toshiki Mano at Tama University

With these measures, the Japanese government hopes to attract new patients. But it is a late wake up for the Japanese state. Many of its neighboring countries are well ahead of them. To find its own niche, the hospitals in Japan are focusing on health check services as a first step. Japan is world leading in the use of high-tech examination devices, such as positron emission tomography (PET) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) systems. However, the choice of a narrow focus is widely questioned by leaders of the field in Japan. Professor Toshiki Mano of Tama University argues that basing an industry purely on health checks is not sustainable in the long term. “Japan is the only country that is trying to capitalize on health checks as a centerpiece of medical tourism. This can work for the present, since only a relatively small number of foreign patients from abroad are currently seeking medical treatment in Japan. However, there’s no telling whether the situation will be the same in 10 years time.” Mano is also convinced that for instance the Chinese or Russians will not come to Japan once such services become available at a lower price in their own country. Instead, he proposes that the government should work to provide international patients with treatment for digestive problems. Japan is very advanced in these services, which could benefit everyone he claims.

Yukihiro Matsuyama at the Canon Institute for Global Studies

Other voices are also heard in the discussing, pointing in different directions. Yukihiro Matsuyama at the Canon Institute for Global Studies argues that Japan should consider exporting the country’s medical facilities and expertise, something that is becoming more and more common these days. “The world is shifting away from the age of medical tourism to the direct export of hospitals and university medical departments. If Japanese hospitals and medical schools are not strong enough to branch out overseas, there will be little chance of this country winning the battle with other nations for medical tourism.”

Japan’s entering on the medical tourism field will be an interesting process to follow for sure. Novasans will do it’s best to keep you updated!

Nigeria entering the medical tourism field?

Last week, the Nigerian Minister of State for Health, Alhaji Sule Bello, stated that the Federal Government is planning to upgrade three teaching hospitals in Nigeria to an international standard, where citizens from other countries could come for medical attention.

The condition of the hospitals and clinics in Nigeria are widely debated. The minister states; “It is not that our medical facilities are bad. But even if you bring the best clinic to Nigeria, rich Nigerians will prefer going overseas for treatment.” When speaking with a newsman in Gusau, in the Zamfara State, the minister said that the Federal Government is planning to upgrade three teaching hospitals in the country to an international standard, where citizens from other countries could come for medical attention. These hospitals will be Ibadan, Enugu and Zaria. The expected cost will be N15 billion, an amount that has already been captured in the supplementary budget.

Nigeria is the most recent example of a developing country acknowledging the potential in the medical tourism industry. This is a welcome initiative in Africa, which, apart from South Africa, is still far behind other regions, such as South East Asia and Eastern Europe when it comes to attracting international patients.