Medical Tourism Across the Globe

Medical tourism refers to travelling of people to another country for obtaining medical treatment in that country.

 Medical expense are high in U.S, for which people tend to prefer the contry who has cheap medical procedure and high standard of care.

India has been the hub for medical tourism due to its cost-effective medical care. In the metro cities you can find modern technology equipped medical facilities, such as AIIMS, Apollo, Manipal hospital. Hospitals has also hired language translators so that people from abroad doesn’t face any difficulty.

According to Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), the estimation of India’s medical tourism worth US $ 3 billion. It has been projected that till 2020 it will grow to 7-8 billion.

By looking at the rising figure, Narendra Modi inaugurated IndiaHealthCareTourism.com. This web-portal guides tourist patients who are looking for treatment in India. It comprises of 93 topmost medical centres, 30 Ayurveda and wellness centres.

Some of the services those are available to the patient from abroad are-

·         Hospital/clinic as per requirement/budget.

·         Treatment from doctors trained in USA/UK

·         Arrangement of appointment with the doctors.

·         Nurses/guides

·         Visa facility

·         Arrangement of accommodation for family or attendants

·         Arrangement of post treatment.

All these facilities within budget and also the good quality of treatment attract more tourists to India. In USA people won’t be able to afford all these facilities. The ease of travel to India is also one of the prime causes for the flow of patient from abroad.

Facts and Statistics-

Let’s check some facts about medical tourism. Facts shows that,

a)      Medical tourism is a thousand year old process. In medieval times, people used to believe in cult. It was believed that the gods and goddess of temple Tell Brak, Asclepia can cure diseases. Pilgrims from Greek and Rome would travel to those temples to seek cure.

b)      Joint Commission International (JCI) is a non-profit organization. JCI accredited hospitals and healthcare centres in and outsides USA. It has accredited 458 hospitals around the world and 15000 health care centres in USA. If any patient wants to ensure high standard of medical treatment they prefer JCI accredition. According to Delloite, in 2009, predicted that half a million of USA’s patients will travel for medical treatment, and there will be 35% increase in medical tourism over the coming year.

c)       During the stay a patient will spend most of their time engaging into physical rehabilitation in their hotel. Their stay in hospital will be for two or three days only. Thus they will be needed to choose a hotel who has experience with medical tourist and comprises every bit of facilities you require.

d)      Companion is one of the important fact to consider. As the presence of your companion will affect your recovery. The company one brings may be willing to stay by side or may-not. As it is you who matter the most, choose wisely who will be your companion as he needs to stay beside you, and assist you in your recovery.

Now let’s check some statistical data. Here are some major heading who comprises some mind boggling data’s related to medical tourism in U.S. and other countries around the world.

MTA patient survey-

Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) presented some amazing data on medical tourist on US citizens.

• 64% of patients that travelled abroad for care did not have health insurance.
• 33% of patients travelled abroad for cosmetic surgery.
• Almost 90% of patients or their companions engaged in tourism activities.

·         85% of US patients found they received more personalized medical care than in the US.

• Nearly 27% of patients had previously travelled to a foreign country to receive medical care, most were female, all were between ages 45 and 64; all were American; all were college educated; half had household incomes between $50,000 and $100,000; and some had health insurance (50%), while other did not.
• Nearly 80% of the demand for medical travel is driven by cost savings.
• Medical tourists spend between $7,475 and $15,833 per medical travel trip.
• The cost of medical treatment (85%) and state-of-the-art technology (83%) were the most important factors in their decision to travel abroad for treatment.

U.S. Healthcare statistics-

The data’s from U.S. Healthcare shows why do U.S. citizen prefer medical tourism. Most because its cost efficient. In 2013, Nerd Wallet Health analyzed data from the U.S. Census, Centres for disease control, the federal court system and the Commonwealth Fund and found that:

·         56 million Americans under age 65 will have trouble paying medical bills.

·         Over 15 million American adults (ages 19-64) will use up all their savings to pay medical bills.

·         Nearly 10 million American adults (ages 19-64) will be unable to pay for basic necessities like rent, food, and heat due to their medical bills

·         Over 16 million children live in households struggling with medical bills

·         Despite having year-round insurance coverage, 10 million insured Americans ages 19-64 will face bills they are unable to pay

·         According to a recent report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. spends almost 18 percent of its gross domestic product on healthcare that’s more than any of the 34 OECD countries.

·         Due to the changes of healthcare reform, the Deloitte Centre for Health Solutions reported that 60 percent of doctors surveyed revealed they are likely to retire earlier than planned, perhaps, within the next 1-3 years creating a shortage of doctors.

The above data significantly shows the necessity of medical tourism for the U.S. citizens. India is one of the favourite medical hub for the U.S. citizens due to its cost saving and standard medical facilities.

Statistics on medical tourism of other countries of the world-

Let’s set some light on the data’s of the countries who receive patient in search of medical facilities.

• A 2013 MTA Medical Tourism Patient Survey found that Mexico and India respectively have the highest demand for medical tourism.
• Data from the Council for International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine (PROMED) shows that in 2012, Costa Rica attracted nearly 50,000 medical tourists (mostly from the U.S. and Canada) and each one spent an average of $7,000. Close to half of these medical travellers were said to be dental, followed by orthopaedics, weight loss surgeries, gynaecology and plastic surgery. Medical tourism generated some $338 million in revenue for the country that year, PROMED reported.
• According to the Indian High Commission, Indian hospitals received 18,000 Nigerians on medical visas in 2012, 47% of the Nigerians were in India to receive medical treatment and spent approximately $260 million USD.
• Mexico’s Secretary of Tourism said that almost 12 million international visitors arrived in Mexico in 2013, 6.5 million of the visitors were from the U.S.

·         The Korea Health Industry Development Institute reported in 2012 that 159,464 patients from 188 countries visited Korea in 2012, 32,503 of those patients were Chinese.

·         In 2012 the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand and the Kasikorn Research Centre found that 2,530,000 international patients travelled to Thailand for treatment, the top five nationalities were; Japan, U.S., UK, GCC and Australia. Revenues generated from medical tourism were approximately 4 Billion USD.

• According to Rohini Sridhar, Chief Operating Officer of Apollo Hospitals, the number of international patients visiting the hospital has been witnessing an increase of 20 per cent every year. “We provide medical care for around 400 to 500 people from European countries, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Middle East in a year,” she says.

These facts throw light on the rising preference of medical tourism specially, by the US citizens, and the places they prefer for medical treatment.

Lets us now see some more facts which gives rise to relevant reason for the preference of medical tourism now-a-days, as well in the coming future and also its impact in the global healthcare industry.

Over the year, medical tourism has gained quite a big response. USA has been marked the top country to have half a million people to travel abroad for medical help.

Why do people go abroad for medical treatment?

Though cheap medical treatment is consider one of the main reason for medical tourism, but there are people who travel abroad seeking advanced technology, better healthcare, and faster medical treatment. The May 2008 Mckinsey and Company report, states that 40% of medical travellers seek advanced technology, 32% seek better healthcare, 15% seek faster medical services, while only 9% of travellers seek lower costs as their primary consideration. Lack of health insurance is also a good reason for medical tourism.

• India has become a medical tourism hot spot, with 166,000 international patients in 2012 coming to the country due to the selection of highly skilled doctors and improved medical infrastructure.
• Singapore has been a growing medical tourism centre in South East Asia with 850,000 medical tourists arriving in 2012.
• Due to its close proximity to the U.S., Mexico has become a top medical tourism destination with 40,000 to 80,000 American seniors spending their retirement there with a considerable number receiving nursing home and health care.
• After more than doubling in the last 5 years, Malaysia is also becoming a famous destination with 770,134 medical travellers in 2013.
• Singapore has been a growing medical tourism centre in South East Asia with 850,000 medical tourists arriving in 2012.

Cost saving among the medical tourist nation-

It is reported that the US citizens save upto 25% to 75% on medical treatment. Dental, cosmetic, orthopaedic, and cardiovascular are some of the services that the US citizen travel abroad for treatment.

Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama are preferred for dental or cosmetic services. South-east Asia and India are preferred for orthopaedic and cardiovascular treatment.

Below are the list of some cost saving medical tourism destination-

• India provides various healthcare services at 20% of the U.S. cost.
• Costa Rica offers 30% to 40% savings for dental and cosmetic surgery services.
• Mexico is a favourite destination offering 25% to 35% savings for dental and cosmetic surgery.

·         Singapore offers various medical services in 13 JCI accredited hospitals for only 35% less than U.S. prices.

·         Cosmetic surgery and alternative medicine can be obtained in Malaysia for 25% of the U.S. cost.

Summary

The medical tourism industry has a bright future. With the benefits provided more and more patients are attracted for treatment abroad. Companies like Hannaford Bros. Co offers offshore medical facilities to their employees.

Companies like Aionia Medical Travel, Celsus Medical, ClinicAccess are some of the medical tourism agencies.

Though medical tourism shows favourable benefits, the patient should research about the hospitals, what kind of facilities they provide, whether it is favourable to do the treatment in US or abroad. Reviewing the doctor’s credential and consulting with other patient is highly recommended.