Tuesday, September 29, 2009
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20 comments:
Medical tourism. Something made possible with a better transportation and a higher standard of living across all borders (at least, majority).
Channel Newsasia today, 29th Sept 09, reported a hype in the Mainland Chinese travelling to Taiwan seeking medical attention, clearly an indication of increasing medical tourism. And Singapore is no foreigner to this.
Remember the highly broadcasted Iranian Twins' separation surgery, that's exactly an example of medical tourism in Singapore.
Reasons for people to visit Singapore seeking medical attention, mainly I believed, is that Singapore has one of the best healthcare systems around the world.
Just to get everyone on the same page and lingo, here's a brief but informative description of Medical Tourism:
Medical tourism (also called medical travel, health tourism or global healthcare) is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of traveling across international borders to obtain health care. It also refers pejoratively to the practice of healthcare providers traveling internationally to deliver healthcare[1][2].
Services typically sought by travelers include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. However, virtually every type of health care, including psychiatry, alternative treatments, convalescent care and even burial services are available. As a practical matter, providers and customers commonly use informal channels of communication-connection-contract, and in such cases this tends to mean less regulatory or legal oversight to assure quality and less formal recourse to reimbursement or redress, if needed.
Over 50 countries have identified medical tourism as a national industry.[3] However, accreditation and other measures of quality vary widely across the globe, and there are risks and ethical issues that make this method of accessing medical care controversial. Also, some destinations may become hazardous or even dangerous for medical tourists to contemplate.
In the context of global health, "medical tourism" is a pejorative because during such trips health care providers often practice outside of their areas of expertise or hold different (i.e., lower) standards of care[4][5]. Greater numbers than ever before of student volunteers, health professions trainees, and researchers from resource-rich countries are working temporarily and anticipating future work in resource-starved areas[6][7]. This emphasizes the importance of understanding this other definition
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism
Hey, check this out:
Medical tourism boom takes Singapore by storm
Malaysia, Thailand and India also to ride medical tourism boom, reports Sapna Dogra from Singapore
There is more to Singapore than just being a honeymoon destination. The tiny island of Singapore, having a populace of 4.4 million, is fast positioning itself as a medical tourism hub. Attracting about 200,000 overseas patients every year, Singapore Medicine, a multi-agency government initiative, is strategising to increase the number manifold. The authorities are ambitious of serving one million foreign patients annually by 2012 and generate USD 3 billion in revenue.
The private sector hospitals here are the true centres of excellence known for providing world class treatment and having state-of-the-art infrastructure and the best possible medical expertise, avers a Mumbai-based doctor undergoing training at Gleneagles hospital.
Parkway hospitals is Singapore’s largest private healthcare group in Asia, owning three tertiary care private hospitals: East Shore, Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth. The magnificent façade of these hospitals are complemented by equally competent doctors and excellent services with world class equipment. Comprehensive patient care and treatment of a wide array of ailments is the hallmark of these hospitals, thus attracting patients from southeast Asia and Middle East.
Cont'
Incidentally, quite a few patients come from India for liver transplant. Nitin Saxena, who brought his father all the way from Delhi to Gleneagles for a liver transplant, opines unlike Indian hospitals, the services and facilities value for money.
The Living Donor Liver Transplant (LDLT) programme at Gleneagles gets 80 per cent of patients from overseas. The centre, head by world renowned transplant and hepatobiliary surgeon Dr KC Tan, performs both living as well as cadaveric liver transplants. The popularity of the programme lies in the fact that unlike India, Singapore law allows transplants in situations where there is an emotional link between the donor and recipient. The ethics committee within the hospital reviews every case and makes its recommendations to the Ministry of Health, informs Dr Tan.
Stem cell transplant is yet another field developing rapidly on the health map of Singapore. The haematology and stem cell transplant centre of Mount Elizabeth Hospital has pioneered stem cell treatment for patients with advanced cancer tumours. Headed by director Dr Patrick Tan, a world renowned specialist in the field of oncology, cost of treatment here ranges from USD 72,000 to USD 90,000 per person, compared to USD 235,000 for similar treatment in the US.
According to Dr Patrick Tan, the centre currently treats four-five cases a month and hopes to increase this further. Recently, a 12-year-old girl from Delhi underwent cord blood transplant at the centre. Besides treatment, the hospitals offer special clinics for people of different countries. For instance, there are Korean clinics and Japanese clinics. As a mark of hospitality, hospital staff goes to receive patients and their relatives from the airport, make arrangements for their stay and even provide with language whenever required. The efficient and effective healthcare system in Singapore coupled with the breathtaking scenic beauty is the perfect getaway for patients. Other countries can surely try and emulate this model if they want to become the favorite medical tourism destinations.
Cont'
To address the need and demand for quality healthcare facilities in Asia and Middle East, a specialised trade event ‘The International Healthcare Facilities Exhibition & Conference (IHFEC) 2005’ is being organised by Parkway promotions in Singapore. The theme of the conference, likely to be attended by about 600 delegates and 2,000 trade visitors, is: ‘New Century healthcare: Creating World Class Healthcare Delivery Facilities in Emerging Markets’.
The medical tourism boom is just not restricted to Singapore alone. Current trend of economic developments in the Asian region, higher life expectancies, an ageing population and an ever-increasing awareness of the benefits of the quality healthcare have given a shot in the arm to the Asian healthcare industry, taking it to witness an unprecedented growth.
Countries like Malaysia, Thailand and India are expected to ride the health industry boom in the near future. Presently, there are only 140,000 hospitals serving an Asian population of 3.5 billion. With Asian population expected to grow to 5.6 billion by 2050, the consumer expenditure on healthcare services and goods will increase from US$90 billion in 1999 to US$188 billion in 2013. Malaysia is targeting the Middle East and China to generate a whopping revenue of 2.2 billion ringgit by 2010. These emerging markets prove that there’s immense potential in the Asian healthcare business and it will see a stupendous growth, remarked Ms Tan-Hoong Chu Eng, MD, Parkway Promotions Pte Ltd., a subsidiary company of Parkway-Holdings Ltd. the largest private healthcare group in Asia.
In Thailand, another hot spot for medical tourism, 1.1 million foreign patients have been treated last year alone by virtue of its excellent health services, world-class facilities and competent doctors and experts at affordable rates. Besides, the country is positioning itself differently by offering five star services with holistic approach, said Dr Surapong Ambhanwong, president, Advisory Board in Foreign Affairs at the Private Hospital Associaion of Thailand.
On the home turf, the India’s healthcare industry has been growing by 15 per cent in the last five years. Last year alone, the country received about 1,50,000 international patients for treatment.
The healthcare industry in India is worth Rs 1,00,000 crore and accounts for nearly five per cent of the GDP.
According to a study on healthcare by the CII, medical tourism can generate an additional Rs 10,000 crore by 2012 and will account for 3-5 per cent of the market.
Research has shown that healthcare demand is related to population size, life expectancy and purchasing power, added Tan-Hoong Chu Eng.
According to Peter Kappart, president of the private hospitals of Switzerland and vice president of the Swiss Leading Hospitals of Switzerland, the spurt in healthcare industry in countries like India, China, Vietnam and UAE will make them international healthcare destinations and the growing demand for premium healthcare services in these markets will require five-star know-how.
Demand for healthcare is rising in the Middle East with millions of dollars spent in establishing specialised hospitals and clinics, expanding existing facilities and adopting world class technology in Bahrain, Kuwait, Yemen, Oman and Qatar. In the UAE, for instance, the government plans to double the bed capacity of public hospitals to achieve a target of one for every 300 people by the end of the decade.
Similarly, the need to replace ageing facilities and upgrade with the latest state-of-the-art medical technologies, planning and development of new hospitals especially in China, Indonesia, India and the Middle East, present excellent business opportunities for companies with products to offer and expertise in management and consultancy.
According to David Campbell, deputy high commissioner, director of trade and investment, British High Commission, Singapore healthcare is an important sector for the UK trade. Investment in Asia is a very important market for the UK. “Public-private-partnerships can play a significant role in sprucing up these emerging healthcare markets,” said Campbell.
http://www.expresshealthcaremgmt.com/20050731/medicaltourism01.shtml
But Iranian twins surgery was a failure, wasn't it? They died.
I personally think that there is a certain dose of marketing involved but definitely, reality surely overides it.
If you are looking for specific reasons as to why, here's a list of reasons why:
Why Patients Choose Singapore
Having the best international airport, the best airline, and the busiest port in the world are just the start of Singapore's world-class standards and achievements.
Excellence, Safety and Trustworthiness
Clinical services in Singapore emphasise excellence, safety and trustworthiness, with internationally-accredited facilities and renowned physicians trained in the best centres in the world. Singapore's healthcare system was ranked as the sixth best in the world and the best in Asia by the World Health Organization in 2000. In addition, 13 hospitals and medical centres in Singapore have obtained Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation.
Beyond international certifications, the quality of healthcare is also seen in published clinical indicators. Many healthcare providers in Singapore publish their success rates on their websites which are comparable to, if not exceeding, international standards.
Affordability
Cost is an important consideration for many international patients. For instance, for uninsured or under-insured patients from the United States, procedures in Singapore cost one-fifth or less of the price back home. This is similar to costs at other major Asian medical travel destinations. Even after factoring in the patient's and accompanying persons' travel and accommodation expenses, the cost savings are still considerable. On top of the affordability, patients in Singapore are assured of world-class treatment and good clinical outcomes.
Accessibility and Convenience
Singapore is an international city that welcomes people of all cultures. The Changi International Airport is connected to some 180 cities around the world, making the island-state highly accessible. Transport and accessibility within the country is equally easy and convenient. English is the first language of education and business, and people in Singapore live in an environment of high security and low crime. A multi-racial and multi-culturally accommodating city, patients of all race and creed will find it easy to meet others in Singapore who speak their language or share their religion.
Peace of Mind when Health Really Matters
Visitors to Singapore can be assured that they will receive world-class medical care in a safe, culturally- and religiously-accommodating environment. Singapore is truly one destination where medical travellers can enjoy peace of mind when their health really matters.
http://www.singaporemedicine.com/healthcaredest/sg.asp
It could be a good way to bring about tourism boom, such as that of Korea or Bangkok? However, I am not too sure if it's ethical?
i agree with long. Plastic surgery is common in Korea, most of the koreans have done one.
However, my question is, what about the hidden beauty that is much more important?
"Singapore" is the next big buzzword in the ever-evolving global medical toursim industry
Singapore is no longer just the leisure or business destination. With a population of 4.5 million employees of qualified doctors and some best practices and state-of-the-art hospitals Singapore is fast positioning itself as a global medical tourism hub. Some 200,000 overseas patients visit Singapore every year and the hospitals are targeted at the numbers multiply, to serving oneMillion foreign patients annually by 2012 and generate U.S. $ 3 billion revenue.
Medical tourism can be broadly as the service for providing cost-effective private medical care in collaboration with the tourism industry for patients, defined surgical and other forms of specialized treatment. Singapore healthcare services are linked on a foundation of world-class quality, safety and reliability, with advanced research and international accreditation and has built Asia'sleading medical hub.
Eleven hospitals and medical centers in Singapore Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation retained. Not a few of them are ISO-9001-2000 certified as well.
Moslty patients come from neighboring countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Burma, etc. However, patient numbers from India, China, the Middle East and Africa to Singapore to experience rapid growth. In recent years, patients from developed countries like the United States and Europewere also made their choice of Singapore as a medical destination for stress-free and still relatively affordable quality health services in a clean cosmopolitan city.Singapore news for many complex and innovative procedures such as the separation of conjoined twins and tooth-in-eye surgery. The successful separation of the
10-months-old Nepalese conjoined twins in Singapore 2001 provides medical expertise in headlines around the world. Singapore has achieved much more sinceMilestones in Asia and in the international arena.
Who in 2006, there were many Singapore hospitals accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), an American organization. This could be one reason why JCI has chosen not to create the Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore in 2006. Singapore hospitals can increase compared to other European or Asian-based systems of hospital accreditation in view an attempt to brand value.
Some top Singapore-based hospitalsare:
1) Alexandra Hospital
Founded in 1938, this hospital served as one of the main hospitals of the British Empire in the Far East and was when the British military government hospital known. After World War II ended, and even into the 1970s Alexandra was one of the most modern hospitals and well maintained. More Info ..
2) Changi General Hospital
Is one of the largest hospitals in Singapore. Its current facilities Shimei was launched in1998. It was formed as a result of the merger of two well-known hospitals, the Changi Hospital and the Toa Payoh Hospital. The hospital can therefore trace its roots back to the year 1957, when it became the Thomson Road Hospital with the construction of more information ..
3) National University Hospital
Is a hospital in Singapore that is located near the medical faculty of the National University of Singapore at Kent Ridge. Besides being a teaching hospital for the university,also serves as a research center. This hospital specializes in gastroenterology, hepatology, ophthalmology, and others. More Info ..
4) National Cancer Center Singapore
The National Cancer Center Singapore (NCC) is a national and a regional center for the prevention and treatment of various cancers including those of breast, stomach, lung, liver, pancreas, lymphoma and head and neck cancer addressed. More Info ..
5) emends Singapore
emends a group of Singapore-based Physicians and Surgeons, which is more than 25 different branches of medicine and dentistry
Facilitate Some top medical tourism providers, patient disposal and travel are:
http://www.MedicalSingapore.com- MedicalSingapore.com one of the top healthcare in Singapore tourism service providers. MedicalSingapore connects the space between patients in the UK, Europe, USA, Middle East and the health service providers in Singapore. They organizeTreatment, stay and travel in Singapore.
http://www.SingaporMedicine.com- SingaporMedicine is a multi-agency initiative to the government, world-class Singapore-focused health care easily accessible to international patients.
The post I just made is from a bloggers point of view.
Interesting to read another's point of view on the SIngapore video.
Here's the link to the website:
http://singapore-video.blogspot.com/2009/09/hospital-and-medical-tourism-in.html
Enjoys
I found this article from the MFA source and I thought this adequately suggest that medical tourism is that of a marketing approach. Basically hospitals have been set up in China so the Chinese ca have a feel of Singapore's renown healthcare system and hence increase medical tourism in Singapore. Here's the report:
S'pore talent drives S'pore-style hospital in China
It borrows concepts and staff from here but some see it as a window to China
By CHEN HUIFEN
(SINGAPORE) Even as Singapore tries to attract medical tourists from China, some Chinese investors have set up a Singapore-style hospital in Shanghai itself. They are even drawing a sizeable pool of Singapore talent to run it.
Situated in Shanghai's Gubei area, Kanglian Hospital counts at least 10 Singaporeans in its management team, some with past experience in the Singapore healthcare sector. And more could be joining the ranks as the company steps up hiring plans.
'Kanglian currently has a team of foreign talent at the management level, of which 10 are Singaporeans,' said CEO and chairman Wendy Huang, a Singaporean herself. 'It is still in the process of recruiting more foreign talent to fill other available administrative and management positions.'
BT understands that Kanglian has also poached a top administrator from a Singapore private hospital to be its medical director. Kanglian has declined to name him as he has only recently assumed the post.
And, apart from Singaporeans on its payroll, Kanglian has also drawn two Singapore healthcare names to set up branch practices there. The Singapore Heart, Stroke and Cancer Centre (SHSCC) helmed by renowned cardiologist Michael Lim has an outfit of about 10, including Singaporeans, based at Kanglian. That's not counting Dr Lim himself, who said he will be making occasional visits there.
'I think what we can bring to the table as Singaporeans is, and that's what Singapore has been good at, putting systems into place,' said Dr Lim, referring to the seamless delivery of care that is evident here.
SHSCC has invested about $3 million to set up shop at Kanglian, where it expects to 'start being profitable by end-2007'.
The other Singapore player using this opportunity to get a foothold in China is Healthway Medical Group. Its general manager for China, Andy Poh, who has been based in Shanghai since March, hopes to use it as a launch pad in China.
Located in the vicinity of a large expatriate population, Kanglian is backed by a group of influential Chinese investors with political clout.
It is considered a unique private hospital in China - owned by Chinese nationals and being run by an international team.
Taking its cue from several private healthcare providers here, the hospital offers medical suites, diagnostic equipment including the 64-slice CT scanner, day surgery centre, and inpatient facilities with a capacity of 20 beds. Like the Mt Elizabeth Hospital, doctors can set up their own practices by taking up space at Kanglian.
On top of that, Kanglian will provide nursing staff, administrative support and IT system for payment and electronic medical records, and even help arrange for the approval of practice licences for overseas doctors. And like Raffles Hospital, Kanglian seeks to create a hotel-like feel in a hospital environment.
The nurse manager is Singaporean Erica Luo, formerly from KK Women's and Children's Hospital, who will manage 22 nurses - half of them Singapore-trained.
Business development director Chris Qu is also a Singaporean, as is marketing manager Agnes Tan, who left her restaurant business in Singapore to market the new hospital to health insurers.
Rather than see the trend as a talent drain from Singapore, Dr Lim views it as an opportunity for Singapore professionals to learn from their Chinese counterparts as well as to harness the huge pool of talented doctors there. He foresees that China could become a major medical hub in times to come.
'So that's why it's important to be there, because you want to be the one managing these centres and getting them to be part of your group. If the mountain is not coming to Muhammad, then Muhammad must go to the mountain,' he said.
http://app.mfa.gov.sg/pr/read_content.asp?View,8459,
I personally think that if Singapore wants to be a top choice medical hub and to sustain its role as a place for medical tourism, it will need to reduce talent drain.
Here's a view for us to ponder:
Overload and overworked public doctors leading to talent drain, less time for teaching and research
The previous reason leads to overwork, which results in doctors and other healthcare professionals leaving the public healthcare system, often not in search of better pay but just a comparable figure and a more manageable volume of work. Folks who we have trained at great expense do not stay and we end up in a vicious circle – continually training (and thereby incurring cost) people to address the brain drain.
For those who stay, they also have no time for teaching and research. And because we have no means test and yet have to address the crowds, we pay doctors by work volume – and we wonder how come our doctors do not produce as much research as our Hong Kong counterparts even when we are similarly enmeshed in earth-shattering events like the 2003 SARS outbreak.
With our desire to be a medical hub and a knowledge-based economy, what are the costs of keeping our public doctors running like hamsters on a wheel, with no time for research or teaching?
Needless subsidising of free-loaders with truly needy not getting adequate care
This is the simplest issue: the cost of needlessly subsidising free-loaders who can actually pay. The opportunity cost is of course that of the resultant denial of adequate services and subsidies to those truly in need due to the crowding-out effects of free-loaders.
http://sg.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080816002716AAc3kjP
In additional to what Raphael has mentioned, I thought this articale came in aptly.
It talks about how to reduce talent drain:
http://www.pbrbenefits.com/documents/PBRNewsletter1.pdf
Perhaps more incentives can be given to the many doctors who have hopped to the private practice. For instance:
Dr Julian Theng graduated from the National University of Singapore in 1992 with an MBBS degree and went on to specialise in the field of ophthalmology. He completed his fellowship examiniations in Singapore and in London, obtaining the MMED (Ophth) and FRCS (Edinburgh) as well as the FRCOphth (in London) postgraduate degrees, which included a special module in optics and refraction.
He worked at the Singapore National Eye Center (SNEC) for 12 years from 1995 to 2006 and was made a Consultant in 2003. Dr Theng has earned the respect of many for his outstanding surgical abilities and his dedication to his patients, making him one of Singapore’s highest-volume surgeons. He is highly reputed for his work in the areas of the cornea and cataract, and refractive surgery, and has performed thousands of cataract, LASIK and cornea transplant surgeries.
Dr Theng has two other special areas of interest – the first being complex artifical cornea transplant surgery. He was one of only two surgeons in Singapore who was involved in performing the “tooth-in-eye” surgery, bringing sight back to a patient who was suffering from extreme bilateral cornea blindness. Dr Theng’s second area of specialty is in the treatment of presbyopia, particularly patients with cataracts, performing numerous multi-focal lens implant surgeries and speaking at conferences globally and locally for courses in this field. At the age of 40, Dr Theng is now the medical director of the Eagle Eye Center (EEC) at Mount Alvernia Hospital, Singapore.
Talent drain from Government to Private sector can pose significant impact in the medical tourism industry to a certain extend.
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