Twenty years ago only a wealthy few traveled overseas for medical procedures. Most patients were from developing countries and most hospitals and clinics were American. Today, a more significant offshore health-care industry is forming; the patients are still wealthy by world standards but they are flowing in the opposite direction — from the West to East and North to South — and in much larger numbers.
Medical tourism is booming across South-East Asia and India . Already, private hospitals across Asia treat almost 1.5 million foreign patients per year, and the number is expected to be more than triple this decade. The nascent industry is fueled by long wait lines for elective (and often non elective) procedures, spiraling costs and sheer demand in the West, as populations grow older and live longer.
Nurse and physician shortages in North America and Western Europe are driving the costs of medical procedures higher even as wait times increase. Knee-replacement surgery, for example, averages about $50,000 in the U.S. compared to just $6,000 in Thailand . Everything from complex cataract removal to heart surgery can cost as little as one-eighth in India compared to U.S. costs, including travel and accommodation.
In India and Singapore , many hospitals have already attained U.S. Joint Commission International accreditation. Moreover, some facilities such as the Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center in India perform literally thousands of heart operations each year with a post-surgery mortality rate of only 0.8% — significantly less than that of most major hospitals in the U.S.
Already, health care is the number one government expense in Western nations with universal health-care coverage. In the U.S. it is a $2.2 trillion business that is growing more than 20% per year — faster than any other sector. By 2015, global health care will likely eclipse tourism (currently $6.5 trillion) as the world's largest industry.
WHILE THE FAST GROWTH OF MEDICAL TOURISM SEEMS CERTAIN, CONSUMERS ARE LIKELY TO BE THE BIGGEST BENEFICIARIES.
Given the pressure on Western health-care systems, it seems inevitable that offshore medicine will grow exponentially. The consequences of this growth are many with respect to the availability and demand for global health-care talent. Gone are the days when Indian and Asian physicians and nurses moved en masse to the U.S. , Canada and Europe . Today, the opportunity to work in new, state-of-the-art facilities, in places like Kerala ( India ) and Penang ( Malaysia ), are keeping local talent at home.
As with other types of services that have been offshored, medical tourism is currently driven by cost. This may remain the dominant driver for decades to come but as the developing world adds more facilities and global competition for patients intensifies, hospitals will begin to specialize and innovate. Some will focus on cardian versus cosmetic surgery, for example, or build a reputation in assisted reproductive technologies In this way, global medicine will mirror other industries that have been offshored before it.
Where government is a partner, countries and regions may attempt to develop similar specializations. Australia may have a natural advantage in skin cancer research and treatment, for example. The U.S.A. , Britain or perhaps Japan might lead the way in geriatric care and prosthetic technologies. India might focus on complex heart surgery. Specialization of this sort may lead to faster breakthroughs and cures for disease.
Hospitals and clinics worldwide will also differentiate on service in general. Five-star hotel-type rooms, gourmet food, on-site Starbucks, movie theaters, workout facilities, even spas are already appearing, as are small touches like limousine airport pickup and drop off and programs for accompanying family members
While the fast growth of medical tourism seems certain, no one can yet say where it will take us. But, on the whole, consumers are likely to be the biggest beneficiaries.
