ASIA,

Epicentre of Global

Medical Tourism –

SEIZE IT OR LOSE IT!

2nd Malaysia International Healthcare Travel Expo 2013 - 20 - 22 October 2013

WILSON TAN Asia Medical Travel Council (AMTRAC)

Introducing the Asia Medical Travel Council

the first formalised regional bloc in medical

tourism in the world

Outline of Presentation

Medical Tourism Today

Issues & Challenges Faced

Greater Opportunities

Increased Competition

What is AMTRAC?

AMTRAC Objectives & Activities

Conclusion

Medical Tourism Today

Traditional outbound countries - Indonesia, Bangladesh, Vietnam, China, the Middle East, UK and US.

Emerging outbound countries - Russia, Mongolia & Africa.

The value of this industry has been estimated to have grown to between US$ 60 - 100bn today. Who knows?

The United States has 49 million uninsured Americans.

Patients today are more open to travelling overseas to seek medical treatment.

Issues / challenges

Biggest issue – overcoming patient safety perception; horror stories of botched jobs keep popping up

Credibility of data from Asia – no independent verification

Focus on certification of process and not outcomes

Information on medical providers show credentials only. No data of actual cases handled, success & failures, infection rates and readmissions

Continuity of patient care post treatment - coordination with patients home physician

Danger of missed opportunities as other regions grow in sophistication in service levels & product offering

Greater Opportunities

US Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”)– creates increased opportunities for outbound medical travel:-

sharp increase in health insurance costs to an unsustainable level due to waiver of

pre-existing conditions, extension of dependents’ age to 26 and increase in

“defensive” treatment

commercial insurance providers more open to viable alternatives offshore

Expect to see jump in US medical tourists in 2014 when the Individual Mandate

and Employer Mandate take effect - compulsory health insurance

Likelihood of large employers opting to cancel employer sponsored health

insurance and pay penalty – may seek overseas option

Long waiting times as US health system expected to be over-taxed with new

inclusion of 50 million previously uninsured Americans

Situation aggravated by baby boomers ageing –increased demand on system

Greater Opportunities

50,000 Canadians a year forego their insurance coverage and pay out of pocket for better and immediate treatment abroad

Increasing affluence in emerging markets like Russia, Mongolia and Africa – non Asian players wooing this market

Number of Russians actively seeking health treatment abroad rose to 47% in 2012 making it one of the fastest growing markets worldwide

Estimated more than 70,000 affluent Russians travel each year for medical treatment abroad spending in excess of US$1 billion annually

4 out of 10 fastest growing economies for 2013 are in Africa; resulting in growing affluence and growing pool of international patients

Increased Competition

Turkey’s healthcare standard is reputed to be equivalent to Europe’s with 46 JCI accredited hospitals – one of the highest number in the world outside of the US.

Dubai - new medical tourism initiative was announced in 2012 by Crown Prince of Dubai. Aggressive marketing, identifying gaps in services, building hospital capacity, and unifying medical tourism procedures; focus on serving people accompanying patients.

Increased Competition

Abu Dhabi - opening of Healthpoint, a 74-bed, German run multi-speciality hospital in Abu Dhabi. Cleveland Clinic, Rosewood Hotels & Four Seasons hotel opened luxury medical facility

Hungary is flagship EU medical tourism country focused on Western Europe patients; recognized for affordable, varied specialist treatment and spas.

Costa Rica/Panama/Mexico – have the advantage of proximity to US market and cultural affinity

What Is AMTRAC?

The world’s first ever formalized collaboration of national medical travel associations from Asian countries that promotes medical travel and tourism. Comprising of the top destination countries for medical tourism and travel in Asia.

INDIA Federation of Indian Chambers of

Commece and Industry (FICCI)

SINGAPORE Council for Medical Travel

Singapore (COMETS)

SOUTH KOREA Korea International Medical Association (KIMA) /

Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI)

THAILAND Thailand Medical Tourism Cluster

(TMTC)

MALAYSIA Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council

(MHTC)

open to include other Asian countries involved in medical travel

AMTRAC Objectives

• Create a regional bloc to promote medical tourism and raising visibility.

• Single platform for medical facilitators to learn, update and network with member service providers.

• Develop a higher degree of patient confidence and awareness in medical practitioners and facilities in the region; knock-on effect

• Forum to exchange views on topical issues facing the industry in Asia. For example, continuity of patient care.

• Combined regional effort in global industry research & strategic response to achieve global dominance

• Continuous - training courses & workshops for continuous professional advancement; region provides critical mass.

Attendees of the Preliminary AMTRAC Meeting

Seeking Guidance From Thought Leaders in Global Medical Tourism

Prof. Tawfik Khoja Director General, GCC Health Ministers’ Council

Keith Pollard Managing Director, Intuition Comm.

Prof. Sharon Kleefield Professor, Harvard Medical School

Ilan Geva Managing Director, Ilan Geva & Friends

Professor I. Glenn Cohen Assistant Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

Victor Lazzaro Vice Chairman BridgeHealth Medical

Visit to Health Ministers Council in Saudi Arabia

AMTRAC Activities

• Work on areas of commonality

• Engage in aggressive international marketing as a regional bloc

• AMTRAC web portal in 6 languages

• Introduce professional reporting & validation of data collection by major surgical specialties

• Promote the adoption of internationally accepted standard medical and clinical terminologies such as SNOMED or Systematized Nomenclature Of Medicine Clinical Terms

• AMTRAC events seen as a major event on global medical tourism calendar

• Symposiums covering topical issues such as bioethics, malpractices and legal issues relating to medical tourism.

Conclusion

• Asia has done well over the past decade and likely to continue

• Industry expected to continue growing

• US represents huge potential untapped market

• Growing affluence create emerging markets – Russia, Mongolia, Africa

• Traditional source countries seek to improve domestic healthcare to stem the tide of outbound medical travel and indeed becoming the new destination for medical travel

• Asian leaders in medical travel must continually reinvent themselves to stay ahead of a rapidly changing environment

• Hope to see greater support for regional collaborative effort such as the Asia Medical Travel Council (AMTRAC)

• Asia has been the epicentre of medical travel. We must seize the moment to forge ahead as a bloc or lose this opportunity forever!

THANK YOU