The first Malaysia International Healthcare Travel Expo and Conference
(MIHTE 2012) in Kuala Lumpur marked an important point in the development of
Malaysia’s medical tourism industry, led by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel
Council (MHTC). MIHTE attracted more than 1,300 delegates from 34 countries and was supported by 84 local and international exhibitors.
As the local healthcare systems
develop, the Asian medical travel sector has enjoyed a period of growth in a
difficult global healthcare market that has yet to recover from the financial
crisis of 2008. Malaysia came relatively late to the medical tourism game,
riding on the coat tails of Korea, Singapore and Thailand. As one conference
attendee described the country, it has been “the best kept secret in medical
tourism”. But it is very clear that the work of MHTC, led by Dr Mary Wong, and the Association of Private Hospitals in
Malaysia (APHM), led by Dr Jacob Thomas, is paying dividends. Malaysia has
climbed into the top five of medical tourism destinations worldwide (IMTJ Market Analysis).
A well-funded, well-resourced and well executed initiative
MHTC was set up by the Malaysia
Ministry of Health in 2009 with the aim of establishing Malaysia as the
destination of choice within the Asia-Pacific region. The MHTC is well resourced to drive
Malaysia’s medical tourism initiative. With a significant annual budget, 40
staff and working closely with the Association of Private Hospitals of
Malaysia, the organisation operates MHTC Careline, a dedicated call centre for
international patients, and is establishing a medical tourism welcome lounge at
Kuala Lumpur international airport. MHTC offices operate in Dhaka, Jakarta and
Hong Kong (serving Greater China, Japan and Korea).
A solid foundation
The Malaysian healthcare sector
in general and MHTC specifically, has made concerted efforts to build its
reputation and market share within medical travel market. Malaysia starts from
a solid foundation. Within the international market place, the country’s
history as a British colony means that English is widely spoken, and the infrastructure
and government institutions mirror those of the West. As a Moslem country, it benefits from an
affinity with outbound markets in Indonesia, Bangladesh and the Middle East.
Malaysia’s proximity to Indonesia means that it is the logical choice for
residents of a country of 250 million people who are seeking better healthcare
abroad.
The private hospitals are the
main focus of the current initiative. All private hospitals are licensed under
an Act of Parliament, and 72 out of 253 hospitals in Malaysia are registered
with MHTC to handle international patients. The Ministry of Health monitors
health and safety, hospital performance and outcomes; all hospitals must meet
the standards set by the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health, which is
itself recognised by ISQUA. Some
healthcare providers, such as Gleneagles, and the National Heart Institute have
made an additional investment in JCI accreditation to support their efforts in
the international market. The government has been pro-active in providing
financial support for medical tourism. Tax incentives are offered for hospitals
to help fund accreditation, and local expertise has been by removing
restrictions on the licensing of foreign specialists. Visa restrictions have
been relaxed and speeded up to facilitate the requirements of international
patients.
The medical tourism offering
Standards of patient
accommodation in the private hospitals (and in those public hospitals that take
international patients) are of a high standard and are above or in line with
what Western patients may expect in a modern private hospital. Provision of
international patient services is well developed. Quality standards and outcome
data are in general on a par and in some cases better than their local
competitors within Asia Pacific and the country’s private hospitals perform
well against international standards. . There is little that needs to be put
right in terms of the service offering; patients should have no concerns about
selecting Malaysia as their medical travel destination.
Pricing is competitive, providing
a lower cost alternative to Singapore within the region.
It is government policy that
hospitals must price healthcare services for international patients at the same
level as for domestic patients. Such an approach is to be welcomed and should
be adopted as standard practice within the market.
Current source of medical tourists
Malaysia’s international patient
profile reflects the regional nature of medical tourism. The great proportion
of patients come from Indonesia followed by India and Japan. Bangladesh, and
Myanmar are also important source markets. Indonesian patients travel to
Malaysia for medical services and treatments that are not available within
their own country or that they feel are not of suitable quality. Patients are
attracted by the short travel times, range of services, reasonable cost, and
cultural match in terms of religion, language and food. The driver in this
significant source market is clearly not just cost; it is about cross border
healthcare; patients travelling from one healthcare system to another system
that can better meet their needs, for treatments which they are prepared to self-fund.
The majority of these medical travellers are self-funding and are from
Indonesian middle and high income groups. The drivers for Bangladesh and
Myanmar are very similar.
There is a small but growing
market for cosmetic surgery and dentistry with Australia and New Zealand being
the main source of patients.
The numbers
Under the Private Healthcare
Facilities and Services Act 1998, the Malaysian Ministry of Health (MOH) makes
it compulsory for all private healthcare facilities to report their patient
statistics, including the number of medical tourists. MHTC works closely with
the MOH on this structured approach to data gathering.
The reported number of 583,000
medical tourists for Malaysia for 2011 includes all hospitals embraced by MHTC.
49% of the total is accounted for by Penang.
The Klang Valley (Kuala Lumpur and its suburbs, and adjoining cities and
towns in the state of Selangor) contributes 35% to the total.
MHTC estimates that 40% of the
total quoted number are expatriates living mainly in the Klang Valley area,
rather than medical tourists. In this area, private hospitals report between 5%
and 15% of their admissions are medical tourists; such as Sime Darby estimates
the share at 6-10% of and Gleneagles at around 15%. The true figure for medical
tourists into Malaysia is probably nearer 350,000. This total may contain a
high proportion of outpatient visits rather than inpatient admissions which
explains the apparent disconnect between the total reported figure and the
inpatient admission numbers reported by individual hospitals.
Future plans for medical tourism
MHTC is conducting introductory
workshops for healthcare facilitators, planning the provision of additional
offices in target markets and the development of better approaches to data
collection, customer service and patient satisfaction.
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