The Land of Morning Calm

Medical tourism – the practice of traveling to another country for healthcare reasons and enjoying a holiday at the same time is a key economic growth drivers that countries with advanced medical infrastructure and capabilities are looking at developing. Most countries offering medical tourism lure potential customers by offering cost-effective yet quality delivery of complex medical diagnostic and therapeutic procedures; specialized surgeries such as cardiac surgery, joint (knee/hip) replacement, dental surgery and cosmetic surgeries are several common examples.

In Asia, the most common destinations for medical tourism would unquestionably be exotic locations like India or Thailand although countries like Singapore and Philippines are fast catching up. One country in particular however, deserves special attention – South Korea “The Land of Morning Calm”.

South Korea’s cultural and holiday landmarks are rapidly gaining popularity and this sudden interest has been fueled though an interesting channel – Korean dramas. Romantic stories involving mostly love triangles or love comedies with handsome actors and gorgeous actresses, scenic backdrops and historical settings, these Korean dramas have been translated into various languages and exported all over Asia (and to the USA as well), creating tons of ‘die hard fans’ of the ‘Korean Wave’, and arousing deep interest in the country’s language, culture and landmarks.

In addition to the ‘Korean Wave’, South Korea has always been renowned for its people’s health conscious ethos, nutritious diet and high-standard yet extremely affordable cosmetic surgery offerings, which is not surprising given the South Korean ‘obsession’ with one’s appearance. A straw poll conducted in October 2009 by The Chosun Ilbo, a major national newspaper, revealed that nearly 90 percent of Korean women would undergo plastic surgery to ‘feel better’ about themselves (though the last time I checked, it wasn’t only the women in South Korea getting cosmetic surgery done). As a testimonial to South Korea’s expertise in cosmetic surgeries, actors and actress in Korean dramas are frequently cast as models for top beauty chains, effectively advertising the country’s forte in ‘beauty enhancement’.

South Korea’s determination for establishing itself as a sought-after destination for medical tourism is by no means ‘skin deep’. Attracting approximately 40,000 foreign patients with an estimated revenue of US$48 million from medical tourism in 2008, the South Korean government has declared this revenue-generating industry as one of its 17 next-generation growth engines and plans to develop more health care clusters catering to this lucrative opportunity. While the country’s native tongue is Korean, major languages like Mandarin and Japanese are commonly spoken due to historical reasons (Korea was previously a vassal state of China and a colony of Japan), and of course, use of English is growing rapidly due to global trade. The language assimilation has been successfully attracting medical tourists from mainly Japan and Chinese-speaking countries such as China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and even Singapore.

To promote the medical tourism industry, the South Korean Government has launch several initiatives including;

· Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion (CKMP).
A public-private joint initiative to promote Korea healthcare to international patients, it is the official organization for Korea medical tourism supported by the Korean government as well as the “acting body” for a series of national policies on medical travel to Korea.
Website: http://www.koreahealthtour.co.kr/eng/index.jsp

· Visit Korea website.
Provides an overview of Korea’s medical tourism, a step-by-step guide to medical tourism services, information on medical service providers, and an advanced search system to help travelers select the appropriate medical institution.
Website: http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/mt/tourism.kto?cmd=main&md=ena

In addition to providing web portals available in major languages (English, Mandarin and Japanese), medical tourism information booths have also been established in the Tourism Information Center at Incheon International Airport to provide first hand information. A lounge catering to the needs of medical tourists is also available equipped with refrigerators for medical tourists visiting Korea to store their medication as well free internet access to browse for information on medical service providers and related travel agents. There are also at least 12 health facilities in Seoul official designated to provide 24/7 medical services in English, Japanese and Mandarin:

1. Seoul National University Hospital
2. Severance Hospital
3. Seoul Asan Medical Center
4. Samsung Seoul Medical Center
5. Gangnam Severance Hospital
6. Soonchunhyang University Hospital
7. Hanyang University Hospital
8. KyungHee University Hospital
9. Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital
10. Chung-Ang University Hospital
11. Chung-Ang University Yong-San Hospital
12. Migrant Worker’s Hospital

So what does the glowing testimonials of sexy actors and actresses, top-rated physicians, and value-for-money medical services provided by South Korea translate to for providers in the medical devices and healthcare informatics sector?

For starters, hospitals in South Korea also happen to be fast adopters of state-of-the-art medical equipment and health information technology. Recognized as one of the four ‘Asian Tigers’ (Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan) South Korea is the 4th largest economy in Asia (15th largest in the world) and sustains the highest total healthcare expenditure out of the ‘Tigers’ with over 50% estimated to be funded by the public sector. Although South Korea can boast of strong domestic manufacturing capabilities, the country still depends largely on foreign imports for modern high-tech medical devices. The South Korea-U.S. free trade agreement (KORUS FTA) signed in 2007 has also eased regulatory and legal issues and substantially increased bilateral trade flows increasing the potential size of this opportunity.

Armed with the government’s blessing in developing the country’s medical tourism infrastructure, local governments like Jeju Island, Daegu, Busan and Gangwon-do already have substantial plans in the pipeline to build their health care clusters to cater for the anticipated medical tourism boom so it may be worthwhile to explore this opportunity a little further than for purely cosmetic reasons.

References
1. Medical Tourism, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism
2. Korean Wave, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_wave
3. http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/10/26/2009102600798.html
4. http://www.koreaittimes.com/story/5068/south-korea-boosting-medical-tourism
5. Economy of South Korea, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_South_Korea
6. Korea – U.S. Free Trade Agreement, http://www.ustr.gov/trade-agreements/free-tradeagreements/korus-fta

Adam Chee, binaryHealthCare.com

About Adam

Adam has several years of professional working experience in the IT industry before venturing into Health IT in 2002 where he specialized in Medical Imaging Informatics and related technologies before moving onto the wider spectrum of Healthcare Informatics.

An active contributing member to several international Technology and Health IT initiatives, Adam runs binaryHealthCare, a social enterprise advocating Health IT as an enabler for “better patient care at lower cost” by raising the standards of health informatics through training, continuing education and providing a vendor neutral community for knowledge exchange and collaboration.

A recognized subject matter expert on the area of Health IT, Adam is an experienced conference speaker, adjunct faculty with insitutes of higher learning (on health informatics) and serves on several committees (including Ambassador for CHIU – the Committee of Healthcare Informatics User for the Asia Region).

Asiahealthspace also has posted the following articles covering medical tourism:
MEDICAL TOURISM IN ASIA: RIDING THE WAVE….
HEALTHCARE IN THE MIDDLE EAST: OASIS OF GROWTH OPPORTUNITIES