Singapore continues with its marketing campaign to attract more patients from the Gulf states to visit the city-state for its first-class medical services.
The city has become a popular destination for medical tourists from the Gulf, many of whom head to the city-state for its advanced facilities, top medical specialists, quality treatment and Arab-friendly environment.
SingaporeMedicine recently led a delegation of healthcare providers at a Dubai medical exhibition and conference. "The Middle East is a key market for SingaporeMedicine and by building our presence in the region. We hope to raise the level of awareness of our services to patients, doctors and medical tourists looking for first-rate healthcare," said Dr Jason Yap, director of healthcare services at the Singapore Tourism Board.
SingaporeMedicine, together with the Healthy Travel Media, has launched the Arabic version of Patients Beyond Borders Singapore Edition, a promotional medical travel guidebook aimed at educating Middle East patients about medical travel to Singapore. The Arabic version of the book is for native Arab speakers who are looking for alternatives to healthcare services outside their own country.
The 200-page book, written entirely in Modern Arabic, provides an in-depth overview of the hospitals and specialist centres, along with coverage of specialised surgical procedures and patient resources, accommodation options, and recommended travel activities that cater to Middle East patients and their companions. Both print and electronic version of the book are available from SingaporeMedicine and in retail outlets throughout the Arab World, including Amazon and other online retailers.
The growth of our specialty services to Middle East patients has seen a significant rise in patients from the region, Dr Jason Yap noted.

The International Medical Travel Association (IMTA) is gearing up for the IMTA Americas Conference, which runs from December 7 to December 10 at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City in Arlington, Virginia.
Dr Steven Tucker, IMTA president, said that the conference is targeted at members of the international medical community who are interested in developing the US market for medical travel.
The conference will also conduct combined workshops by US benefits executives and several executives from the IMTA’s hospital members.
The IMTA Americas Conference will be held concurrently with the Health Care Globalization Summit (HCGS). Chaired by Ruben Toral, the HCGS is designed and organised to facilitate networking between international providers and US stakeholders, including employers, health plans, hospitals and others who are interested in learning about medical travel options.
Toral said: December and January will be productive months for international providers to reach both business-to-business and consumer prospects. At HCGS next month, we are focused on connecting providers with their best business prospects. In January, the IMTA-sponsored Medical Travel Roadshow for 2009 will open in Washington DC at the annual WRC NBC4 Health & Fitness Expo which drew a huge audience of 85,000 consumers in 2008. The 2009 roadshow will reach more than a half million consumers in a dozen major U.S. markets.
To learn more about the Americas Conference click here or to learn more about The Health Care Globalization Summit click here.
To register click here or call Willie Moreno at 804-266-7422 ext 7408.

Doctors and hospitals are to be given performance ratings as part of plans to make the United Arab Emirates (UAE) a destination for medical tourists.
The Ministry of Health UAE said that the ratings system will be based on star-grading system that are used by the hotel industry and it will help patients to see which professionals or clinics provide the best treatment for particular medical operations.
Private hospitals and clinics will be included along with government hospitals. The ministry, which has responsibility for the northern Emirates, will link up with health authorities and tourism bodies from other emirates.
The results will be displayed online. Although the ratings will be put in place to attract medical travellers, Emiratis and expatriates will also be able to take advantage of the website.
The ministry’s assistant undersecretary for international relations and health affairs Nasser al Budoor said: The website displaying the ratings will show people where to go to get a good doctor. It will say things like which hospital is best for things like kidney disease and will give a ranking, by numbers. Anyone can look at the website and look at five-star, seven-star, two-star ratings, similar to a hotel. We will go through more detail on our website. People do not want to call. They want to see which hospitals are good, which doctors are good and to see their picture.
Although it appears to be a good idea, no criteria have been given on how the ratings will be given. Doctors are worried about who is going to determine the rating and what basis they will use.

As US medical tourism promoters come to realise that fewer people than predicted are flying to foreign countries for medical procedures, they are starting to shift their focus a little closer to home.
Domestic US medical tourism is growing as medical travel agencies continue to hunt for the best deals for patients willing to look beyond their hometowns for care they think is better and less expensive.
Hospitals are looking for ways to attract new patients from within the US.
With this in mind, Aspirus Wausau Hospital plans to expand its target area by participating in a domestic medical travel network. The medical facility is one of a handful of US hospitals trying to compete for consumers using a value-based approach to medicine. Employers are setting up approved hospital lists where employees get reimbursed for travel and lodging and reduced co-payments. Otherwise, they get the company’s standard insurance coverage.
Meanwhile, Boston-based medical tourism company Healthbase has established partnerships with several US healthcare providers to make affordable high quality medical care available to patients from the US, Canada and Mexico. It still also offers treatment overseas. Uninsured Americans have traditionally been charged much more than what insurance companies are charged for the same service by US hospitals. By negotiating for lower price for medical care, Healthbase’s customers will pay even less than what insurance companies pay in specific cases for medical services. This means, a heart bypass tagged at over US$100,000 can now be had for under US$15,000, which closely matches the price of the operations overseas.
Likewise, medical tourism management expert Health Travel Guides has reached an agreement with The Krongrad Institute of Miami, Florida to develop affordable medical tourism options for prostate cancer patients in the US. Health Travel Guides CEO Herb Stephens said: It is important for consumers to understand that they have healthcare options that do not necessarily mean travelling abroad.

The European Union (EU) has issued an e-commerce directive compelling all companies to provide additional means of contact on their websites. The measures are intended to protect consumers and apply to all commercial websites, not just those that take payments.
Aside from their postal and email addresses, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has ruled that a telephone number and a contact form – that must be answered within an hour – are deemed acceptable.
This latest development has a major impact on hospitals, clinics, medical travel agents and other companies involve in the European medical travel industry.  The new rule applies to all companies operating in the EU.
Courts and lawyers could well interpret it to also apply to businesses located in Asia, the Americas and in other regions that are targeting consumers based in the EU.
While some hospitals, clinics and agencies do provide full details, there is a considerable minority who fail to do so. With the new ruling, they now have to ensure that their websites provide the means for customers to communicate with them in a direct and effective manner.
Article 5(1) of the E-Commerce Directive stated that corporate websites must contain the name of the company, their geographic address and other details including email address.
The ECJ added that other means of communication have to be offered.
"It is clear from all those considerations that under Article 5(1) of the Directive the service provider is required to offer recipients of the service a rapid, direct and effective means of communication in addition to his electronic mail address.
Information does not necessarily have to be a telephone number. That information may be in the form of an electronic enquiry template through which the recipients of the service can contact the service provider via the internet, to whom the service provider replies by electronic mail."
The ECJ has ruled that a web form filled in by a consumer and responded to by the company via email was acceptable provided the company will reply to queries within 30 to 60 minutes.
Offering a web form that sends an automated response does not count.

Caribbean countries are beginning to accept that previous political posturing about making the region a major medical tourism hub, was just hot air, as they lack the resources or will to get into price- comparative medical tourism. But in individual countries, plans are emerging that could make it a long-term niche player in health and wellness tourism.
In Barbados, the St Joseph Hospital, which has been languishing unused for more than decade, may soon get a new lease of life. Minister of Health Dr David Estwick sees St Joseph Hospital as a prime property to use as a base to evolve and develop a health tourism product in Barbados.
Although the government could develop it, their track record in healthcare facility development is abysmal. A joint venture with private investors running the project is more workable. The Government has several proposals for private health and wellness initiatives but a requirement for approving any is that they must include public services to the local people.
Estwick claims that several private firms are literally knocking on the ministry’s doors every week, presenting two or three proposals for the use of St Joseph Hospital for health tourism. But any project receiving a green light must include a 50-50 arrangement or a 60-40 private-government ownership to ensure the Government benefits from foreign exchange, employment and all of the other variables. Private investors do not like these restrictions.
Over the last five years, Jamaica has seen a steady increase in the level of Spanish investments flowing into the island. An area, which the government feels has great potential for growth in Jamaica, is health tourism. At least one Spanish firm, Grupo HOSPITEN has indicated an interest in pursuing development. Hospiten has built hospitals and medical facilities in different parts of the world and has indicated its intent to build a hospital in 2009 on the north coast, to serve the tourists who come to the Spanish hotels. The 60-room health tourism hospital will be the first such facility in the Caribbean.
Jamaica dreams of attracting patients from the USA and talks up the ability of local investors and medical personnel and that Jamaica could be more cost effective than Asia. But to make any of that work needs foreign hospitals with medical tourism expertise to run the services.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has called for greater promotion of traditional medicine and its integration into health care systems.
WHO issued a "Beijing Declaration" at the end of its congress on traditional medicine, which recognised traditional medicine as one of the resources of primary healthcare services to increase availability and affordability.
It defines traditional medicine as covering a wide variety of therapies and practices and varying greatly from region to region.  "The knowledge of traditional medicine, treatments and practices should be respected, preserved, promoted and communicated widely and appropriately based on the circumstances in each country," said the declaration.
Traditional medicine refers to health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being.
Countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America use traditional medicine (TM) to help meet some of their primary health care needs. In Africa, up to 80 percent of the population uses traditional medicine. In industrialised countries, adaptations of traditional medicine are termed Complementary or Alternative.
While China, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the Republic of Korea and Vietnam have fully integrated traditional medicine into their healthcare systems, many countries are yet to collect and integrate standardised evidence on this type of health care.
The WHO calls on governments to formulate regulations and standards to ensure appropriate, safe and effective use of traditional medicine. Governments should establish systems for the qualification, accreditation or licensing of traditional medicine practitioners.
An unusual element of traditional Chinese medicine is longevity medical tourism in China. Just being here adds years to your life or at least that’s what elderly natives, eager government officials and hopeful visitors in a remote corner of China contend.
Poyue and several other villages near the Vietnam border in China’s Guangxi Autonomous Region comprise a longevity cluster. They claim an inordinate number of centenarians, including one said to be 113 years old. Bama county, with a population of 250,000, has 74 centenarians, or about one for every 3,400 people. That’s a far higher incidence than in the US or even in Japan, which has one of the longest average life expectancies in the world.
Experts on aging are sceptical about the existence of longevity clusters, but that hasn’t blunted Bama’s ambitions to become a centre for health tourism. Bama’s plans include building upscale accommodations for foreign tourists who want a spa vacation without the costly treatments, massages and exercise regimens. They argue that visitors need only breathe the air and drink the water, and they’ll benefit. Water from the local river comes from springs and is considered so pure that it is drunk without treatment or filtration. In Bama City, the four-star Longevity Hotel sells everything from Long Life bottled water to snakes coiled in a jar of alcohol (a staple of Chinese medicine).

Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) is set to become an international hub for medical tourism said Dr Ayesha Abdullah of the DHCC.
DHCC is a conglomerate of medical teaching institutions, private hospitals and clinics, medical spas and rehabilitation centres. With residential villas, apartments, and five-star hotels surrounding an artificial lake, it is designed to promote medical tourism.
With the work on Phase 1 almost complete and operational, Phase 2 projects are coming online. A major project under Phase 2 is The Wellness Community. This aims to position itself as the premier location for prevention, rejuvenation, integrative medicine, sports medicine and healthy living services in the region. Phase 1 will be the centre for cutting edge diagnosis and conventional clinical treatment. Phase 2 will focus on preventative and alternative medicine. Other developments planned in Phase 2 include three hotels and two wellness resorts. Fifty clinical villas will be built to support the delivery of outpatient day surgery and other specialised healthcare services, while six hospitals of approximately 500 beds, will focus on rehabilitation and women’s specialties
DHCC’s Phase 1 houses 100 clinics and over 70 healthcare businesses, two hospitals, and a multi-specialty outpatient. The hospitals/centres in Phase 1 include Mayo Clinic, Moorfields Eye Hospital, Dr Suleiman Al Habib Medical Centre, the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital, the German Medical Centre, Dubai Medical Suites and City Hospital.
Soon, the Harvard Medical School Dubai Centre (HMSDC), University Hospital, and the Dubai Bone & Joint Centre will relocate to DHCC for provision of healthcare in Phase 1. The Boston University Dental Health Centre is currently operational from a temporary location within DHCC and is due to have its own building within the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Academic Medical Centre.
Despite massive promotion of DHCC, numbers on the ground are low. The international facilities report tens rather than hundreds of health tourists, almost all from the Middle East, not America nor Europe. A major problem that prices are double those on offer in Southeast Asia. While a few people will pay for local high quality, world recession means that if you can get a cardiac bypass for $44,000 in the UAE, but in Singapore and Thailand, the same surgery costs around $18,500 and $11,000 respectively, Asia will be your destination.
Guy Ellena, director of health and education at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a World Bank agency, believes the UAE is too expensive: "There is not enough of a comparative advantage to attract people from other parts of the world. Nearly every government believes that medical tourism will make a change to their country, but it will follow the rules of the market cost."
The American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital (AACSH) anticipates 20 percent of its revenue will come through medical travel. Since opening in June, AACSH has seen only 460 patients: 60 percent from the UAE, 30 percent from the GCC with the remaining 10 percent from North Africa and Europe.
DHCC centres seek to use the new facilities and specialisation to justify high prices, despite the world economy. Dubai ’s tourism authority continually reiterates the ludicrous claim that the UAE will receive 11.2 million medical tourists by 2010, largely through DHCC. But in the UAE most medical tourism is outbound so it will be an uphill struggle to even turn the flow around.

John C. Lincoln Hospitals (JCL) has signed an agreement with Vietnam’s Envita Asia Hospital Corp. The joint venture will provide the Vietnamese hospital’s most seriously ill and injured patients access to American healthcare expertise and technology.
Le Thanh Cat Van, chairman of Envita Asia Hospital said he had been looking to partner with an American hospital for some time, and finally found a hospital receptive to the idea, They are willing to exchange medical education and expertise training with physicians in Vietnam.
Envita will pay for the travel expenses involved. Patients from Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia will travel to JCL to receive treatment and receive an undisclosed discount on their medical bills.
In 2003, the Vietnamese government first allowed the private sector to offer medical services. There are now 18 locally owned private hospitals and two private hospitals with overseas owners. Envita’s chairman is leading a consortium to rebuild an aging French hospital in Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon). The 70-bed hospital will open in February and there are plans to have 250 beds by 2011.
One of the few Vietnamese hospitals to attract medical tourists is FV Hospital, an international standard general hospital. Since establishment in 2003, FVH has been accredited by one of the most respected healthcare authorities worldwide: the French Haute Autorité de Santé (HAS). Located in Saigon South, just 15 minutes from the centre of Ho Chi Minh City, it offers a wide range of medical and surgical services to over 150,000 patients a year. FV Hospital is 100 percent foreign-owned by a group of French, Swiss and Belgian doctors and leading international development banks. FV hospital offers a five-star hotel serviced room.
Bangkok Hospital is building a facility in Phnom Penh catering to Cambodians seeking high-end medical treatment. Thailand’s Bangkok Hospital hopes to encourage more wealthy patients to seek treatment in Cambodian hospitals. The Royal Phnom Penh Hospital, a US$40 million joint venture in partnership with Bangkok Hospital is expected to open in July 2009. The eight-storey building will initially accommodate 100 beds but will eventually expand to 200 beds. As financial conditions improve for more Cambodians, they have begun to seek medical treatment overseas in Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. The new Royal Phnom Penh Hospital seeks to keep more at home.

Apollo Hospitals Group one of the leading private sector hospitals groups in the world, has signed a deal with Seychelles International Specialist Medical Center to commission the Hospital and provide operations management services.
The hospital is planned to have an initial capacity of 100 beds and will be expanded to a 200-bed facility during phase II. The hospital is built to international standards with state-of-theart medical equipment, and will offer super specialty healthcare services including cardiac surgeries, neuro surgeries, and hip and knee replacements. Apollo will also be responsible for quality accreditation, training and development, establishing systems and protocols for clinical and managerial functions. JCI accreditation is being planned within the first 12-18 months of commissioning of the hospital.
Apollo Hospitals Chairman Dr. Prathap C Reddy said: This is another step toward reaching Apollo’s mission to meet the healthcare needs of the global population by transferring its know-how, expertise and clinical excellence systems.
This is the second project being planned by Apollo Hospitals Group in the Indian Ocean belt. The other is a 220-bed super specialty hospital in Mauritius.
Apollo Hospitals Bangalore is the latest of Apollo’s offerings and has just become the group’s fifth hospital in India to achieve JCI status. The group now has over 10,000 beds across 43 hospitals in India and overseas.

ParkwayHealth’s new flagship Novena Hospital is on track for opening in 2011, said chairman Richard Seow at the groundbreaking ceremony.
We are rushing to finish this as there is always a big need in Intensive care. The healthcare industry is somewhat recession-proof. Good times or bad times, health is an important part of people.
ParkwayHealth owns Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Gleneagles Hospital and the East Shore Hospital and targets medical tourists from countries including Russia, USA and Ukraine.
Parkway’s new 324-room hospital, which will be completed by July 2011.The 17-storey hospital will have 350 beds.
ParkwayHealth, one of the largest healthcare service providers in Singapore, has reported a dip in the number of medical travellers. Over the past three months the number of foreign patients has dipped slightly, by about 5 to 7 percent.
At the ceremony, Singapore’s Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan said that medical tourism in the city-state has not been affected by the recent financial crisis but slower growth was due to the lack of capacity. Singapore’s medical tourism has been enjoying a steady growth of about 20 percent a year.
"I don’t think it is because of demand, or we are losing competitiveness, but capacity is constrained," he said.
Singapore sees medical travel as an engine to boost its economy and hopes to attract over 1 million international patients a year by 2012.

Irish developers have been given the go-ahead to develop the first large-scale multipurpose health city built by the private sector in the UK.
The £200-million (US$307.3-million) HealthCity will form the centrepiece of an ambitious £1 billion (US$1.54 billion) urban regeneration project earmarked for a 15.38-hectare site to the east of Manchester. The scheme is being developed by Grangefield Estates in partnership with Manchester City Council.
HealthCity will feature a main hospital, surrounded by a range of secondary care medical operators as well as a sports and rehabilitation centre. It forms part of a new city quarter called Chancellor Place, to be built in the east of Manchester city, on a brownfield site beside Piccadilly railway station Manchester’s main entry and exit point to London by rail. Spread over million square foot, the development will also incorporate 2,000 homes, three hotels, leisure facilities and offices. The developers hope that much of this office and some of the residential space will be taken up by healthcare and medical-related operators.
Promoters of the scheme hope to attract Britain’s leading surgeons to HealthCity and say their aim is to become the "internationally recognised location of choice for quality healthcare".
Dublin’s Beacon Court, HealthCare City in Dubai and US health malls formed models for HealthCity, said Phillip McGuinness, development director at Grangefield Estates. Manchester City Council has granted outline planning permission for the scheme. The council owns 60 percent of the land in Ardwick earmarked for the project.
Grangefield is in talks with leading international healthcare providers from both sides of the Atlantic and hope to whittle down a long list of 20 providers to a shortlist of five by early next year. Once an anchor tenant is secured, more detailed proposals for the rest of the health village will fall into place. Gaps in provision that the promoters intend to target in particular are orthopaedics, cardiology and cancer care.
HealthCity will target health tourists from the Middle East. The brand of Manchester has been bolstered by the recent purchase of Manchester City football club by a consortium from Abu Dhabi.
Grangefield hopes to begin work on the first phase of HealthCity, a main healthcare anchor and hotel, in early 2010, but the entire scheme will take 12-15 years to deliver.

The Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) has cut its projection of receipts and the number of foreigners seeking treatment in Malaysia for next year, although a growth of 30 percent for 2008 over 2007 has already been achieved.
The revision to 25 percent growth from 30 percent forecast early this year comes in the wake of the global economic slowdown, which is likely to translate into less money in people’s pockets. The association had earlier projected receipts from foreigners seeking medical treatment in the country to grow 30 percent a year until 2010. By 2011, Malaysian healthcare providers expect RM584 million (US$160.9 million)in medical revenue from treating some 850,000 foreigners.
APHM’s Dr Kulaveerasingam said: As medical treatment is seen as a necessity rather than a luxury, the medical tourism industry has only been affected minimally as we have not seen any significant drop in percentage of patient flow. The medical tourist industry is expected to continue attracting patients from the Asean region as well as a smaller number from Japan, Australia and the UK. New markets like Vietnam and Cambodia are anticipated to cushion the impact of fewer arrivals from other markets.’
Mahkota Medical Centre (MMC) chief executive Francis Lim added: We may benefit as we still have a price advantage over Singapore. A patient with a medical condition will seek treatment regardless of whether there is a recession or not. However, those considering treatment for aesthetic reasons may defer their decision. The Mahkota Medical Centre in Malacca is important in medical tourism as it treated 50,000 Indonesians last year.

The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) plans to establish 25 cancer centres in Europe, the Middle East and Asia in the coming decade in a joint venture with GE Healthcare.
Furthermore, UPMC is already in discussions with hospitals in Turkey, Greece, Germany and South Korea. Egypt’s health minister has contacted UPMC about possibly developing a cancer center there.
UPMC currently operates two cancer centers in Ireland.
The goal is to bring a higher level of cancer treatment to areas where patients currently have access to only basic radiation oncology or basic surgical oncology. The planned UPMC centres will be able to offer specialised treatments such as intensity-modulated radiation therapy, which can target a tumor with high dosages while without disturbing healthy tissue.
The collaboration is an extension of a 20-year relationship with GE Healthcare based in the UK, which specialises in medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems and other patient care services. The centres will purchase and use GE Healthcare equipment. In exchange, GE Healthcare will offer its international expertise in determining the best markets for the centres, based on the reimbursement structure of a particular site, expected patient flow, the regulatory and political climate and potential cultural barriers.
"We are in 100 countries. We know the healthcare market around the globe," said Jim Torres, GE Healthcare’s general manager for global funding operations. "What we bring to the agreement is global knowledge, knowledge of healthcare and state-of-the-art technical equipment."
Although there will be variations from country to country, revenue margins overseas are typically higher than in the US.