There may be many things wrong with China’s health service and yet it
attracts an increasing number of medical tourists mostly from Chinese
population of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippine and, yes,
Singapore. Although at the same time many more Chinese look overseas for
treatment.
But in five or ten years time China could be competing as a top medical tourists destination.
But in five or ten years time China could be competing as a top medical tourists destination.
A 1995 city government survey of expatriates and investors found
that 70 % wanted medical care to be available within 20 minutes and
wanted health services to be of high quality. During those period, most expats went
home or to Hong Kong for treatment. Now, most choose to stay in
Shanghai.
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Expatriates and medical tourists have similar fears. Will they get the quality of care they are used to back home? Will they be able to communicate with doctors treating them? In Shanghai, home to about 300,000 expatriates, such anxieties are eased by the burgeoning number of internationally operated clinics and hospitals, and by the creation of VIP wards in public hospitals. 30 hospitals have set up special wards catering to foreigners. There are also 20 international hospitals and clinics financed by overseas investment and employing some foreign medical personnel.
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Expatriates and medical tourists have similar fears. Will they get the quality of care they are used to back home? Will they be able to communicate with doctors treating them? In Shanghai, home to about 300,000 expatriates, such anxieties are eased by the burgeoning number of internationally operated clinics and hospitals, and by the creation of VIP wards in public hospitals. 30 hospitals have set up special wards catering to foreigners. There are also 20 international hospitals and clinics financed by overseas investment and employing some foreign medical personnel.
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Mr Liu Zhongmin of Shanghai East Hospital told a medical forum in Shanghai, "Language, international insurance and quality service are the biggest concerns of international patients. But they are gaining increasing confidence in the skills of Chinese doctors." Apparently language is not such a big concern as there are a sizable citizen of Chinese descent in the aforementioned countries.
Public hospitals can be crowded and noisy, with doctors too busy to give any individual patient much attention. Compared with Western hospitals, the process of seeing a doctor and finding services focused on patients lags far behind in China. Patients have to go to different floors for different tests and to pay bills. Doctors who have too many patients have no time to explain diagnoses and treatments carefully.
Western-style services are not cheap. Charges in an international hospital may be ten times the price of those in a local one, depending on the facilities and the treatment given. For the extra money, patients get medical staff that are less harried. Bilingual help is usually available. The wards are quieter. The interior decor is soothing.
Public hospitals have been trying to emulate the Western health-care system by setting up VIP wards. Local hospitals are learning from the Western service concept, but it will take a long time. It is one thing to set up a special area with better decor, but quite another to adopt patient-focused services and assemble highly qualified professional staff.
Among local hospitals in the city, Shanghai East Hospital sees the largest number of expatriates, treating 20,000 a year. Shanghai East, located in the Lujiazui financial district of Pudong New Area, was the first publicly owned medical facility in the city to open a joint venture international hospital, financed with US investment.
The same picture can be seen in 20 cities across China, and while for now they may be happy to concentrate on providing care for increasingly well-off locals and the expatriates working there; sooner or later China is going to look seriously at attracting medical tourists. When it does, Asian countries charging too high a price for their services, will be under threat.
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