FACTS & STATISTICS
DID YOU KNOW?
Medical tourism has
been around for thousands of years. In fact, archaeological evidence from the third
millennium B.C. suggests that people in ancient Mesopotamia traveled to the
temple of a healing god or goddess at Tell Brak, Syriato heal eye disorders. A
couple millennia later the Greeks and Romans would travel by foot or boat to
spas and cult centers all over the Mediterranean. The Asclepia Temples,
dedicated in honor of the Greek god of medicine, were some of the world's first
healing centers. Pilgrims would come and stay several nights praying that
Asclepios would appear in a dream and provide a cure to their ailment.
There are 458 Joint
Commission International accredited hospitals around the world. This figure does not include ambulatory clinics.
Joint Commission is an independent not-for-profit organization that evaluates
and accredits more than 15,000 healthcare organizations in the United States.
Its international arm (Joint Commission International) has been accrediting
hospitals outside the U.S. since the late 90’s. JCI accreditation is one of the
main criteria patients use to ensure they are traveling to a hospital with high
standards of patient care. 1.6 million U.S. patients traveling abroad for care.
In 2009, Deloitte predicted that over one and a half million U.S. patients
would be traveling abroad for care, with a 35% increase over the next several
years.
You may spend more
time at a hotel than at a hospital during your medical trip. Depending on your procedure, oftentimes you will
only stay a night or two in the hospital and then spend the rest of the time at
a hotel recuperating and/ or engaging in physical rehabilitation. So choose a
hotel that has experience with medical tourists and understands your needs and
expectations.
Your companion could
make or break your medical trip. Having the physical and moral support of a companion is one of the
most important ingredients of a successful medical trip, particularly during
the recovery process. However, not everyone is ideally suited to being a
medical travel companion. Choose your companion wisely. Right now it’s all
about you. Your companion must be willing to put your needs ahead of his or her
own and assist you during the recovery process. This does not mean they cannot
have some leisure time to enjoy the local culture and attractions, but they
should understand that their primary purpose is to provide support.
MEDICAL TOURISM ASSOCIATION (M.T.A.) PATIENT SURVEYS
o
64% of patients
that traveled abroad for care did not have health insurance.
o
Almost 83% of
patients traveled with a companion.
o
Almost 70% of
patients rated their medical care as excellent.
o
33% of patients
traveled abroad for cosmetic surgery.
o
Almost 90% of
patients or their companions engaged in tourism activities.
o
Almost 85% of US
patients found they received more personalized medical care than in the US
o
Almost 86% of US
patients said they would travel again overseas for medical care
o
Nearly 27% of
patients had previously traveled to a foreign country to receive medical care,
most were female, all were between ages 45 and 64; the majority were
White/Caucasian; all were American; all were college educated; half had
household incomes between $50,000 and $100,000; and some had health insurance
(50%), while other did not.
o
Nearly 80% of the
demand for medical travel is driven by cost savings.
o
Medical tourists
spend between $7,475 and $15,833 per medical travel trip.
o
48% of
respondents would be interested in engaging in medical tourism again at some
point in the future.
o
The cost of
medical treatment (85%) and state-of-the-art technology (83%) were the most
important factors in their decision to travel abroad for treatment.
o
Out of 49
participants that had previously traveled overseas for medical treatment, 36%
used a medical tourism facilitator.
U.S. HEALTHCARE STATISTICS
o
In 2013, Nerd
Wallet Health analyzed data from the U.S. Census, Centers for Disease Control,
the federal court system and the Commonwealth Fund and found that:
o
56 million
Americans under age 65 will have trouble paying medical bills
o
Over 35 million
American adults (ages 19-64) will be contacted by collections agencies for
unpaid medical bills
o
Over 15 million
American adults (ages 19-64) will use up all their savings to pay medical bills
o
Over 11 million
American adults (ages 19-64) will take on credit card debt to pay off their
hospital bills
o
Nearly 10
million American adults (ages 19-64) will be unable to pay for basic
necessities like rent, food, and heat due to their medical bills
o
Over 16 million
children live in households struggling with medical bills
o
Despite having
year-round insurance coverage, 10 million insured Americans ages 19-64 will
face bills they are unable to pay
o
1.7 million
Americans live in households that will declare bankruptcy due to their
inability to pay their medical bills – Three states will account for over
one-quarter of those living in medical-related bankruptcy: California
(248,002), Illinois (113,524), and Florida (99,780)
o
To save costs,
over 25 million adults (ages 19-64) will not take their prescription drugs as
indicated, including skipping doses, taking less medicine than prescribed or
delaying a refill
o
According to a
recent report of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
(OECD), the U.S. spends almost 18 percent of its gross domestic product on
healthcare that’s more than any of the 34 OECD countries.
o
Due to the
changes of healthcare reform, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions reported
that 60 percent of doctors surveyed revealed they are likely to retire earlier
than planned, perhaps, within the next 1-3 years creating a shortage of
doctors.
o
In 2009 the
Council of Economic Advisers projected that the healthcare sector will comprise
of 34% of GDP in the U.S. by 2040.
MEDICAL TOURISM STATISTICS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
o
A 2013 MTA
Medical Tourism Patient Survey found that Latin America and Asia are the two
leading regions for medical travel.
o
A 2013 MTA
Medical Tourism Patient Survey found that Mexico and India respectively have
the highest demand for medical tourism.
o
Data from the
Council for International Promotion of Costa Rica Medicine (PROMED) shows
that in 2012, Costa Rica attracted nearly 50,000 medical tourists (mostly from
the U.S. and Canada) and each one spent an average of $7,000. Close to half of
these medical travelers were said to be dental, followed by orthopedics, weight
loss surgeries, gynecology and plastic surgery. Medical tourism generated some
$338 million in revenue for the country that year, PROMED reported.
o
Tourism Research Australia from the Australian Government reported that more than 10,000 medical
tourism patients flew into the continent in 2013 pumping more than $26 million
into the national economy.
o
According to the
Indian High Commission, Indian hospitals received 18,000 Nigerians on medical
visas in 2012, 47% of the Nigerians were in India to receive medical treatment
and spent approximately $260 million USD.
o In 2012 the Ministry of Public Health, Thailand and the Kasikorn Research
Center found that 2,530,000 international patients traveled to Thailand for
treatment, the top five nationalities were; Japan, U.S., UK, GCC and Australia.
Revenues generated from medical tourism were approximately 4 Billion USD.
o
Mexico’s
Secretary of Tourism said that almost 12 million international visitors arrived
in Mexico in 2013, 6.5 million of the visitors were from the U.S.
o
According to the
Medellin Healthcare Cluster, twenty-four percent of the international patients
that visit the Medellin Health City in Medellin, Columbia are from the U.S.
o
The Korea Health
Industry Development Institute reported in 2012 that 159,464 patients from 188
countries visited Korea in 2012, 32,503 of those patients were Chinese.
o
In the 2010
Statistics on International Patients in Korea Report showed that 81,789 foreign
patients traveled to Korea, 32.4 percent came from the U.S. (4,829 were U.S.
Army patients), 19.4 percent Chinese,16.8 percent Japanese and 7.7
percent Russian.
o
According to
Rohini Sridhar, Chief Operating Officer of Apollo Hospitals, the number of
international patients visiting the hospital has been witnessing an increase of
20 per cent every year. “We provide medical care for around 400 to 500 people
from European countries, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and the Middle East in
a year,” she says.
o
A 2012 report
from the Taiwan Ministry of Health and Welfare found that more than 60,000 patients
traveled to Taiwan for healthcare the previous year, with 50 percent of
patients coming from mainland China. The report also noted that the most
popular procedure was a full health exam.
o
According to
Alpen Capital Investment Banking, the United Arab Emirates’ medical tourism
sector is growing strongly and reached $1.69 billion in 2013. Dubai Healthcare
City (DHCC) is one of the largest healthcare tourist destinations in the
region. According to DHCC, they handled approximately 500,000 patients in 2011,
20% of which were medical tourists.
