PHILIPPINE MEDICAL TOURISM

Philippine President Arroyo hails new hospital St. Luke's Medical Center Global City

2010-01-16T14:38:00.001-08:00

Via Philippine Daily Inquirer 01/16/2010 MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Saturday marveled at the state-of-the-art and “hotel-like” facilities of the spanking new St. Luke's Medical Center Global City at The Fort in Taguig City, calling it a “quantum leap in medical care.”

“It looks like a five-star hotel,” she gushed while walking around the presidential suite that features a special bed, daybed sofa, leather recliner, flat TV, a desktop computer, and a jacuzzi in the patient's room. But more than the amenities, the 250-sq m suite, which has a dining area, kitchen and a guestroom, and costs P50,000 a day, offers a refreshing view of Taguig's skyline. The new facility has a 14-storey, 600-bed nursing tower with a helipad.

If St. Luke's QC was “better than 95 percent of hospitals in America,” the new facility is “better than 99 percent of the hospitals,” she added to cheers and applause. With its team of 60 customer care officers, free Internet connection in patient suites and a 24/7 concierge service, among other amenities, the hospital is being managed like a hotel, observed Sinan Yilmaz, Edsa Shangri-la general manager.

Continue reading here http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20100116-247682/Arroyo-hails-new-hospital

Related
http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/238757/st-lukes-opens-facility-global-city
http://www.health-tourism.com/medical-centers/st-luke-s-medical-center/
http://ph.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20100112193418AAud4ze
http://www.kabeet.com/flash/detail.php?name_id=1108943

New Hospital about to give Makati Med a Run for Its Money

Tags: Health, Healthcare Providers, medical tourism philippines manila, St. Luke's Medical Center Global City

History of Medical Tourism in the Philippines

2010-01-15T19:42:00.000-08:00

Philippines had an Initial head start on Medical Tourism

Via Business Mirror: Although the Philippine government only started promoting medical tourism in 2006, Philippine hospitals have been receiving foreign patients for over three decades now. There was a time when some Philippine hospitals were considered the best in the region, with people from as far as the US seeking medical treatment here.

When Imelda Marcos put up the Philippine Heart Center in 1975, it became an important center for cardiac care in the Asia-Pacific region because of its foreign-trained medical personnel, state-of-the-art facilities, and advanced medical care and research. The Heart Center was at the forefront of developing bio-prosthetic valves and prototype medical equipment. It was a trailblazer in coronary angioplasty in the region.

Medical tourism in the Philippines

Although foreign nationals have been coming to the Philippines for medical treatment as early as the 1970s, medical tourism as a government program only took off in 2006 when the Departments of Health, Tourism, Foreign Affairs, and Trade and Industry identified the Health and Wellness Services Program as one of their flagship programs.

The Philippine Medical Tourism Program has four domains: full hospital care and treatment; specialty clinics (e.g., eye, dental, and cosmetic services); wellness and spa centers; and retirement and long-term care for the elderly.

According to the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, cataract surgery costs $950 in Thailand, $1,424 in the Philippines, and $1,014 in Malaysia. Liposuction in the Philippines costs $1,400. Patients in Thailand have to spend $1,365 only for the same procedure.

Total knee replacement surgery is more expensive in the Philippines at $5,639, compared to $5,500 in Thailand and $4,342 in Malaysia. India boasts that its medical rates are 40% to 60% lower than the rates in the US and UK.

Philippine medical professionals are also fluent in English, which reduces the possibility of error and misunderstanding between doctor and foreign patient. Medical professionals in the country, particularly the nurses, are known for their hospitality, skills, and excellent patient care, which makes them in demand in foreign hospitals abroad. Continue reading here http://www.bworldonline.com/main/content.php?id=4652

Medical Tourism – an option for the rising cost of American Healthcare & Medical Tourism Explore globalization

2010-01-07T22:41:00.001-08:00

Medical Tourism – an option for the rising cost of American Healthcare

From the TravelInsurance blog: While medical care is the main purpose for traveling to a foreign country, you are more or two weeks rest in a holiday paradise is also attractive. Continue reading
http://travelinsurancecanada.ohablog.com/medical-tourism-an-option-for-the-rising-cost-of-american-healthcare/

Medical Tourism Explore globalization –
From the TravelInsurance blog: The transaction costs in Argentina, Cuba, India, Bolivia, Thailand, Colombia, Philippines and South Africa tenth of what could the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less.

A heart-valve replacement, the United States would cost $ 200,000 or more in the United States, for example, goes for $ 10,000 in the Philippines and India and the return flight and a short break includes package.Similarly, a metal – free dental bridge worth $ 5500 inUScosts $ 500 in India and in Bolivia, and only $ 200 in the Philippines, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one fifth of what the United States, and the value of Lasik Eye Surgery of 3,700 dollars in the USA and many other countries for only $ 730 Continue to read his complete article here http://travelinsurancecanada.ohablog.com/medical-tourism-explore-globalization/

PHILIPPINES: Philippine medical tourism rebounds as slump eases

2009-12-24T14:41:00.001-08:00

The future of medical tourism in the Philippines will not solely depend on the volume of foreign clients coming to the country to seek medical help, but its growth is largely reliant on the Filipinos working abroad.

He pointed out world-sought-after Filipino nurses and good English speaking medical professionals, as one of the advantages of the Philippines, “There are still challenges that the medical institutions in the country should address seriously. This is in providing world-class medical services and technology, as the Philippines is already on top in terms of human-touch. We need to work together in addressing issues that hamper growth in attracting medical tourists, and the foreign retiree market. The Philippines will only succeed if more medical institutions will get international accreditation and improve medical services.

Continue reading here http://www.imtjonline.com/news/?entryid82=174344

Hospitals, clinics and medical centers in Philippines catering to medical tourism.

2009-12-23T20:04:00.000-08:00

Beverly Hills Medical Group
Makati, Philippines
A multispecialty surgery center offering services spanning a wide coverage in a one stop facility located in heart of Makati City.

World Citi Med
Quezon City, Philippines
This tertiary hospital which offers a wide range of medical services is located in Quezon City, Philippines

Asian Hospital and Medical Center
Muntinlupa City, Philippines
This health care institution is located in Manila, Philippines.

Beaufaces Facial Center
Quezon City, Philippines
The Beaufaces Facial Centre is located in Quezon City, Philippines. It offers cosmetic surgery, facial care, and other aesthetic procedures

David Surgi-Center
Quezon City, Philippines
The David Surgi-Center has provided its clients with professional caring and confidential cosmetic advice and service at all times..

Dr. Florencio Q Lucero
Manila, Philippines
Dr. Florencio Q. Lucero is a plastic surgeon with over 25 years of experience. He specializes in cosmetic and reconstructive surgery.

EYE REPUBLIC Ophthalmology Clinic
Manila, Philippines
The EYE REPUBLIC Ophthalmology Clinic is a chain of eye care clinic in Manila with its flagship clinic at Don Santiago Building.

Instituto Estetico
Manila, Philippines
This aesthetic surgery centre is located in Makati City, Philippines. It primarily offers cosmetic surgery but also offers other services

Makati Medical Center
Manila, Philippines
This multi-specialty tertiary medical centre is situated in Makati City, Philippines. It has been in operation for more than 35 years

Metropolitan Medical Center
Manila, Philippines
This medical institution is located in Manila, Philippines. It offers a wide range of medical services and houses several specialty centres.

San Juan de Dios Educational Foundation
Pasay City, Philippines
This medical institution is the oldest hospital in the Philippines having been established in 1578. It provides different medical services

YSA Skin Care Center
Quezon City, Philippines
This is a chain of aesthetic health care clinics having branches all over the Philippines and in major shopping malls.

Sacred Heart Dental Clinic
Caloocan City, Philippines
This dental care clinic located in Caloocan, Manila provides a wide array of dental services specializing in cosmetic dentistry.

Manila Doctors Hospital
Manila, Philippines
This medical centre in Manila, Philippines offers a wide array of services under the different fields and sub-specialties of the medical

Dr. Edwin Paul V. Magallona
Quezon City, Philippines
Dr. Edwin Paul V. Magallona offers cosmetic, aesthetic, and reconstructive plastic surgeries to local and international patients alike.

Philippine Heart Center
Quezon City, Philippines
This tertiary medical centre provides various services under the different areas of Medicine but specifically specializes in Cardiology
St. Luke's Medical Center
Quezon City, Philippines
This multi-specialty medical institute has been serving patients from the Philippines and all over the world for almost over a century.

Source:http://www.health-tourism.com/philippines/

Cost heart bypass Philippines? Kidney transplant cost in Philippines? Cost Liposuction Philippines? Dental costs in Philippines.

2009-12-23T20:00:00.000-08:00

Artery bypass procedures cost about US$10,000, almost half the price of that in any hospital in a developed country. Kidney transplants are priced at US$60,000, a saving of more than half compared to Western prices. Cosmetic surgery such as liposuction can be found for as little as US$3,000, while dental procedures such as a complete set of denture implants will set you back less than US$500. Read more via http://www.discovermedicaltourism.com/philippines/costs/

Manila Medical Tourism directory

2009-12-12T19:14:00.001-08:00

This is a new blog listing of Manila facilities that feature Medical tourism

http://www.islandsphilippines.net/directory_medical.php

Medical tourism gets boost from OFWs: health official

2009-12-04T15:31:00.001-08:00

AN OFFICIAL from the Department of Health (DOH) said stakeholders in the country’s health and wellness industry should not rely on the European and American markets since the Philippines already has a “natural market” for the industry.

“We should appreciate that the Philippines’s medical tourism industry is sustainable because of the overseas Filipino workers (OFW) who are coming to avail themselves of medical and wellness products here,” said Anthony Calibo, manager of the DOH’s medical tourism program. Continue reading here http://www.sunstar.com.ph/cebu/medical-tourism-gets-boost-ofws-health-official

Read more here RP medtourism anchors hopes on Global Pinoys

Medical tourism in the Philippines has huge potentials but it is growing rather slow.

2009-12-04T13:50:00.001-08:00

This sentiment was expressed separately by Ms. Evelyn Yumol, head of business development of Makati Medical Center, and Jun Amistoso, marketing director of Asian Hospital which has been owned 40 percent since 2002 by investors from Thailand.

They come to the Philippines and they pay 40-50 percent less while being pampered by the world-renowned friendly manners of nurses and even orderlies. Continue reading here http://www.malaya.com.ph/12042009/busi1.html

Ailing U.S. economy delivers a blow to 'medical tourism'

2009-11-30T14:43:00.001-08:00

From USA TODAY MOST ELECT TO STAY PUT

A survey of consumers in 2009 found:
9% likely to travel outside the USA to have an elective surgical procedure if they could save 50% or more;
69% not likely to travel outside the USA for an elective surgical procedure.
Source: Deloitte Center for Health Solutions

Fewer U.S. patients are traveling abroad for non-emergency medical procedures, such as hip replacements or cosmetic surgery, because of the recession.

From 2007 to 2009, the number of Americans traveling abroad for elective medical procedures is expected to have fallen as much as 13.6%, according to a report by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, a research center focused on trends in the health care system.

Rising transportation costs and decreased consumer incomes and savings probably contributed to the fall in medical tourism, the report says. During the recession, patients also may have opted to forgo non-emergency procedures, the bulk of medical tourism.

In 2007, about 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care, many seeking procedures that are 30%-70% cheaper abroad, even with the cost of travel, Deloitte research shows. In 2008, as the U.S. economy stalled, the number fell to 540,000.

The report projects an increase by the end of 2009 to about 648,000 patients – still 13.6% fewer than in 2007.

The Deloitte Center also predicts the number of American medical tourists will rise by 35% each year through 2012.

Pent-up demand and improvements in international medical care will likely fuel the rise, says Paul Keckley, executive director of the center. Many international physicians are trained in the USA, then return to their home countries to practice, he says.

Continue reading here http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2009-11-30-Medicaltourism30_st_N.htm

Medical tourism prospects bright

2009-11-11T14:29:00.000-08:00

Tags: philippine cebu Medical tourism prospects bright

The prospects of promoting Cebu as a medical tourism destination showed much promise in yesterday’s “Medical & Dental/Health & Wellness Forum”which highlighted the city’s has advances in medical care.

Cebu hospitals offer advanced technology in performing Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) or laparoscopic surgery, laser eye surgery, dermatology and cosmetic surgery, dental implants and cosmetic dentistry as well as a hospital base drug, detoxification and rehabilitation center.

They also charge a lesser fee for these operations than other countries.

Laparoscopic surgery, according to Dr. Henry Chua, is the performance of surgical procedures through small incisions with the assistance of a video camera and special thin instruments.

Chua said that Laparoscopic surgery may cost a patient more at the start than the conventional open surgery but it’s more cost effective.

Laparoscopic surgery uses smaller incisions which mean faster recovery for patients, less time spent at the hospital and less risk of infection.

Most hospitals in Cebu City are capable of doing laparoscopic surgery.

Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital (CDUH) has a laparoscopic surgery department, which ranks third in the country next to Makati Medical Center and St. Luke’s Hospital.

CDUH is also at the forefront of laser eye surgery with its Centre for Sight where LASIK or the Laser Assisted in Situ Keratomileusis which provides patients with a 20/20 vision and advanced cataract surgery is also done in the center.

Dr. Potenciano “Yong” Larrazabal III, said the center is equipped with instruments that hospitals abroad used, however, services are offered at a much lesser fee making it easy to attract foreign patients.

Laser eye surgery could be offered here for less than $1,000 for both eyes, while abroad, it would cost about $2,500 for each eye.

So far, 25 percent of the center’s patients are Europeans, 15 percent are Australian, five percent are Americans and another five percent are Asians.http://globalnation.inquirer.net/cebudailynews/enterprise/view/20091106-234584/Medical-tourism-prospects-bright

Medical tourism: Outsourcing your health

2009-11-11T14:28:00.000-08:00

Tags: Medical tourism, outsourcing your helath

Pitching lower costs, ‘international hospitals’ are trying to make inroads into the U.S. healthcare system. But are they just a remedy for insurance companies?

At a luxury hotel conference center in Century City last week, “international hospitals” from Singapore to South America set up half an acre of colorful display booths in an attempt to attract more business from American insurers and employers. Glossy brochures and videos offered hip replacements, cancer treatments and cardiac care in Turkey, Thailand or Costa Rica. Send a patient and a companion on business class, the basic pitch went, and we’ll give them deluxe private rooms, a concierge and a driver. You’ll still save half or more of the U.S. cost — tens of thousands of dollars.

The name for this is medical tourism. It’s not a phrase that has come up openly in the national debate on healthcare reform. But the medical tourism industry has its hopes set on embedding the globalization of healthcare in standard health insurance packages. At the convention in Century City, meeting rooms buzzed with sessions on how to sell insurance companies and major employers on the idea.

If the reforms being decided in Washington don’t clearly reduce costs for healthcare and insurance — and right now they’re headed in the wrong direction — American workers may find themselves facing “incentives” for overseas surgery that border on coercion.

Medical tourism is known today as a path to lower-priced plastic surgery, dental implants or laser eye surgery, and a last resort for the middle-class uninsured who can scrape together $50,000 for a liver transplant in India, but not the $200,000 it would cost in the U.S. The business end of medical tourism, however, sees major growth potential in the already insured.

But there is a problem: No public data on quality and little recourse for injured patients. Despite the industry’s assertion that it offers U.S.-quality care, there is no backup to that claim. A new U.S.-based accreditation system for international hospitals adds some reputational sheen but doesn’t let patients compare results of, for instance, cardiac bypasses. Patients are often faced with signing airtight waivers that free providers from liability for negligence or error, starting with the paid “facilitators” who arrange travel, visas, lodging and hand-holding during the process.

For insurers and employers looking at a $45,000 hip replacement in the U.S., the lure of a $5,400 hip replacement in India — even with $10,000 or $12,000 in travel and lodging costs added on — is hard to resist. So what if there’s a lack of public, comparative data on outcomes, complications and long-term recovery?

Hospitals in the Third World pay a fraction of U.S. salaries. A doctor in the Philippines, for instance, makes far less than a U.S. nurse. In nations including India, Thailand and Mexico, government intervention steeply reduces drug and other costs. Hospital construction costs are low, and physical safety requirements such as earthquake-proofing are generally absent. Hospitals for the international trade don’t have to care for indigent patients. And, because the deeply ill aren’t candidates for a 15-hour pre-surgery plane trip, the overseas hospitals skim off healthier patients needing less complicated — and expensive — care. This could leave U.S. hospitals and medical professionals to treat the sickest patients — and raise U.S. costs even more.

Here are a few early indicators of insurer interest: The Blue Cross Blue Shield website touts “Blue Cross’ Companion Global Healthcare,” a wraparound travel planner and network of overseas providers, selling to individuals and to employers in South Carolina. In California, Blue Shield and HealthNet offer plans for employers of Mexican immigrants that cover treatment in Mexico. And United Health Group, the parent of PacifiCare, sent a speaker to the medical tourism conference to advise on how to get employers to include overseas surgery in health plan networks.

In 2008, West Virginia legislators considered a proposal promising state employees a waiver of all co-payments and deductibles, payment of all travel expenses for the patient and a companion, a week of “free” sick leave and a rebate of 20% of savings if they chose overseas surgery. The measure didn’t pass. But except for the rebate, it’s close to what an Anthem WellPoint pilot program offers and what a few smaller U.S. companies are trying out.

When overseas surgery goes well, the insurance company — or an employer with a self-funded health plan — ends up with a fatter profit and a satisfied patient.

If the surgery doesn’t go so well, or a long flight home generates a deadly post-surgical blood clot, the patient has little recourse.

Overseas surgery or cancer treatment is as drastic as cost-cutting gets, putting the whole burden of risk on the patient. Yet Congress is heading toward a bill that forbids cost efficiencies such as direct government drug purchasing or Medicare-style price-setting. Medicare-for-all never even got serious consideration.

That’s why medical tourism should be under a microscope now, before employers and insurance companies decide it’s part of their own cost — and profit — solution. Read the original complete article herehttp://www.latimes.com/features/health/medicine/la-oe-dugan3-2009nov03,0,4342765.story

PHILIPPINES: Medical tourism development in the Philippines

2009-11-11T14:27:00.000-08:00

Tags: medical tourism philippines

An integrated medication tourism zone is planned in Nasugbu, Batangas, with completion due by November 2012. Local company Global Village Mobile Network Corp (GVMNC) has been approved by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA) as a new ecozone medical tourism enterprise. GVMNC facilities will occupy a 24-hectare portion of the 52-hectare medical tourism park being developed by local group Camp David Investment and Holdings (CDIHI). PEZA has also approved CDIHI as a new medical tourism park developer subject to a presidential proclamation. CDIHI has allocated P318 million for the development of the park.

Facilities within the medical tourism park include a tertiary hospital that is designed to accommodate 100-bed in-patient suites, 8-bed intensive care units, 8-bed cardiac care units, 10-bed hemodialysis unit, 8-bed day care surgery unit, 3 fully functional operating rooms, a cardiac catheterization laboratory and a lithotripsy unit. A five-star hotel will accommodate visiting relatives and patients. The development also includes clustered home facilities for the elderly with long term medical care requirements. These are designed to provide programmed long-term care to 1152 residents, some locals but mainly Japanese retirees, with on-line telemedicine facilities. Other facilities in the park include healthcare, wellness and cosmetic surgery and spa; condominium administrative housing, country club complex, pavilion complex and satellite network hub facility.

The Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC) is upbeat about Cebu’s potential in medical tourism. The group is seeing an increasing number of medical travelers in the province. It seeks to use the country’s growing expatriate Filipino workers, balikbayans, as envoys to promote medical tourism where they work.

CHWC is a private-public sector coalition developing and promoting the health and wellness industry in Cebu. It includes hospitals, doctors, dentists, spas, hotels, travel agents, tour operators and government departments.

The aim is to position Cebu as a premier health and wellness destination in Asia by attracting foreign patients through testimonies and first-hand experiences of balikbayans of local medical and wellness services. The Department of Tourism-Cebu wants to attract Filipinos around the world to come back home for health and wellness services and become ambassadors for the sector. So international Filipino communities with foreign friends would share by word-of-mouth their personal experiences of local health and wellness therapies. CHWC member-organizations are conducting talks with several Filipino communities abroad who could help bring in Filipino patients. Cebu also wants to attract Americans and Europeans seeking medical services and wellness vacation packages. The Philippines wants to catch up with rivals Thailand, India, Singapore and Malaysia. Read the original article here http://www.imtjonline.com/news/?entryid82=165283

Medical tourism in Cebu, Philippines growing

2009-11-11T14:26:00.000-08:00

Tags: Cebu City Medical check up, Cebu Doctors Medical checkup,cebu medical tourism, check up, Chong Hua executive
For those residents in Cebu, you might be interested in an annual check up at the local hospital here or for those outside the country and wanting to take advantage of medical tourism, you might be interested in three hospitals here in Cebu, Philippines offering Executive check-ups both out patient or in patient.
-
While in Cebu you can take advantage of the other tourism activities if you are from out of town. Just search in google for Cebu tourism.
-
AMID the global financial crisis that has affected the travel market, the Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC) remains upbeat about Cebu’s potential in medical tourism. The group is seeing an increasing number of medical travelers in the province—foreigners and balikbayans who are attracted to the “value-for-money” packages developed by the CHWC.
-
Executive Check-up programs for busy executives who lead a stressful life. The plan combines a comprehensive history and physical examination with advanced screening test. Custom tailored diagnostic evaluations, recommended by experienced physicians who are focused on promoting wellness and prevention and thorough medical check-ups and physical examinations that help detect health problem before they become severe.
-
Three hospitals here in Cebu, Philippines for your information that offer Executive Check-ups
Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital Executive Checkup, Cebu City, Philippines
phone international 63 32 255-5555 or info@cduh.com.ph
-
Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital offers Executive Check-up programs for busy executives who lead a stressful life. The plan combines a comprehensive history and physical examination with advanced screening test. Custom tailored diagnostic evaluations, recommended by experienced physicians who are focused on promoting wellness and prevention and thorough medical check-ups and physical examinations that help detect health problem before they become severe. They have a brochure online but the costs are noted in the brochure below.
Chong Hua Hospital Cebu City, Philippines

There are four (4) Executive Check – up Plans to choose from, depending on the extent of medical assessment required by your attending physician. A DIABETIC PROFILE has recently been set-up for complete assessment of our diabetic patients. A special lounge is available for your convenience and comfort. For more details please contact Executive Check-up Office, Tel. No. 255-8000, local 5125 for more inquiries.
http://www.chonghua.com.ph/ecu.htm
Chong Hua Hospital Executive Check-Up
For inquiries and appointments, please call:
Tel. No.: +63(32) 255-8000 local 5125
The Chong Hua Hospital also provides special Executive Check-Up (ECU) for the executive staff of a company. The various other services that can be availed by the patients of this hospital are:
Emergency and Ambulance Service
Eye Center
Pharmacy Services
Litho Center
Renal Services
Out-Patient Department
Delivery Room Complex
Operating Room Complex
Hematology – Oncology Unit
The various units of the Cebu Chong Hua Hospital are:
Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
Critical Care Unit
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU)
Neurophysiology
Post Anesthesia Care Unit (PACU)
Women’s Health Center
Heart Institute
Computed Tomography Scan (CT-Scan)
Cardiology Unit
Pulmonary Laboratory
Endoscopy Unit
Radiology
Sleep Laboratory
For further details, one can contact at:
Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu
Fuente Osmena, Cebu City, Philippines 6000
Tel. No.: +63(32) 254-1461
-
-Perpetual Succour Hospital executive check up Cebu City, Philippines
pshcares@pshcebu.comPerpetual Succour Hospital
Gorordo Avenue, Lahug, Cebu City 6000 Philippines
PSH Care Mobile: (63927) 650-4065

Balikbayans eyed to be Cebu’s envoys for health and wellness

2009-11-11T14:21:00.000-08:00

Tags: cebu medical tourism, medical tourism philippines

CEBU, Philippines – The Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC) is initiating an aggressive move to tap the balikbayan community from the different continents around the world to be the “ambassadors” to promote Cebu as the premier health and wellness destination in Asia.

“Our first target is to attract all Filipinos around the world to avail of the ‘best’ health and wellness services we have here,” said Nelia F. Navarro, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI-Cebu Provincial Office) provincial director.

Navarro said since it is still hard to convince foreigners to consider the Philippines, specifically Cebu as health and wellness destination, the International Filipino communities around the world are, by now, the best tool for promotion.

Navarro said Cebu medical institutions, as well as wellness facilities have been ready to accommodate the more sophisticated market, like Americans and Europeans, seeking for medical help, and total package for wellness vacations.

The Philippines, she said is closely competing with Thailand, India, Singapore and Malaysia, apparently these countries are attracting significant number of health and wellness enthusiast tourists, or the medical tourists.

In Asia, medical tourism has raked US$120 billion in revenues for 2006, a big improvement from US$40 billion it earned in 2000. India is now the number one destination for medical tourists around the world.

Total package for one medical tourist, is pegged at US$28,000, depending on medical procedure, this already include accommodation, vacation package among others.

Every medical tourist can save at least US$77,000 for this amount, if they were to have their medical services done in other countries like Europe or United States.

Aside from vanity and dental services, medical tourists, including Balikbayans are also availing other medical services such as cardiac surgery, executive check up, MRI, CT Scan.

CHWC president Oscar Tuason earlier said that although the world economic turbulence has brought about jittery of slowdown in the medical tourism sector in the Philippines, Cebu is insisting to see dynamic performance in attracting increased number of tourists seeking for medical help.

“As long as the United States, will still charge expensive medical services, we are seeing steady growth of medical tourists in Cebu,” said Tuason. Read the complete original article here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=506554&publicationSubCategoryId=108

Cebu Medtourism campaign gaining favorable feedback

2009-11-11T14:18:00.000-08:00

Tags: cebu medical tourism, philippine medical tourism

CEBU, Philippines – The promotion of Cebu as a premier destination for medical tourism is slowly paying off with positive feedback from tourists and local and international guests being noted by the font liners of such effort.

Engr. Oscar Tuason, president of the Cebu Health and Wellness Council and the Administrator of the Cebu Doctors hospital shared that despite the financial crisis, medical tourists in Cebu surprisingly increased as opposed to what they were expecting.

Tuason said that especially these days, customers now give value to how much they spend at the same time making sure they get the quality they need at affordable prices.

He shared that in other countries, aside from higher payments, there are longer waiting lines for patients to undergo the medical procedure.

Tuason said that the patients see the greater importance of securing their health and not on the high status of the place they are treated like the accreditation that it has achieved.

He said that the accreditation in fact is not a basis of how it could attract the customers but it is mainly on the “availability of good quality services that will attract medical tourists.”

However, despite that Tuason said that the three major hospitals in Cebu, which are partners of the CHWC, are undergoing accreditation to further push for the expansions of the hospitals.

But Tuason said that this does not mean that if the hospitals will be accredited, this will gather more medical tourists

“As long as they are happy and they feel guaranteed of the clinical procedures and services, they would go for it,” Tuason added.

The three hospitals in Cebu are undergoing processes for international accreditation but Tuason said that they are also aiming for the Philhealth accreditation to go side by side with the international accreditation.

Tuason said that the facilities of the hospitals in Cebu are also not behind the facilities from other leading countries as they are continually striving to stay on track in using state of the art facilities.

This is part of the efforts of the CHWC, said Tuason, which persistently advocates the many services that could be availed in Cebu like the medical services aside from the council’s effort to push the Spa and Wellness Tourism.

Read the original article here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=507140&publicationSubCategoryId=108