We recently spent several days assisting the Malaysian Government's Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council on a visit to Queensland. The MHTC were visiting Brisbane to participate in the Travel Expo at the Brisbane Convention Centre and had decided to try and engage some of the key stakeholders here in Brisbane while they were here.
What is Healthcare Tourism? It is basically going overseas to access medical or healthcare. This can range from routine but expensive procedures or care, such as dental care, optometry services, and podiatry, to major procedures such as plastic surgery and hip replacements and major operations. And why would the Australian market do this? Because of relative healthcare costs, waiting lists, and access to specialists. Often the cost of having a procedure undertaken here can be as or more expensive than flights, having the procedure undertaken in a top private hospital, living expenses and hospital stay while overseas. Plus you get a holiday to relax and recoup.
Malaysia's Government has identified Healthcare Tourism as a key new growth industry for Malaysia. Thailand is already doing well out of this industry, and it is a natural fit for Malaysia given the standard of healthcare, currency exchange rates, and its current status as a tourism centre. About 10,000 Australians already access healthcare in Malaysia - these are mostly expatriates and their families as well as tourists. The infrastructure is all there, now it's just a matter of marketing it to the world.
During the visit, MHTC hosted luncheon for stakeholders and we invited a limited number of AMBCQ members to participate. MHTC Director, Dr Mary Wong, gave a very informative talk about the industry and its possibilities in Malaysia. We also heard from a prominent doctor from Prince Court Hospital, one of Malaysia's leading hospitals, Dr Gee, who is a specialists in bariatrics. Dr Gee discussed some of the practicalities of undergoing surgery in a private hospital in Malaysia, and the specialists operations and support provided to patients.
Healthcare Tourism has been in the news lately and was featured rather negatively on TV on a recent 'A Current Affairs' story. Interestingly enough, the online comments in response to the story were strongly supportive of overseas healthcare options, and were quite cynical of the critics and their "vested interests".
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