Publication Date：11/26/2011
Source： Taiwan Today
By Ed Zacapa
Taiwan’s National Immigration Agency gave the local medical tourism industry a shot in the arm Nov. 4 with the announcement that mainland Chinese will soon be able to visit the island specifically for the purpose of having physical examinations, elective or non-urgent surgery and cosmetic procedures.
This decision is a welcome departure from existing NIA regulations requiring mainland Chinese to organize medical treatment as part of group or individual travel itineraries. Reached in consensus with ROC government agencies such as the Department of Health, Mainland Affairs Council and Ministry of Justice, the new policy is expected to be approved by the Cabinet before the end of the year.
Under the revised regulations, one important change is that the island’s hospitals and clinics will now accept applications for Taiwan entry permits on behalf of mainland Chinese patients. These will be given top priority for processing by the NIA with life-threatening cases put on a four-hour fast track, even during weekends and public holidays.
Leveling the playing field for Taiwan’s medical industry makes sense given the impressive numbers involved. Last year, an estimated 617 million tourists worldwide participated in a US$513 billion industry, making it one of the global economy’s stellar performers.
Although Taiwan’s health care providers rolled out the welcome mat for only 85,000 of these tourists, this was considered something of a success given the government did not begin making significant headway in growing the industry until ROC President Ma Ying-jeou took office in May 2008.
Under Ma’s watch, internationalized health care became one of 10 emerging service industries selected for intensive development. The Cabinet’s four-year, NT$86.4 billion (US$2.69 billion) Health Care Value-added Platinum Program played an integral role, strengthening cross-border medical services through branding promotion and building inter-industry alliances aimed at attracting tourists. The plan is expected to boost health care industry output by NT$346.4 billion and add 310,000 jobs before the end of 2012.
The government is also establishing special international medical zones, seeking to raise NT$4 billion in private investment for the planned aerotropolis project near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport. An estimated 40,000 tourists are expected to visit the zone per year, generating revenues of US$350 million—a close to five-fold increase on the current figure.
With four of these zones in the pipeline, Taiwan has committed to going head to head with regional competitors. The government is banking on these facilities, along with the island’s world-class physicians, state-of-the-art health service technologies and low treatment costs, to muscle in on the action.
For Taiwan’s health care providers, mainland Chinese represent a surefire way to bolster the number of tourists seeking treatment on the island. So far this year, more than 1,000 people from the other side of the Taiwan Strait have visited for medical purposes, with this number expected to hit 15,000 in 2012.
Many of the island’s hospitals such as Taipei’s Cathay General and Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial were instrumental in laying the foundations for the development of this market. The tour packages they put together, which combined sightseeing and treatment, left participants more than impressed by Taiwan and the standard of its medical facilities and workers.
The NIA’s new approach to handling mainland Chinese medical tourists could not come at a better time. The anticipated influx of patients from the West has not eventuated mainly due to the onset of a new financial crisis, and although sky-high treatment costs and aging populations in Europe and the U.S. bode well for the long-term outlook of Taiwan’s medical services firms, cash-strapped patients remain in two minds or are simply unaware of what the island has to offer.
Another reason for this stay-away trend is that overseas insurers have not yet accepted the scale of cost savings on offer by having cosmetic surgery, joint replacements and cardiac interventions performed in the Asia-Pacific region. Issues relating to liability, service standards and language are holding the market back for now, and despite the best efforts of major players, including India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea and Thailand, there is little sign of a breakthrough being made anytime soon.
But if Taiwan can build its reputation as the medical tourism destination of choice for mainland Chinese, it will not be long before the West is forced to recognize the island’s merits. More organizations will surely follow in the footsteps of Patients Without Borders, a U.S.-based medical facilitator listing several of Taiwan’s hospitals as providing outstanding value and quality for American patients.
The NIA’s new policy will bring more mainland Chinese to Taiwan as medical tourists, ensuring the island is well and truly in the driver’s seat when it comes to carving out a sizeable slice of this lucrative market. The government’s pragmatic approach to cross-strait relations has been the catalyst for this development, playing a valuable role in readying Taiwan to become a major player in what should prove to be one of the biggest growth industries of the 21st century: medical tourism.
Ed Zacapa is a freelance writer based in Kaohsiung. These views are the author’s and not necessarily those of Taiwan Today. Copyright © 2011 by Ed Zacapa
Write to Taiwan Today at ttonline@mail.gio.gov.tw
http://www.taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=181298&ctNode=1767
