The Doctor is Out >> The Doctor is Out

Medical Tourism in Philippines
by Dr. Paul Bisnar

The flattening of the world spawned a global trend which is medical tourism. Philippines is in the infancy stage in this medical industry, and the government and private sectors should be vigilant in developing its potential.

            Bradley Thayer, a 60 year old retired American farmer, severely injured his leg after falling 4 meters to the ground to his boat. Unfortunately, he had no health insurance and it will cost him $35,000 in hospital bills, laboratory tests and surgery to fix his torn knee ligament in the United States. The worse thing is he will wait for 6 months before he can avail the needed surgery. 

            However, after few weeks of diligence, he arrived in India. After 2 weeks of hospitalization, surgery and airfare, he only spent one-third of what it would have cost him in the United States. 

            India is now gaining popularity as a medical tourist destination. Last year, India attracted 150,000 foreign patients, while Singapore got 200,000, and the major player Thailand got 600,000. 

            Medical Tourism is also gaining popularity in the Philippines. Philippines is currently one of the few countries in Asia who offers medical tourism aside from Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and India as competitors.  

            Philippines should not be left behind and there is a large part of the pie in medical tourism to eat, so to speak. According to Confederation of Asian Industry Study, a private consultancy firm estimated that medical tourism could be worth at least US $2 Billion by 2012. 

            Aside from wellness spa, alternative medicines, shopping and sightseeing, foreign tourist can avail cheaper medical services and diagnostic procedures such as liposuction, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, face lift, tummy tuck, blepharoplasty, coronary angiogram, or even the more complicated surgical procedures such as knee surgery, open-heart surgery, kidney transplant, bone marrow transplant and etc. There are endless possibilities. 

            Philippines has several advantages compared to other countries – there is a lot of competent doctors who were locally trained or trained in the United States or first-world countries, the medical schools reportedly have a “tougher” curriculum,  hospitals in the U.S. and European countries are visibly staffed by Filipino nurses, and Filipinos had a competitive command of the English language. 

            Dr. Pierre Clero, Medical Director of Clinique Internationale D’ Esthetique based in Paris France, said that Philippines is more competitive because “every third medical practitioner in U.K. or U.S. known to be Filipino descent, first-world patients attach a reasonable amount of confidence and comfort in being treated in Philippines.” He also emphasized “Considering India’s questionable sanitary conditions, there is no comparison when it comes to our Philippine clinic set up.”  

            Mike Adams, a pundit of healthcare issues in the U.S. cited the competitive advantage of Asia and particularly the Philippines in medical tourism. He wrote “Americans can save as much as 80% right of the bat. Because now, dollars are actually going to the surgeons, anesthesiologists and other hospital workers who are attending the surgical procedures. Whereas in the United States, money is going to the insurance company…” Another reason why these procedures in the Philippines are affordable is because of liability issue. He added “In the United States, doctors and hospitals must carry extremely expensive medical malpractice insurance policies. In contrast, when you undergo a surgical procedure as a medical tourist in an offshore hospital… you save a fortune by essentially not funding the legal fees, settlements and malpractice insurance costs normally found in the a U.S.-based healthcare practice.”           

            According to Dr. Carlos I. Lasa, a Filipino cosmetic surgeon, the fee for eyelid surgery in the U.S. is $2,500, while here it only cost $600 to$1,500. Liposuction in the U.S. cost $2,000 per area while here it cost $800 for the first area and $500 for succeeding areas.  

            Wisely, our government had pick up this global trend. During the term of Tourism Secretary Roberto Pagdanganan, he initiated the Philippine Health Tourism Program (PHTP). Thru this agency, it will partner with the Department of Health (DOH) and the Department of Energy (DOE) and jointly offer cost-effective medical treatments combined with special tourist destinations that will highlights the best tourist attractions the country has to offer. Likewise, the 3 partner agencies had crafted rules and regulations for accreditation of health establishments, wellness centers, hospitals, using Department of Tourism standards for hotels as model. 

            Currently, there are only few medical institutions that can cater medical tourism such as Asian Hospital in Alabang, Capitol Medical Center in Quezon City, Medical City in Mandaluyong, St. Luke’s Medical Center in Quezon City, Makati Medical Center, Asian Eye Center in Rockwell, and etc.  

            To bolster the government commitment in developing medical tourism in the country, medical tourism was included in last year Investment Priorities Plan. One of the investment incentives in that plan is to reduce tariffs on importation of hospital equipments. 

            Despite the potential economic opportunities that medical tourism entails, political economist Calixto V. Chikiamco lamented that Philippines will continue to lag behind Thailand and Singapore. He argued that there are a lot of institutional obstacles to overcome. First, our government is complacent towards the massive exodus of medical personnel; Second, there is restrictive air policy that protects national airline rather than opening the route to the foreign airlines that can service potential foreign patients; Third, quality of public institutions reflects badly on the kind of quality care we can deliver; Lastly, the quality and reputation of judicial system that give patients the comfort for proper redress in court if something wrong or malpractice act happens.  

            Michael L. Tan, columnist in Philippine Daily Inquirer, also shared some reservations regarding medical tourism. Medical tourism may bring a kind of discrimination into our entire health care system when foreigners are treated with royalty while Filipinos are treated with condescension. He also worries that if quality of health care is not maintained, our medical tourism program will had a hard time to prosper. He wrote “all you need is a few well-publicized complaints of botched medical procedures from the visitors and we’re finished.” 

            Amit Sen Gupta, an Indian commentator who opposed medical tourism argued that “medical tourism can promote an “internal brain drain” with more health professionals being drawn to large urban centers, and within them, to large corporate run specialty institutions.”  

            There are bipolar implications that medical tourism will bring to our country. In the long run, if given a vigilant support from our government, medical tourism will play a significant role in our country’s economic recovery.  Likewise, medical tourism may entice surgeons and anesthesiologists to stay in the country and prevent further brain drain. Instead for them to migrate and serve patients in foreign land, through medical tourism, foreign patients will come here and seek their treatment instead. 

            Truly, we now really live in a global village.

1/13/06 11:57:48 P
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