Korea to Rise as Medical Tourism Center

By Han Suk-young

The domestic medical tourism was noted in the biggest medical tourism conference in the world, and Korea was distinguished as the new medical tourism center. The Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI, Chairman Kim Bup-wan) said that it participated in the World Medical Tourism Congress (WMTC) together with the Hanyang University Medical Center, Wooridul Hospital, Severance Hosptial, Kangnam St. Mary's Hospital, Ajou University Hosptial, and the Korea Tourism Organization. The WMTC was held in San Francisco, U.S. from September 9 to 12, and it was attended by 750 relevant visitors from all over the world. Korea was invited to the WMTC as a premier sponsor and received the best reviews.

President Ahn Yu-hun of the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion said, ¡°The trend of current medical markets in the world is the globalization of healthcare businesses. A global healthcare business should focus on providing the best quality medical services to patients in the world rather than just attracting tourists. The transparency of healthcare services and their qualities should be secured to advance global healthcare services.

During the conference, the U.S. medical insurance companies were busy developing insurance products by designating foreign medical institutions in order to reduce the high medical costs. They said that they would first consider partnerships with Korean medical institutions. They asked for the cooperation of the KHIDI for the joint development of insurance products and the education programs for insurers.

Besides, participating medical institutions, including the Severance, succeeded in making contracts with global medical insurance companies including Signa International and AIG International. Those medical institutions are also working on the finalization of the details to establish cooperative relationships with small/medium medical insurance companies and medical tourism agencies.

KHIDI Global Marketing Support Team Head Lee Young-ho confidently said, ¡°The conference was an opportunity to confirm the movement of the U.S. medical insurance companies, which is trying to lower healthcare costs by designating foreign medical institutions. Korea has more advanced medical technologies and experiences than other countries that were promoting medical tourism. Korea will be able to attract a considerable number of patients from the U.S. with active marketing.

Many relevant officials visited the Korean healthcare advertising center, and the Korean medical institutions successfully established cooperative networks. They would be able to attract U.S. patients through business with them. The Medical Tourism Association, which hosted the WMTC, will hold an international medical tourism conference in Korea in the first half of every year from 2009, following the business contract made in May with the KHIDI.

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