Inbound and outbound Australian medical tourism growing

New figures show that while Australia may have a smaller inbound than outbound medical tourism industry, inbound medical tourism is often driven by better off tourists, while outbound is driven by less well off people seeking to save money, mostly on dental and cosmetic surgery.

New figures show that while Australia may have a smaller inbound than outbound medical tourism industry, inbound medical tourism is often driven by better off tourists, while outbound is driven by less well off people seeking to save money, mostly on dental and cosmetic surgery.

More than 10,000 medical tourists flew into Australia in 2012/2013 for procedures, pumping more than $26 million into the national economy, new figures show. While an increasing number of Australians are travelling to Asian countries such as Thailand and Singapore for cheap care, Australian doctors and hospital chiefs say a small but increasing number of wealthy people from the Asia-Pacific region are going to Australia for treatments such as orthopedic and heart surgery, cancer services and IVF.

Data from Tourism Research Australia, the federal government’s agency in charge of tracking trends, shows 10,739 people went to Australia for medical reasons in the year to September 2013 – double the number in 2006. The data, which models information from surveys of 40,000 people in Australian airports each year, found medical tourists spent about $26 million in 2013, up from $12.7 million in 2006. This figure did not include their airfares and packages they had already purchased.

While there is no precise data on who is coming to Australia and why, from the government survey, there is local evidence. Epworth Group hospitals care for 600 international patients a year from 31 countries, including the Pacific Rim, USA, New Zealand, Singapore and Indonesia. This includes medical tourists and people who fall unexpectedly ill while visiting Australia.

The Monash IVF centre gets 50 medical tourists a year paying a premium price for reproductive treatment.

A 2010 Victorian government report on export opportunities recommended that Victorian hospitals set up assistance centres in Indonesian cities to guide people wanting to travel to Australia for medical treatment. The report suggested that the service would include transportation, medical referrals and appointments, hotel accommodation, assistance before, during and after hospitalisation, and customer service assistance for billing and financial inquiries. Neither hospitals nor government have followed up on the recommendation.

Government in the state of Victoria is working on a strategy to increase health and medical exports including medical tourism. Weight-loss surgery, robotic surgery, orthopedic surgery and IVF are key areas under consideration. One opportunity under discussion is Melbourne’s Parkville Precinct that by late 2015 will include a new major cancer centre. The federal and state governments in a public-private partnership fund the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. One proposal under consideration is to include 50 private beds on a separate private floor and to use medical tourism to help generate revenue for public services. The argument is that as long as international and privately insured Australian patients do not cut into the provision of healthcare for public patients in the hospital, it could generate income to boost public services the way overseas students have done for the education sector. Some local politicians and doctors are against having any private patients there.

An increase in inbound medical tourism would require hospitals and government to work together. At present medical tourists are being treated on an ad hoc basis at public hospitals without proper co-ordination. There is a recognition that it needs to get better organised to make it simpler for people to come in on short-term visas and to pay the money, and link in with local hotels.