Taiwan’s new economic development vision for 2015 includes a three-year programme on inbound medical tourism .The government recognizes a global trend toward internationalization and industrialization of medical care services. The Medical Service Internationalization Flagship Project is a key development priority.
Taiwan’s new economic development vision for 2015 includes a three-year programme on inbound medical tourism .The government recognizes a global trend toward internationalization and industrialization of medical care services. The Medical Service Internationalization Flagship Project is a key development priority.
In October 2007, the Department of Health (DOH) began planning distribution channels and marketing campaigns on medical tourism. The objective is to integrate the resources of industry government and academia into a medical care service network and jointly build a brand image of Taiwan as the home of first-rate medical care services. The Medical Service Internationalization Flagship Project focuses on enhancing the basic operating environment of the industry and building distribution channels.
The DOH’s Taiwan Task Force for Medical Travel (TTFMT) has helped partner Taiwan hospitals with the Guangzhou-based Zion Health Club, Formosa Health Business Company, and Pacific Rim Medical Overseas Consortium to collaborate in transferring patients to receive medical care. TTFMT is also actively putting together international cooperation channels. It has signed memoranda of understanding with Guardian Healthcare Co., the Taiwan subsidiary of the Harvest Medical Investment and Operation Group, and Canada’s Allied Development Services International whereby patients of foreign nationality requiring multinational medical treatment will have priority referral to hospitals cooperating with the TTFMT.
Taiwan is still in the early stages of developing medical care services for the international market. Strategic planning is to be undertaken in five areas:
1. International marketing: The principal task will be to boost Taiwan’s international profile, build an overall medical care reputation, actively develop overseas Chinese and Chinese mainland markets and promote service models and the development of cooperative channels.
2. Medical care service quality: With medical care services as the core competency of this industry, quality control monitoring and improvement will continue so as to enhance Taiwan’s overall medical care image.
3. Tourism resource integration: Strategic cooperation between Taiwan’s leisure and tourism industry and the medical care industry will be intensified to enhance the added value of medical care service alliances and upgrade the basic tourism infrastructure and information technology services for higher tourism quality.
4. Policy coordination: Border entry procedures for non-nationals will be simplified to enhance the attractiveness of traveling to Taiwan for medical treatment. Pertinent laws, regulations and controls will be reviewed and relaxed to create even more favorable conditions for the industry.
5. Cross-industry alliances: Efforts will be made to establish cross-industry cooperation models involving members of the tourism, hotel, airline and both domestic and overseas insurance industries to expand the medical care services value chain, boost added value, provide complete services and establish industry-oriented operating models.
Formosa Medical Travel, an American medical tourism agency, has entered into agreements with three of Taiwan’s major hospitals; Tungs’ Taichung Metro Harbor Hospital, Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, and Changhua Christian Hospital.
Taiwan is well-positioned to compete with other Asian countries in promoting medical services to foreigners, especially overseas Chinese, because of the country’s advanced medical technology and highly qualified doctors, says Hwang Kung-chang of the DOH,“Although Taiwan got a late start in the field compared with other Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand and India, it still has enormous potential given that we have first-class doctors and medical expenses are much cheaper than they are in Western countries.”
The DOH has brokered a deal to develop medical referral services between an insurance firm based in California and nine private hospitals in Taiwan. The partnership will allow Central Health Plan of California, the third-largest medical service management company in southern California, to represent Taiwanese hospitals in the US and refer its clients, or the clients of other US health insurers, to the health care institutions to receive care in Taiwan.
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