Seoul - Medical tourism is nothing new in South Korea. It has been quite a while since Seoul became a popular destination for foreigners to get procedures in fields such as plastic surgery and dermatology. "It's my fifth time coming to Seoul for medical procedures," a 25-year-old Chinese woman said. "The first time I came here was because my friend recommended it to me." The Chinese woman said she has already spent 18,000 dollars on medical fees for procedures ranging from a nose job to laser hair removal.
With a revised law going into effect in May, the sector is set to get a further boost now that hospitals can hire agencies to help lure medical tourists. In the past, although advertisements targeting the general public were allowed, medical institutions could not hire agencies to seek patients for them or directly target marketing efforts at specific groups.
With the help of the new law South Korea's Health Ministry hopes to attract 100,000 medical tourists by 2011.
South Korea is already a popular destination for Asian women seeking cosmetic surgery and the government now hopes to get patients from all over the world, including North America and Europe, for procedures in various fields such as orthopaedics and cardiology.
The government sees opportunities in South Korea's hip and knee joint replacement and coronary artery bypass surgeries, which can be up to 20 per cent cheaper than in countries such as the United States. An official at Seoul's Health Ministry said revenue from medical services to foreign patients is expected to amount to 640 million dollars from 2009 to 2011.
This in no way compares to the hundreds of thousands of patients heading to Thailand and Singapore every year, but is still an ambitious start for a country that has up until now banned marketing to foreign patients and which is hoping to become a new medical hub in Asia.
In a saturated domestic market with over 3,000 new doctors starting practice every year, this is no doubt good news for local physicians who are eagerly turning their eyes to overseas patients. New jobs in fields such as medical coordinators and medical agents are also being created every day.
Sohn Dong Rip, a sales representative at a pharmaceutical company in Seoul, completed a 25-week course on medical tourism coordination provided by a new educational company that has just set up shop to teach South Koreans how to pursue a career in this industry.
"Although business in this field is yet limited, I thought the prospects were good. That's why I took the course," Sohn said. "I want to set up my own agency and get foreign patients to hospitals in South Korea."
Hospitals and medical agencies that want to carry out marketing activities to attract foreign patients have to register with the government.
"The number of institutions registering is soaring every week," said the health ministry official. "Since the revised law went into effect in May, 388 medical institutions and agencies have registered."
The government, meanwhile, is doing its part to grow the industry. South Korea has been participating in various health care events worldwide.
Lee Young Ho, international marketing director at the Korea Health Industry Development Institute, recently attended a global health care exhibition in Singapore.
"There are many medical events in Singapore, which are good places to promote South Korea's medical technology and network with businesses and government officials from many different countries," Lee explained.
Promoting the South Korean medical industry to other countries is a key part of the job.
"Some Middle Eastern countries pay for the medical fees of their nationals so they designate foreign countries where patients can go to get medical treatment," Lee said, adding that although in the past many patients went to the United States and Britain, recently Singapore had become a new destination.
"Through these international events we can network with officials from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates and promote South Korea."
Since the law went into effect, the health ministry reported a 41.3-per-cent surge in foreign patients in May compared to last year in six hospitals that are members of the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion with 1,061 overseas patients treated compared to 751 last year.
"This increase was probably due to the long preparation of hospitals to attract overseas patients and their marketing activities abroad in the last few years," the health ministry official said.
"I posted various questions about the procedures on the clinic's website to which I received fast email replies. This was one reason I trusted the clinic and decided to come to Seoul," said a 53-year-old woman who recently underwent treatment at a Seoul beauty clinic.
By building an image of credibility and cutting-edge technology, officials in Seoul expect the number of overseas patients to climb further in the future as the country strives to become a new Asian medical hub.
However, some questions have yet to be answered such what will happen to smaller clinics which cannot afford to pay medical agencies to lure patients and will competition to attract foreign patients drag down the quality of medical services. Another issue is how legal disputes will be settled if a foreign patient sues a South Korean medical practitioner.
