Health Care Tourism as an Emerging Market in Malaysia
Southeast Asia’s health care industry is transfiguring towards a competitive and globalized character. This attributes to the frugality aspect characteristic of patient base indices that reflect sheer margins to afford skyrocket costs to avail healthcare services from developed countries, in particular from the United States. High demand for superior goods and services in the healthcare industry in search for affordable yet competitive medical goods and services is emerging with continuity in the Asian Pacific region. Studies supporting this proposition reveal that Consumer Price Index respective to avail unmatched quality healthcare and medical technology in the United States under a global scale apparently rises with boundless cost trends despite the need for superiority; the sheer increase in number among medical facilities availing accreditation by professional organizations continues to widen to compete with competitive edge and global standards in offshore settings including the Joint Commission International; because of the large cost differential existent between developed countries and emerging markets in availing such services, this driving factor encourages customers who are willing to travel to avail offshore services in nearby countries at less travel time, strain and cheaper costs (Deloitte Healthcare Solutions, 2008,p. 3).Studies show the preference for the Asia Pacific region over the United States for medical services based on demographics revealed at 93 percent leverage with the growth attribute to the technology export from the United States (Grail Research LLC,2009, p.4). Another advantage due to the constraining economic trends in the United States and the global crisis pervading in developed countries, despite superior services available at much lesser proximity to nationals in these countries, US based customers and those from other developed countries can alternatively avail the same equivalent services at comparative quality yet substantial cheaper costs in countries out of their region while facing other considerable risks. (Graille Research LLC, 2009, p.5) These factors determined the development in healthcare in the Asia Pacific region.
As a response to this trend, patient perception is also on the coterminous merge on how diverse options emphasizing affordability generate an attractive healthcare market in providing cost efficient yet competitive solutions. Studies show that attribute to medical tourism in Malaysia among other competitive markets in the region bear to the marketing strategy implemented in attracting foreign tourists to spur the national healthcare market, including to cater an international market dealing with long waiting lists patients in developed and developing countries having to face while increasing health risk for the patient while exposed to these accommodation conditions and time delays. Because of the large revenue margins generated by the foreign inbound market, private medical networks opted for absolute privatization in the Malaysian healthcare industry. While the Malaysian market composes closely equal division between private and public sectors in healthcare, privatization of the public sector left healthcare costs to the publicthrusted over private sectors as the last recourse option to avail hospital services among local populations with no option left at their disposal from the public sector eliminated. Coupled by the growing urbanization in Malaysia caused parallel demand to rise in folds thrusting as a result over the private sector to capacitate in the establishment of hospital and facility outlets throughout Malaysia (Leng, 2007, p.3).An added value weighs on the significant role the private sector assumed this precedent role that generated a majority share and stake on upscale medical facility production. This result induced bear to the regional capital integration introduced in the course of privatization and by the remnant effects allocating the global healthcare industry a larger market share in the Asia Pacific region fusing funds which financed the private sector evidenced by the preference of foreign patients to avail services there from the leverage shown. Because of profit advantage in the foreign markets, medical practitioners from all sorts catered private services through the corporate sectors not only for their benefit but the assurance and stability it guarantees the public for the continuity of services. This enables a strong marketing strategy upon the role of large corporations as stakeholders. In addition government offered tax incentives to foreign patients as benefits to avail tax credits applicable on their end to respective national tax systems attribute to countries of patient origin playing a responsible role in the global development of medical tourism. In return the Malaysian government pursued policy development schemes to address deficiencies in their national legal structures the foreign markets may encounter in the face of implicit risks that need redress in the medical tourism industry. For example, international policy guidance structures have not touched ground within national jurisdictional bounds that require deliberate and consensus based policymaking and is likely subject to debate yet on prospective issues extricated from public feedback when availing services abroad from a foreign national. Although the government may be short of these concerns, it enabled the healthcare sector spur to global ranks by standardization, quality control, sales and marketing strategies that yield leverage as one of the largest income generators in the Malaysian economy.
Malaysia ranks the top among Asian countries in enveloping a noticeable change in healthcare investment. While the general hallmark globalization establishes itself reflects stream development in all sectors in a thriving economy with invaded breakthroughs employing not only medical technology adoption in developing countries, Malaysia exudes the potential to thrive regional economic development. Most noted is the need to take the developmental initiative in nurturing potential markets into an economic bustle involving privatization schemes as the mainstream synergy similar to the healthcare system similar to Malaysia’s case. Not only to challenge western counterparts, but nurture setback economies is the imperative key to cater regional development.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment