In Southeast Asia, the health sector is expanding rapidly, attributable to rapid growth of the private sector and notably, medical tourism, which is emerging as a lucrative business opportunity. Countries here are capitalising on their popularity as tourist destinations by combining high quality medical services at competitive prices with tourist packages. Some countries are establishing comparative advantages in service provision based on their health system’s organizational structure. Thailand has established a niche for cosmetic surgery and sex change operations, whilst Singapore is attracting patients at the high end of the market for advanced treatments like cardiovascular, neurological surgery and stem cell therapy. In Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand alone, an estimated 4 million medical travellers visited in 2008 – 11, earning these countries over US$ 3 billion in treatment costs.

Medical tourism is defined as “the organized travel outside one’s natural healthcare jurisdiction for the enhancement or restoration of the individual’s health through medical intervention”, using but not limited to invasive technology. Medical tourism is a subset of health tourism, whose broader definition involves “the organized travel outside one’s local environment for the maintenance, enhancement or restoration of the individual’s wellbeing in mind and body”. Importantly, the definition of medical tourism takes into account the territorially bounded nature of health systems, where access to healthcare is often but not always limited to national boundaries. Medical tourism constitutes an individual solution to what is traditionally considered a public (government) concern, health for its citizens, who at the micro level are responding to market incentives by seeking lower cost and/or high quality care overseas that cannot be found at home. These tourists may be uninsured or underinsured. Travelling overseas for medical care has historical roots, previously limited to elites from developing countries to developed ones, when health care was inadequate or unavailable at home. Now however, the direction of medical travel is changing towards developing countries, and globalization and increasing acceptance of health services as a market commodity have led to a new trend; organized medical tourism for fee paying patients, regardless of citizenship, who shop for health services overseas using new information sources, new agents to connect them to providers, and inexpensive air travel to reach destination medical.The impact of medical tourism on health systems is as yet unknown due to a dearth of data and empirical analysis of the phenomenon.

Governments are noticeably playing a strong marketing and promotional role in the emerging medical tourism industry. This is a clear trend in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand, Singapore and Malaysia, the main regional hubs for medical tourism, where medical tourist visas are available and government agencies have been established with the mandate to increase medical tourist inflows. Governments in Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam have also expressed interest in promoting the industry. The potential economic benefits of medical tourism make it an attractive option for governments. Medical tourism can contribute to wider economic development, which is strongly correlated with improved population health status as a whole, e.g. increased life expectancy, reduced child mortality rates. Encouraging foreign direct investment in healthcare infrastructure and medical tourist inflows with correspondent revenue can create additional resources for investment in health care. Furthermore, medical tourism may slow or reverse the outmigration of health workers, particularly of specialists.

However, health systems in some of these countries face challenges in ensuring basic health service coverage for their own citizens. Two tier healthcare provisions have emerged in Malaysia, with private services limited to those who can afford it and public services for the rest of the population. Thailand’s public to private health worker brain drain has strained public health provision, especially in rural areas. Trade in medical supplies, organs, pharmaceuticals and health worker migration have dominated policy debates about the impact on health systems in developing countries, including concerns about intellectual property rights and access to affordable drugs, the latest medical technology, and retaining doctors and nurses within the public sector and/or within the country’s health system at all. There are growing concerns about the impact of medical tourism on health systems, particularly equity of access for both foreign and local consumers. Inequities at home, either by low quality services and/or inability to pay, prompt people to seek cheaper and high quality care treatment overseas.

Investing in international health insurance is a priority for expatriates living outside their home country for good many reasons. There is nothing more important than insuring oneself because it adds value to one’s livelihood. As a matter of fact, health is variable component and by nature, a circumstantial component.

Whether one is looking for a travel insurance Europe or medical insurance USA, if one is an expatriate, take the smart-step by procuring an insurance policy. Regardless of the time and place, a health insurance protection is as valuable as the passport one carries for identification.
Most international health insurances for expatriates are complicated and expensive owing to the benefits and the features they entail. Hence, this coverage may have limited coverage of treatments, hospitals, country-specific and situations.

On the contrary, ordinary life insurance protections will be nothing close to expat insurance because they are only specified to the boundaries of the home country and not beyond. That’s not all! Purchasing an apt expat health insurance is quite an ordeal in itself because it may demand meticulous market research and few rounds of expert consultations. Apart from that, a self assessment of the prevailing expat health insurance products may help an expat to achieve great results.

First of all, compare the available health insurance for expatriates rate, starting with the best companies, to ascertain the best prices. If you are residing in the US but plan to become an expat soon, make sure you have done relevant and thorough market research on USA insurance before proceeding further. Secondly, most health insurance plans having varying features, securities, financial packages and facilities are offered by leading as well as mediocre insurance companies.

Thus, the next difficult task lies in choosing the correct plan or premium in conformity with one’s personal medical requirements abroad. Last but not the least, the third step is more applicable for individuals who are frequent traveler and a globe trotter-select high quality insurance plans that offer global protection while traveling to any destinations in the world. In some insurance coverage, a wider protection may include a more up graded options like primary care and primary consultations for outpatients.

These may also provide superlative treatments and alternative treatments such as homeopathy, physiotherapy, acupuncture, osteopathy etc. Plans inclusive of the above mentioned health care facilities are more expensive than ordinary expat insurance plans. As a result, state-of-the-art health care benefits for expats are typically available under the Private Insurance category.

So, the higher the premium one pays, the greater will be the number of medical facilities an expat can get. In addition, some expat medical insurance plans also offer air evacuation/ air ambulance-it is a useful feature for expats settling in remote locations where high-end medical facilities are inaccessible. Therefore, a meticulously covered health care insurance is more important to an expat than to an ordinary citizen.

Ensuring quality medical care for people working abroad is essential, since local medical facilities could be very basic, expensive or even inaccessible.

Private healthcare plans offer varying levels of medical cover (often including the family), usually with an overseas repatriation or evacuation service as standard. Most international healthcare packages also provide access to a 24 hr confidential advice line as well as a foreign language interpretation service.

Overseas employees who are covered by private healthcare are able to receive prompt access to expert medical attention. This reduces absence due to sickness and helps to maximise corporate productivity. Where non-emergency treatment is needed in hospital, the patient will be notified of the date in advance, allowing their employer to make arrangements to cover their absence.

As with employees based in the UK, companies that provide a quality private healthcare package for their overseas staff are seen to be caring organisations that respect their employees’ well-being. This in turn helps with staff recruitment, retention and loyalty.

For individuals arranging their own international healthcare package, the wide-ranging choice of products on offer can be daunting. Many people prefer to seek advice from a specialist to help them narrow the field.

It is essential to secure enough cover for all possible contingencies, remembering to include cover for chronic conditions. If pregnancy and childbirth are also a possibility, these must be taken into account too.

Medical costs across the world are increasing at a faster rate than the cost of living. Consequently, many insurers will try to defer increases in premiums by either reducing the range of cover or introducing penalties, making it even more important for the purchaser to read the small print.

Naturally the quality of care is highly important. A healthcare package provider with an established network of clinics and hospitals is the most sought after, as this makes for higher standards of care. This strong network also means that invoices can be settled directly between the provider and the hospital, leaving the patient to recover in peace.

It can also be a great advantage to find a health insurance provider who has a local presence in the area where you are staying. Local knowledge is always extremely valuable when it comes to resolving difficulties overseas and even more so when there is an illness to deal with.

Whilst nobody really likes to dwell on the issue, evacuation and repatriation should also be taken into account. Again, it’s essential to scrutinise the small print.

Berlin is the second largest city in the European Union, and one of the most popular cities of Europe. As the capital city of Germany, it is known for its liberal and modern lifestyle and is an important economic and education center. The city has many world famous universities and research institutes. Berlin is renowned for its IT, pharmaceutical, traffic engineering and biotechnology industries. The Berlin medical sector is one of the best in the world and you can find many modern hospitals with state-of-the-art health care facilities in the city. The leading hospitals offer the service of English speaking staff and accept all major health insurances. This is a note on some of the globally known hospitals in Berlin.

DRK Kliniken Berlin – Mitte is one of the most distinguished health care facilities of the nation and is located at Drontheimer Street 39-40, Berlin 13359. Germany’s leading medical service provider, DRK Hospital Group manages this hospital. This center was founded in 1975 and acquired the accreditation of Joint Commission International, USA in 2002. The hospital has been honored with many other accolades as well. The hospital offers the best possible clinical and diagnostic services through its various medical departments and ‘specialty centers’. It employs more than 400 diligent staff. Many of the specialty centers are certified by famous institutions. One such example is the center for breast diseases which is certified by German Cancer Society.

Many procedures are performed through the modern minimally invasive (keyhole) method of surgery in DRK Kliniken Berlin’s surgical department. It is a well-known center for endoscopy, hip resurfacing and cancer surgery. The departments of anesthesiology, intensive care, emergency medicine and pain therapy are also well equipped and operate in association with each other. The center for diagnostic and interventional radiology features the country’s most modern angiography. The hospital offers excellent nursing services by employing members of the famous DRK Nursing Corps. DRK Kliniken Berlin is very popular among the local foreign communities. Tel: + 49 30 3035 60 01

HELIOS Hospital is another world-class hospital in Germany. This multidisciplinary hospital is operated by HELIOS healthcare international. HELIOS healthcare international was established in 1994 manages and its 61 hospitals employ 30,000 medical professionals. The HELIOS Hospital in Berlin has association with the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine and the Charité University Hospital. This 1100 bed maximum care hospital is comprised of 26 departments and has one of Europe’s largest hospital complexes. The hospital offers excellent clinical and diagnostic services in all disciplines and has several accredited centers such as the Helios hearing unit, the center for social pediatrics, the stroke center and the prostate unit. All kinds of surgical procedures are performed in the hospital and its modern surgery department is especially famous for vascular and keyhole surgery. This is one of the most preferred German hospitals for travelers and the accommodation facilities are similar to that of a luxury hotel. Tel: + 49 2151 32 4000