Hospitals in full preparation for international medical tourism
Local medical facilities are in full preparation after the recent free-visa policy for people from six countries and mutual visa exemption agreements China signed with Singapore and Thailand.
Shanghai is expected to become a hot destination for medical tourism, especially after the mutual visa exemption kicks off this week with Singapore, due to the short distance, high-end medical capability and the internationalization of medical staff and services in leading public hospitals and international facilities in the city, industry insiders said.
Dr Li Zhiping, CEO of IHH Healthcare China, which owns Parkway, said the new policy is convenient for both Chinese and Singaporeans. Chinese is one of the official languages in Singapore and over 70 percent of the population is ethnic Chinese.
A medic at Parkway checks an expat patient.
"Under the policy, there will be more flights between Shanghai and Singapore and people from the two places can have better and quicker access to local medical services. Medical tourism is common as travelers can go to a local medical facility for health checkups or surgery," Li said. "Shanghai hospitals are expected to receive more patients from Singapore."
Officials from United Family Healthcare said they are very positive about the medical tourism market after the recent visa-free policy and mutual visa exemption agreements.
As a health-care group targeting expats and patients with a high demand for health services, United Family said it has facilities in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Gay Area to boost health services, academic communication and medical talent training.
Medical staff from Shanghai United Family Hospital treat an expat patient.
Shanghai United Family Hospital has always been one of the top choices for expats and the group will expand and upgrade its Jing'an branch this year to improve service volume, officials added.
The city's health authority has been focused on health industry development and promoting international medical tourism. Shanghai Health Commission selected 20 private medical facilities and 13 public hospitals as trial facilities for international medical tourism to encourage eligible hospitals to explore high-end medical services with Shanghai features and cultivate competitive medical tourism products.
Leading public hospitals are also in full swing by opening international medical departments with bilingual staff and are cooperating with commercial insurance companies at home and abroad.
"Shanghai is building itself into an Asian medical center, whose major strength comes from leading public hospitals. As a city-level maternity hospital, we are equipped with a top medical center in fetal medicine, prenatal diagnosis and treatment, and gynecological tumors," said Li Xiaocui, vice president of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital, one of the 13 public hospitals in the medical tourism program.
The international medical department of Shanghai First Maternity and Infant Hospital.
"We have separate medical service regions for international medical departments with bilingual guidance and English-speaking staff. To meet the diversified demand for medical tourism, the hospital has started service project designing, cultivating and training medical translators, specialists on standard operating procedure," she added. "For patients coming for medical tourism, we have prepared special service like peizhen, or medical treatment accompaniment, green channel, drug delivery, report and material collection, and arrangements for follow-up visits or patient transfer."
High-end services are available at the international medical department.
