More foreigners realize they can obtain Medical Treatment in Mexico at much Lower Cost

theyucatantimes.com

Certification, language and competition are the three major challenges for medical tourism in Mexico, but an unprecedented effort by government and private enterprise is working to overcome them.

The objective of the Coparmex Medical Tourism project is to make the most of the market dominance Mexico has already achieved in positioning itself as a medical tourism destination. It is second only to Thailand, says ProMexico, a government promotional agency.

Hospital Room (Star Medica, Merida)

An important part of the project is integrating the series of services that a foreign patient needs in order to have surgery.

It brings together managers from the health and tourism sectors and representatives of government, hospitals, tourism agencies and others to create a product that includes flight, hospital and hotel. Packages would be offered via travel agencies in the United States and Canada.

Clinica Merida

At present, facilitators currently act as intermediaries between hospitals and clients, charging between 15 and 20% of treatment costs.

Coparmex has been visiting interested businesses in cities such as Matamoros, Puerto Vallarta and Villahermosa to explain the development of clusters that would bring together the services that patients need. Meanwhile, the Secretariats of Tourism and Health have plans to support the project with marketing campaigns and financing through Bancomext, the state-owned development bank.

Hospital de Especialidades Médicas Merida

Medical tourism has grown over the last three decades without requiring a strategy, as many foreigners realized they could obtain treatment in Mexico at much lower cost. As a result, many Americans and Canadians travel to Tijuana, Monterrey, Puerto Vallarta and Cancún, among others, for cosmetic surgery and dental and weight-loss treatment.

Medical tourists are estimated to number one million annually, about 4% of total foreign tourism. Average expenditure is between US $5,000 and $20,000, rather more than the $1,200 spent by conventional visitors.

The challenges include certification by the International Joint Commission, something that only eight of more than 3,000 hospitals now have, and an important requirement to demonstrate quality of service.

Language is another: a great many medical personnel do not speak English. Competition is a third obstacle. Costa Rica was a pioneer in medical tourism, while Brazil and Colombia are gaining a reputation for cosmetic surgery.

Source: http://mexiconewsdaily.com/

Mexico could be America’s operating room, says employers group

A medical holiday in Mexico.

Mexico News Daily | Tuesday, August 19, 2014

With lower costs for medical treatment and its location, Mexico could be the operating room for Americans requiring medical treatment.

The Mexican Employers Association (Coparmex) says that by betting on medical tourism, the country could capture as much as US $1.7 billion annually by treating 120,000 patients from the United States.

Coparmex president Juan Pablo Castañón Castañón says Mexico’s challenge in the next eight to 10 years is to earn receipts of $10 billion to $12 billion in foreign exchange for medical services.

The organization believes that there are opportunities for medical tourism in odontology, orthopedics and cardiology, for which Mexico “must aspire to be the operating room of the United States.”

Castañón said the potential for growth is great because of the size of the market. In the U.S. alone, he said, nearly 40% of the population lacks adequate financial means to treat medical problems. Plus it is estimated that 33.5 million people of Mexican origin live and work in the U.S. and they too represent a market for the Mexican operating room.

A pilot project began in May in Matamoros, Tamaulipas, with the objective of attending to the binational market in the border area, treating patients of Hispanic origin in both countries.

Coparmex thinks Mexico should take advantage of its competitive advantages, such as geographical location, quality and treatment costs. The latter, it says, are between 40% and 60% more expensive on the other side of the border.

There is already a movement under way in Yucatán to offer tour packages that include clinic or hospital stays along with hotel accommodation, transportation and food, among other services.

Source: El Financiero (sp)

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