Taiwan prepares for surge in medical tourism

Taiwan is being developed as a centre for medical tourism for both foreign tourists and visitors from Mainland China in an effort to grab a share of the multi-billion dollar global medical tourism market.

Taiwan’s government is expecting a surge of tourism in the medical sector, particularly from Chinese mainlanders who are sure to be impressed with the standards of facilities on the island.

The island offers dramatically better medical facilities than cities on mainland China, whose hospitals suffer from old facilities, crowded conditions and poor service, where patients may be forced to wait hours for consultations.

Taiwan’s medical system prides itself on the fact that there are always plenty of seats available in waiting rooms and never a lack of hospital beds.

The island is in sharp competition with its Asian competitors, particularly Thailand and Singapore, but with relations improving between Taiwan and China since 2008 the number of Chinese visitors has increased dramatically in a quantity that is only expected to skyrocket over the next few years.

‘Taiwan is well positioned to tap the China medical tourism market,’ says Josef Woodman, author of patients Beyond Borders, the leading consumer guide to international medical travel.

‘The middle class in China is growing far more rapidly than the Chinese healthcare system can keep up with. Until that gap abates, you’ll see a growing trend of wealthy mainland Chinese heading cross-border for higher quality care – to the US, Taiwan and Singapore,’ he said.

Tens of millions of dollars have been poured into this field and the results are evident. The challenge now is for Taiwanese hospitals to maintain a balance between medical tourism and standards in national health care.