I recently had the pleasure of sneaking out of the office and traveled to Shanghai Taipei and Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon) to speak at conferences and workshops. As I enjoy traveling it was very beneficial to see new places meeting up with old colleagues and meeting new ones.I was excited to travel to Shanghai as I had not been back to China since when I was a young boy and my family took us on a trip there. It was amazing how huge modern and busy Shanghai was.
It is a true modern first world city. I won forget the Bund which is along Huangpu River with its historical buildings and architecture. It had a very European feel.I met some of the top leaders of healthcare in Shanghai and spoke at a medical tourism workshop. I was extremely impressed with not only the high quality of healthcare and how modern the hospitals were but the ambitious plans Shanghai has to become a leader in medical tourism including the building of large hospital projects solely aimed at international patients.
Shanghai has very competitive pricing. After my trip to Shanghai I headed over to Taiwan which is only about a two hour flight from Shanghai. Taipei is a wonderful place set on an island and surrounded by mountains. I had the chance to visit one of our new member hospital systems and speak at a Medical Tourism conference meant for healthcare providers and the government in Taiwan.
I am looking forward to seeing Taiwan emerge as a leader in 2011 and 2012 as it seems the private and public sector are going to really make an effort to work together and brand the country.One of my favorite places along the trip was my visit to Saigon. The city had a charm that I instantly fell in love with and the Vietnamese people were so friendly. I loved the food the markets and just walking around the city at night.
The best part of my trip to Saigon was finally getting a chance to visit FV Hospital which has been a loyal MTA member for years. This French owned hospital sits very close to downtown Saigon and is beautiful modern and has incorporated glass and natural sunlight to provide a better healing environment for patients. I was able to have a very productive meeting with the government as they move to make Vietnam a destination for medical tourism.
For patients searching for affordability Saigon is the place. FV Hospital for example has more affordable pricing than many hospitals and countries in the world and is typically more competitive than Thailands pricing.Each of these countries and there hospitals are still formulating their initiatives and moving forward to capture their market share of the medical tourism industry.
I find each country I travel to has its own unique advantages and special identity and characteristics. What I look forward to most is watching these hospitals and governments we work with grow in the industry and succeed.
About the Author
Jonathan Edelheit is CEO of the Medical Tourism Association and assistant editor of the Medical Tourism Magazine. With a long history in the US health insurance industry including running a national healthcare administrator Mr. Edelheit was the first person in the US to implement medical tourism into health insurance plans. Mr. Edelheit is also editor of several leading US health insurance magazines and organizes one of the largest US healthcare conferences in the US for employers and health insurance companies the Employer Healthcare Congress. Mr. Edelheit can be reached at: Jon@MedicalTourismAssociation.com
