Medical Tourism Market in UK Essay Example

Medical Tourism Market in UK Essay Example Medical Tourism Market in UK Paper Medical Tourism Market in UK Paper Healthcare field has advanced and spread its wing through offering treatment for people from different countries at an affordable cost. Medical Tourism may not be a new phenomena but it is growing at a great rate offering numerous benefits to all the players in the industry. Medical tourism refers to travelling abroad for a medical treatment which would rather be expensive or might be unavailable in ones country. Woodman, J 2007 3) There are several benefits for medical tourism to the patient and the host country. This service provides a unique opportunity for anybody to access the best quality of medical care at a lower cost than he would get at home. One of the target groups is the one which has no health insurance, this group consists of people who have no medical cover and can not afford to pay for it at home. With a large number of people currently uninsured, this creates a huge potential for the people who would travel outside the country as medical tourists. They often travel to country where quality and affordable treatment can be offered. There are several countries where medical tourism is offered as a package, they include Asian countries such as Singapore, Thailand, India, South American countries such as Brazil, Argentina among others. South Africa is currently emerging as a medical tourist destination where this service is being offered as a package together with wildlife watching. (Bookman, M and Bookman, K 2007 46) The other market that is targeted for this service includes people who are seeking treatment that is not offered locally. There are some procedures which are not offered in Untied Kingdom either due to government regulation or the cost involved in performing these procedures. Those in need of such treatment will often travel to the countries where they are available at an affordable cost. (Rai, V and Simon, W 2007 68) Insurance become the other factor determining who seeks treatment abroad, those people who can afford health cover back at home are faced with a challenge when it comes to what a given medical cover can include. There are some procedures that are not covered by medical insurance; one of them is orthopaedic operation especially the hip and knee replacements, due to this technicality people seeking such a treatment will often travel to the countries where they can get this service at a reduced cost and at a convenience time. (Hollway, C 2006 165) There are people who are insured but find it hard and tiring to wait for the procedures which might take long to be performed. Given the population and the facilities available to perform surgical procedure in a country which heavily depends on the public health care one can wait for along period before the procedure is carried out. Therefore these people will be a potential target for the medical tourism. (Arielle, G 2006 23) All the above groups form the target market as far as this growing and lucrative industry is concerned. They are some countries which promote these services as a package with other products offered in the tourism industry. The person seeking this medical service will be offered these other services together as a way of rewarding them for the business they have provided to the host country. (Tourism Research Marketing 2006 87). There are benefits that go along with this form of service; the patients who travel for medical treatment abroad have the opportunity of receiving quality treatment from some of the best health practitioners at a very affordable cost. Medical care can be very expensive in United Kingdom such that some of the people can not afford to pay for themselves. There fore they opt to travel outside the country where they can get the same service and at times better quality at a cost which they can afford to pay. Therefore these people are able to save on cost and at the same time get a chance to travel outside the country away from their daily activities. Those who are uninsured or underinsured continue to receive medical attention even when the circumstances they might be in can not allow. Despite their situation with the health insurance they have a chance to receive quality care (Singh, P 2008 56) Those people seeking these services have a chance of combining recuperation with leisure. Most of the service providers offer their patients a chance to recuperate while enjoying the best their countries have to offer. The medical tourist seeking treatment in India are offered other services such as wild watching, something which can result to a quick recovery. The patient is offered a unique environment away from the daily bustle of life, away from the daily disturbance which can make the recovery period stressful but in this case they are kept in a good environment where they relax. To have a non emergency procedure done in a United Kingdom health facility one would have to wait for a long time before this is done. With medical tourism this can be done at one’s convenience and at an appropriate time. One only needs to make an arrangement with the service provided and the procedure can be done within the same day. This gives the patient a good chance to plan and at the same time one doe’s not waste time waiting for along list to be cleared as in the case with the public health service back home. (Gupta, A 2008 102) Medical tourism helps in saving cost, reducing waiting time, ensuring the uninsured access quality care while offering the patient a unique opportunity to mix tourism and recapuration. This growing industries will continue to grow as the world embrace the concept which not only helps the host country but also leave those seeking the service satisfied. Bibliography Woodman, J (2007). Patient Beyond Borders, Health Travel Media, Chapel Hill,NC Bookman, M and Bookman, K (2007). Medical Tourism in Developing Countries, Palgrave Macmillan, New York Hollway, C (2006). The Business of Tourism, Prentice Hall, London Rai, V and Simon, W (2007). Think India, Dutton, New York Tourism Research Marketing (2006). Medical Tourism: Global Analysis, Atlas Gupta, A (2008) Outsourcing and Offshoring Professional Services, Idea Group Inc Singh, P (2008) Medical Tourism: Global Outlook, Kanashika Publishers Arielle, G (2006) Medical Tourism: How you can Save Thousand Dollars, Travel Wings