The HCM Medical University Hospital usually treats between 1,000 to 15,000 overseas Vietnamese and foreign patients every year, mostly in the departments of heart, gastroenterology, nerve or plastic surgery.
(Photo: VNA)
HCM City (VNS/VNA) – Nguyen M., a 61 year-old overseas Vietnamesefrom Sweden, typically received treatment for his heart disease in Europe. Buton a recent trip to Vietnam, persuaded by the qualifications of Vietnamesedoctors and the low cost of treatment here, he decided to schedule a coronaryintervention at University Medical Hospital HCM City (UMH).
M. is one of many international visitors treated at UMH: the hospital usuallytreats between 10,000 to 15,000 overseas Vietnamese and foreign patients everyyear, mostly in the departments of heart, gastroenterology, nerve or plasticsurgery. In September, the centre established an international clinic withmodern facilities, exclusively for foreign patients.
Now, local officials are hoping to build on this momentum and expand the numberof international visitors who come to HCM City for medical treatment. OnOctober 12th, HCM City Department of Health (DoH) and Department of Tourism(DoT) officially signed a memorandum of understanding on medical tourismimplementation.
They established an interdisciplinary agency to promote health care services toforeign tourists, firstly with the “Medical Tourism Handbook” to be publishedby the end of 2017.
The handbook will provide patients with names, addresses and phone numbers ofmedical facilities and services around the city.
In the first phase of their cooperation, the DoH prioritises eight fieldsranging from general health consultation and check-ups to traditional medicineto ear-nose-throat care.
Seeing the potential of medical tourism, 11 medical facilities have registeredto offer those services including Tu Du Hospital, HCM City Children’s Hospital,HCM City Dentistry Hospital and UMH.
After the pilot period, the two departments plan to expand the cooperation intoother fields, aiming to turn HCM City into the medical centre of the region.
HCM City has several competitive advantages. With high-quality public andprivate hospitals, skilful physicians, advanced technologies and low cost oftreatment, the city’s hospitals have recently acquired a strong reputation forinfertility treatment, traditional medicine and acupuncture at reasonableprices in comparison to regional and Western countries.
According to Nguyen Viet Anh, head of the Travel Management Department underDoT, medical tourism in Vietnam is still humble compared to India, Thailand orSingapore. Foreign patients are mostly Lao or Cambodian, or overseasVietnamese.
Le Hanh, head of HCMC Society of Plastic and Aesthetic Surgery, emphasised theneed for the participation of travel agencies in promoting medical tourism.
Le Quang Thanh, Director of Tu Du Hospital, stressed that travel agencies cancoordinate and deliver foreign patients to hospitals to save patients time andmoney.
Meanwhile, Phan Dinh Hue, Director of VietCircle Travel Agency, said that theywere aware of the city’s medical tourism potential.
However, foreign tourists still have concerns about Vietnamese treatmentquality and tend to choose only services related to skin or beauty care.Therefore, improving and professionalising medical services is the key forhospitals to attract more tourist patients.
In addition, Nguyen Minh Quyen from Ben Thanh Travel Agency said that treatmentquality and safety should be prioritised to reduce risks in this industry.-VNS/VNA
VNA
