Medical Tourism - A Growing Retail Heath Strategy

The Cleveland Clinic just announced plans to develop a hospital near Buckingham Palace in London. Cruise ship spas are now staffed by medical doctors and licensed acupuncturists. The United States once had the world's market share of in-bound patients seeking healthcare from "the best healthcare system in the world." Now that the U.S. is well-acknowledged to be the most expensive healthcare system in the world, medical tourism is both in-bound and, increasingly, out-bound, with at least 1.4 million Americans seeking healthcare abroad in 2016, according to Visa. Visa estimated that the U.S. out-bound healthcare market was valued at $439 bn in 2015, and will grow 25% a year in the next decade. The Cleveland Clinic has been one of the most popular in-bound site for healthcare for foreign nationals seeking world-class heart surgery. On the virtual care front, Cleveland Clinic has also offered a telemedicine service for second opinions which has garnered an international reach. The Clinic even has a website with information on "international patient services." With the launch of the Clinic's London-based hospital, the institution is signalling that they see demand for their healthcare brand outside of the U.S., and geographically closer to prospective patients. The new London location can attract the emerging self-paying patients traveling from Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia. Recognizing the growing opportunity for US-bound medical touring patients, more overseas h...
Source: Healthy Living - The Huffington Post - Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news