Abstract
ObjectiveTo investigate the magnitude and characteristics of medical tourism in Thailand and the impact of such tourism on the Thai health system and economy.MethodsIn 2010, we checked the records of all visits to five private hospitals that are estimated to cover 63% of all foreign patients. We reviewed hospital records of foreign patients and obtained data on their countries of origin, diagnoses and interventions. We surveyed 293 medical tourists to collect demographic characteristics and information on their expenditure and travelling companions. To help understand the impact of medical tourism on the Thai health system, we also interviewed 15 hospital executives and 28 service providers from the private hospitals.FindingsWe obtained 911 913 records of hospital visits, of which 324 906 came from 104 830 medical tourists. We estimated that there were 167 000 medical tourists in Thailand in 2010. Of the medical tourists who attended our study hospitals, 67 987 (64.8%) came from the eastern Mediterranean region or Asia and 109 509 (34%) of them were treated for simple and uncomplicated conditions – i.e. general check-ups and medical consultations. The mean self-reported non-medical expenditure was 2750 United States dollars. According to the hospital staff interviewed, medical tourism in 2010 brought benefits to – and apparently had no negative impacts on – the Thai health system and economy.ConclusionWe estimate that the total number of medical tourists visiting Thailand is about 10% of previous national government estimates of 1.2 million. Such tourists appear to bring economic benefits to Thailand and to have negligible effects on the health system.
Highlights
Reliable estimates of the annual number of people travelling abroad to purchase medical services – so-called medical tourists – are difficult to identify, there has been a rise in medical tourism in the past decade.[1]
The increasing costs of health care and the expansion of the middle class in many low- and middle-income countries have led to an increase in such tourism.[2,3,4]
Most studies of medical tourism have focused on the residents of North America, western Europe and the eastern Mediterranean region, many of whom have high purchasing power.[7,8]
Summary
Reliable estimates of the annual number of people travelling abroad to purchase medical services – so-called medical tourists – are difficult to identify, there has been a rise in medical tourism in the past decade.[1]. In 2010, an estimated 63 000 residents of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland travelled abroad for medical care – mainly for fertility, cosmetic or bariatric treatments[10] and predominately to Asia, eastern Europe, the Caribbean or South America.[11,12,13,14]
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