McKinsey prticle on mapping the market for medical travel

An early but very interesting article that shows analysis done by McKinsey on the percentage flow of travelers from one part of the globe to another.  The key points made are that only 35-45% of the international patients are actually medical travelers. Of this number, which is stated at around 50,000, the approximate number travelling to the US for advanced technology is around 20,000 annually. Lower cost seeking travelers are a minority at about 15% of the medical travelers and consist of mostly travelers from the US that either go for orthopedic or general surgery. Those that go for discretionary procedures travel to smaller specialized providers. The number of US patients going abroad annually is predicted at 5,000-10,000 annually however, it could be higher if payers included international providers in their networks.

According to the article, prices charged by providers are affected by perception of the value based on reputation, location, regional economics and safety. The key dynamic here is the acceptance by the payers.


http://cureandcareindia.com/writereaddata/McKinsey-9547270771.pdf

Detailed Deloitte report by Paul Keckley and Howard Underwood

A detailed report by the authors predicts a much higher trend of up to 10M Americans travelling abroad by the year 2013. A number of different markets are identified in a map which already includes millions of tourists to each location from other countries as well.  Reasons for travel are indicated to be lack of insurance or coverage of procedures, cosmetic, Non-FDA approved treatement and seeking treatment back in their native country.  The article also mentions a number of US providers with international footprint including the Clevelant Clinic, Cornell Medical School, Duke, Harvard, Johns Hopkins etc.  An excellent decsion process map is also discussed for pre- and post procedure and the makeup of medical tourism facilitators. The key point is that facilitators provide a one-stop shop to address travel concerns, provide negotiated rates with providers and help with logistics, arrangements and post procedure questions. Procedure prices are also quoted from Josef Woodman's book and are anywhere from 6% to 33% of US prices.


https://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/us_chs_MedicalTourismStudy(3).pdf