Although new to health travel, Korea has a wealth of medical expertise
BY JULIAN TAN
Korea has been something of a late starter in promoting itself to an international audience. It was only in March 2007 that medical providers and the government-affiliated Korea Health Industry Development Institute and Korea Tourism Organization came together to inaugurate the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion. Last year, the Korean International Medical Service Association associated with the Ministry of Health and Welfare was also launched to introduce hospital facilities and services to overseas expositions, and develop medical travel packages with travel agencies and foreign insurance companies. Lastly, e-Health was formed: a government-initiated healthcare concept using information technology to provide and share information on medical products and services online, covering industries like medical hardware, software, service, healthcare and well-being products to trading online. To further enhance Korea’s product offerings, many hospitals have opened international outpatient centres to provide multilingual services and travel arrangements like visa application, airport transfers and assistance for patients’ families.
Recently, the Seoul Metropolitan Government announced plans to build a medical complex to attract foreign visitors. Some 100,000 health tourists are projected to visit the South Korean capital by 2010 and target markets include Japan, China and North America.
The lure of medical travel is obvious: short waiting time for medical care, easy access to healthcare expertise and cut-throat medical fees compared with western countries – all of which Korea is able to provide.
Over the past few years, Korea has gained a reputable standing in medical care, offering abundant health products and services, particularly in the field of cosmetic and plastic surgery. Thanks to innovations in beauty surgery techniques, going under the knife for some nip and tuck is fuss-free and quick – surgeries can even be arranged as outpatient visits. In a society fixated on beautiful celebrities, cosmetic and plastic surgery is a lucrative multibillion-dollar industry and Korea certainly has plenty to offer: replantation using microsurgery, flap operation, burn care, craniofacial surgery on palatine cheilognathus and congenital malformation of face, ophthalmoplasty, rhinoplasty, rhytidoplasty…you name it.
And the government was quick to realise this. Last year, it rolled out tax-deductible benefits for plastic surgery, cosmetic tooth reshaping, corrective laser eye surgery and traditional Korean health supplements.
Yet Korea, arguably the “Plastic Surgery Capital of Asia” apart from Taiwan and Japan, not only boasts an excellence in cosmetic and plastic surgery, but also a wealth of medical expertise ranging from stem cell research for treating cancer to organ transplant. Remarkable healthcare services include health screening, cosmetic and plastic surgery, dental care, ophthalmology, infertility treatment, otorhinolaryngology and Korean traditional medicine.
Hospitals affiliated to local universities and big corporations have been instrumental in developing Korea’s healthcare system, serving not just the local people but also the foreign community. The history of Yonsei University Health System dates back to over a century. “The missionary doctors who established the hospital have served the foreign community and travellers since 1885,” says John A Linton, MD, PhD, director of International Health Care Center (IHCC) at Yonsei’s Severance Hospital and assistant professor of family medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine. “In 1962, the hospital officially designated a section as the IHCC, which still exists today.” Each day the IHCC sees approximately 40 patients, who are mostly expatriate residents from the United States and Canada. “We have staff doctors who can speak English, Chinese, Korean and Japanese and translators for virtually any language are provided by the adjacent Yonsei University,” says Linton. The hospital collaborates with Evercare, a private healthcare service company, to arrange accommodation, airport transfers and other travel arrangements for international patients at an additional cost. Severance Hospital is Korea’s only hospital to attain accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI).
Although still in its infancy, Samsung Medical Center (SMC) of the chaebol (conglomerate) Samsung Group has served its mission since 1994. “More than a decade has passed since SMC was established on November 9, 1994 in southern Seoul, with a far-reaching vision of providing the finest healthcare services for all with a dedication to extensive and innovative research and education of top-calibre healthcare professionals,” says Rhee Jong-Chul, MD, PhD, the centre’s president. “Though not long in history, SMC has become the dynamic centre of advanced medicine and has pioneered countless clinical advances.” Last March, SMC marked its achievements of 20,000 new cases of radiation treatment and 1,000 blood stem-cell transplants. SMC runs its own Cancer Center, Cardiac and Vascular Center, Stroke and Cerebrovascular Center and Organ Transplant Center providing specialised services, as well as a medical referral system that includes 70 cooperative hospitals and 700 member clinics.
The Catholic University of Korea, Catholic Medical Center (CMC) has a 70-year history as a missionary-founded medical organisation. It comprises eight hospitals, nine research centres, a medical school and a nursing school.
CMC’s current flagship, the 852-bed Gangnam St Mary’s Hospital, which is located near the Korean World Trade Center and JW Marriott Hotel, attained the ISO 9001 certification in 2005. A ninth and bigger hospital, the 1,200-bed Seoul St Mary’s Hospital, is scheduled to open in 2009.
“The Catholic Medical Center is poised to take another big step forward with the new hospital…Upon its completion, the new facility will provide the CMC with the infrastructure it needs to grow into a global healthcare institution,” says a hospital spokesperson.
Although none of CMC’s hospitals are JCI-accredited, the spokesperson reveals that “we (have) launched our JCI preparation committee a few months ago. We expect to get the JCI accreditation when the new hospital finishes construction.” Gangnam St Mary’s Hospital has its own International Healthcare Center, which saw 1,500 patients last year. Of these, 58 percent were from North America, 25 percent from Russia and the rest came from countries like China, Taiwan, Japan and the United Kingdom.
In Korea where English is less widely spoken, there is the issue of language hampering the country’s ability to communicate with the outside world if it wants to become a world-class destination for medical travel. A number of hospitals have Korean-only websites, which works as a disadvantage to patients who are internet-savvy. The good news is that medical institutions like the CMC are doing all they can to help rectify the problem. Says the CMC spokesperson: “We realise the effects of globalisation, and with our new hospital, we are determined to place ourselves in a competitive position for medical travel. We will enlarge our International Healthcare Center in the new hospital and focus on foreign-language education for our employees to equip them (with the skills needed) for interacting with foreign patients.”
Namkoong Sung-eun, MD, PhD, medical director of CMC, remains optimistic about Korea’s vision to become a medical travel hub. “Korea is quickly becoming ready to serve as a medical travel destination as witnessed by our passionate pursuit of education and language acquisition,” he says. “This, combined with our holistic approach to medicine, will attract many international patients in that our standard for excellence and belief in Christian love will provide a top-notch, passionate environment in which to receive medical care.” Other medical professionals cited such strengths as the superb manual dexterity, referring to the dental work and plastic surgery that the Korean medical professionals are recognised for, competitive medical fees [see table on page 40], modern hospital facilities and cutting-edge medical technology.
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