Are medical tourism conditions good in China?

China's medical tourism has been developing rapidly in recent years, and has gradually developed a unique competitiveness globally by virtue of abundant medical resources, advanced technology, relatively reasonable costs and policy support. The following is a specific analysis in three dimensions: core advantages, potential challenges and typical areas:

Core Advantages

1. Leading in total medical resources and technology level

China has the largest medical service system in the world. 2023 data shows that there are over 3,000 tertiary hospitals (including about 1,500 tertiary hospitals), which are centrally located in the north, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, and in regional center cities (e.g., Chengdu, Wuhan, Xi'an). In some specialty areas (such as oncology, cardiovascular, neurosurgery, organ transplantation), China's medical technology has reached the international advanced level:

Surgical robots: da Vinci surgical robots are the first in the world in terms of the number of applications in the fields of urology and cardiac surgery (more than 300 units installed in 2022), and the volume of surgeries is among the highest in the world; and

Tumor treatment: proton/heavy ion radiotherapy technology (e.g. Shanghai Proton Heavy Ion Hospital) covers a wide range of cancers, with efficacy comparable to that of top international institutions (e.g. MD Anderson Cancer Center); and

Cardiovascular intervention: the annual volume of coronary intervention (PCI) at Fu Wai Hospital and Anzhen Hospital in Beijing exceeds 10,000 cases, and the success rate of the technology leads the world; and

Organ transplantation: the number of liver transplantation and kidney transplantation surgeries has ranked first in the world for many years in a row, and the post-operative survival rate is close to the international advanced level (e.g., the 5-year survival rate of liver transplantation is more than 70%).

2. Significant cost advantage and outstanding cost performance ratio

Compared with the United States, Europe, Japan and other popular places for medical tourism, China's medical costs are generally 30%-70% lower. Take common medical programs as an example:

Heart bypass surgery: about 150,000 US dollars (about 1.09 million RMB) in the US, about 100,000-150,000 RMB in China's tertiary hospitals.

Tumor targeted therapy: the cost of a single targeted drug in the U.S. may be more than $100,000 (some new drugs are not included in the health insurance), China through the health insurance negotiation, the price of some drugs down to 1/10 or even less;;

In vitro fertilization (IVF): about $20,000 to $30,000 for a single cycle in the U.S. (about 140,000 to 210,000 yuan), and about $30,000 to 80,000 yuan for a single cycle in a public fertility center in China (including some tests).

Routine physical examination: about 5,000-10,000 US dollars for high-end physical examination in the US, and about 5,000-20,000 RMB for the same level of physical examination in the international department of China's tertiary hospitals or private institutions.

3. Policy Support and Regional Pilot Promotions

China has promoted the development of medical tourism through policy innovation in recent years, typical examples are:

Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Advance Zone in Hainan: as the country's only “special medical zone”, it allows the simultaneous use of new drugs and devices that are already on the market abroad but have not been approved in China (“licensed drugs and devices” policy), and has introduced more than 200 kinds of international innovative drugs and devices, which attracts a large number of patients from Southeast Asia and China; and A large number of patients from Southeast Asia and China.

Medical visa facilitation: some provinces and cities (e.g. Hainan, Guangdong, Shanghai) have opened a green channel for international patients to apply for a 5-year multiple-entry visa with a hospital invitation letter.

Docking of medical insurance with international commercial insurance: Some private hospitals (e.g., UFH, USCHIE) have partnered with international insurance companies (e.g., BUPA, MSH) to support direct billing for overseas patients.

Internationalization of Chinese medicine: Acupuncture and moxibustion have been included in medical insurance or recognized by more than 100 countries, and Guang'anmen Hospital of the China Academy of Traditional Chinese Medicine and Dongzhimen Hospital of the Beijing University of Traditional Chinese Medicine have become the first choice for international patients to see a TCM doctor.

4. Infrastructure and Service Capacity Enhancement

Hardware facilities: large tertiary hospitals are generally equipped with internationally advanced imaging equipment (e.g., 3.0T MRI, PET-CT), intensive care (ICU) and operating rooms, and the inpatient environments of some hospitals (e.g., Shanghai Ruijin Hospital and West China Hospital) have reached international standards.

Multi-language services: large hospitals in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou have set up international medical departments (e.g., Peking Union Medical College Hospital International Medical Department, Shanghai Huashan Hospital International Department), equipped with teams of interpreters in English, Japanese, and Korean, and some hospitals work with third-party organizations to provide 24-hour language support.

One-stop service: from booking, examination, surgery to recovery, some hospitals provide “full-process butler service”, and even assist in solving the needs of visa, accommodation, transportation and so on.

Potential Challenges: Shortcomings for Improvement

Despite the obvious advantages, China's medical tourism still faces some constraints, mainly reflected in:

1. Insufficient international accreditation and mutual recognition

Most Chinese hospitals have low coverage of international accreditation (e.g., JCI accreditation, Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations Worldwide) (only about 100), which leads to doubts among some international insurance organizations about the safety and standardization of medical services in China, and patients may not be able to be reimbursed through commercial insurance.

2. Language and Cultural Differences

Although key hospitals have been equipped with interpreters, language services at the grassroots level or in non-international departments are still insufficient; in addition, differences in the concepts of Chinese and Western medicine (e.g., explanations of side effects of traditional Chinese medicines, communication of surgical risks) may lead to difficulties in adapting to the needs of some international patients.

3. Uneven distribution of regional resources

High-quality medical resources are highly concentrated in the eastern coast and first-tier cities (e.g., Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou), while medical technology and service capacity in the central and western regions are relatively weak, limiting the development of medical tourism in the whole region.

4. Insufficient international awareness and brand marketing

Compared with countries such as Thailand (global medical tourism destination TOP3) and Singapore (Southeast Asian medical center), China's medical tourism has less international publicity, and overseas patients' awareness of China's medical technology still needs to be improved.

Typical areas: what medical tourism needs are suitable for China?

1. Combining advantages and challenges, China is more competitive in the following areas:

Difficult and serious disease treatment (e.g. cancer, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, organ transplantation): relying on the technical and cost advantages of top specialties to attract high-net-worth patients; and

2. High-end physical examination and health management: in-depth physical examination (including early cancer screening) and chronic disease management (e.g., diabetes, hypertension) at the international department of a tertiary hospital; and

3. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) specialty therapies (e.g. acupuncture, tuina, Chinese herbal medicine): for the needs of sub-health, chronic pain, post-operative rehabilitation, etc.; and

4. Medical aesthetics and anti-aging: some private medical aesthetics organizations (e.g., United Liguo, Yixing) provide compliant high-end plastic surgery, skin management and cellular therapy (subject to China's regulation); and

5. Rehabilitation medicine: post-operative rehabilitation, neurological rehabilitation (e.g., post-stroke sequelae), sports injury rehabilitation, some hospitals (e.g., Beijing Boai Hospital) have mature technology and lower costs than developed countries.