Materia Medica Malaysiana

Hospitals set fees for health tourism

PENANG: The Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia (APHM) has finalised the recommended fees for the common health tourism packages, Health Minister Datuk Chua Jui Meng said.

He said a sub-committee on fee packaging, chaired by the APHM recently, had finalised the recommended fees to ensure that tourists coming to Malaysia for medical reasons get value for their money.

He said yesterday that the fees were highly affordable and competitive internationally.

“Basically, there are three health screening packages – the Basic Health Screening package, the Well Woman package and the Well Man package with fees ranging from RM450 to RM1,150 depending on the number and complexity of tests performed,'' he said when opening the Penang Adventist Hospital's Clinical Pathology Laboratory services and launch of the Architect ci 8200 Analyser.

He added that the packages would also include minimum and maximum recommended fees for 18 procedures commonly performed in cardiology, ophthalmology, orthopaedics, plastic surgery and diagnostics such as endoscopy, MRI and CT-scan.

Chua said the Government was making efforts to expand the health tourism industry in a big way and had identified health tourism as one of the potential growth areas in the country's tourism industry.

“A survey commissioned by the Government last year estimated that our foreign patient market was worth close to RM90mil and admission of foreign patients into our healthcare facilities have grown at an annual rate of about 30% over the past three years,'' he said.

Chua added that 35 private hospitals were identified and currently being promoted as providers of health tourism services.

“Although none of our Health Ministry hospitals has yet to be promoted as a provider of health tourism services, the setting up of many new, sophisticated and ultra-modern hospitals under the ministry have been identified as prime movers of health tourism in the future.

“Our public hospitals have the potential of raking in at least RM2bil a year in health tourism earnings by the year 2010,'' he said.

Also present at the opening were Adventist Hospital's president and Chief Executive Officer Teddric Jon Mohr, Abbott Diagnostics South Asia's regional director Ian Martin, Penang Chinese Chamber of Commerce executive advisor Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping and state director of health Dr Azmie Shapie.