International hospital accreditation a must in medical tourism

Cebu need not have an integrated retirement facility to lure the huge medical tourists, as the hospitals are ready to accommodate this market segment if they acquire the much needed international accreditation.

"Our hospitals are now improving. Some of them are ready to treat foreign clients in terms of facility," said Department of Trade and Industry-Cebu Provincial Office (DTI-CPO) provincial director Nelia Navarro.

However, hospitals in Cebu should be in their serious move to acquire international accreditation such as medical insurance, in order to serve the foreigners seeking medical attention here.

She said Cebu need not have a retirement village facility first in order to fully develop the medical tourism market, although this infrastructure is much needed in the long term.

For a start, Navarro said hospitals should be in their right position to be an international player, so that foreigner patients would come here and spend their dollars here.

As long as Cebu hospitals will be able to secure international accreditation, especially for United States, Europe, Japan, China, and other countries, the growth of medical tourism in Cebu is expected to double over time.

Currently, she said the Department of Health (DOH), and Department of Tourism (DoT) head offices in Manila are more active in selling this. Not so much in the regional areas, like Cebu.

Navarro compared this medical tourism potential of Cebu, to that of the Information Communication Technology (ICT) phenomenon in the past, that Cebu was a "silent worker" in this particular industry.

Now, Cebu is acknowledged as the second largest ICT hub in the Philippines. In fact, the province is aiming to be the premiere ICT hub in Asia Pacific.

Medical tourism sector in Cebu would like follow the footprint of the ICT growth here, Navarro said.

Silently, she said hospitals are working on their own, and continuously investing on international standard equipment, and facilities to prepare for the medical tourism boom.

Earlier, the Department of Tourism (DOT-7) regional director Patria Aurora Roa has urged Cebu hospitals to immediately make tie-up with international health insurance companies in order to accommodate the medical tourist market.

According to Roa, hospitals also have to apply the existing accreditation scheme of the DOT, so that Cebu could take off as a premier destination for medical tourism.

"The problem now is, hospitals in Cebu can not accommodate the foreign patients because they can not honor the insurance coverage of a particular foreigner patient," Roa said.

Cebu-based hospitals must immediately link with insurance companies from the top country markets of Cebu like Korea, Japan, China, and even Europe.

Also, she said hospitals should also apply for accreditation with the DOT for medical tourism standard, so that works for attracting medical tourists will be accelerated.

In a separate earlier interview with Cebu Doctors Hospital Inc. chairman Potenciano Larrazabal, he said that his company is currently working on the international accreditation process.

Cebu Doctors Hospital has the largest chain of hospitals covering the northern and southern part of Metro Cebu.

Medical tourism, which is growing in popularity in the West and is helping the economies of countries like Thailand, is a new concept that combines healthcare and tourism.