Health tourism in Malaysia: the winds of reformation

• Main Author: Haque, A. K. M. Ahasanul
• Format: Conference or Workshop Item
• Language: English
• Published: Uskudar University 2022
• Subjects: HF5001 Business. Business Administration
• Online Access: http://irep.iium.edu.my/101229/1/101229_Health%20tourism%20in%20Malaysia.pdf; http://irep.iium.edu.my/101229/; http://ihmc2022.ussam.org/en/

Malaysian health tourism is not the same as it was before the Covid-19 outbreak in 2020. It is currently reforming again in the healthcare industry, with medical consultants offering a broad spectrum of medical and surgical services from all disciplines, targeting to become the global standard of integrated healthcare solutions. The Malaysian healthcare council's efforts to improve healthcare quality, cost, and patient experience by marketing its brand in other countries have resulted in a compound annual growth rate of 16 to 17 percent over the previous five years. This is higher than the global average of 10 to 12% and the Asia-Pacific average of 12 to 14%. Malaysia's health tourism business has expanded from 643,000 medical tourist arrivals in 2011 to over 1.2 million in 2018. It has become a top worldwide destination for foreign patients in Asia and beyond. In 2018, the medical tourism industry earned over $362 million in sales. Medical tourism in other nations costs some countries millions of dollars in return for revenue, while it generates cash for others. Several nations, both old and new, are boosting up their national and local medical tourism initiatives, which are aimed at both residents and international medical tourists. This study examines the possibilities in terms of how Malaysia and other nations might benefit from health tourism to boost their economies. In addition, this study contributes to a better understanding of medical tourists' decision-making and discusses the consequences for Malaysian health policy and healthcare delivery in order to ensure the industry's long-term sustainability.