Building The ASEAN Economic Community-Challenges and Opportunities for Cross-Border Medical Tourism Development in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand

Wong Wai Khuen

《Southeast Asian Social Science Review》 2卷1期 (2017/05) Pp. 93-114

https://doi.org/10.29945/SEASSR.201705_2(1).0005

摘要

Medical tourism refers to the phenomenon where patients choose to leave their own country to seek consumer-oriented medical care abroad. Many literatures concede that there is a lack of tangible data to determine how medical tourism affects the healthcare system of the destination country. This study seeks to examine the current impact of medical tourism policy impact on the local healthcare systems in Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand as well as the potential impact of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC) on the industry. The increasing number of medical tourists coming to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand has provided substantial economic benefits and acted as a strong impetus for healthcare facilities to improve capacity and pursue quality delivery through accreditation. There is no conclusive evidence derived from this study's analysis on healthcare resources utilization rates of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand that indicates medical tourism development has directly induced the capacity shortfall in these countries' healthcare system particularly on internal brain drain of talents, healthcare inequity or rising medical cost. However the prospect of AEC would potentially affect the industry's growth prospect due to ICT related health services proliferation, improved connectivity, increased commercial presence of healthcare facilities and intra-regional outmigration of health workers.

關鍵字

Medical tourism ； Malaysia ； Thailand ； Singapore ； ASEAN Economic Community (AEC)