Medical tourism is increasingly attractive to visitors

Good service, high spending customers

On weekends, domestic and foreign customers visit medical facilities, spas, etc. for health care and beauty care, focusing on minimally invasive products.

Ms. Nguyen Minh Tuyet, living in Hanoi , had the opportunity to experience the service at Huong Sen Traditional Medicine Clinic (Huong Sen Healthcare, Nguyen Thien Thuat Street, Binh Thanh District, HCMC), shared: "The staff works professionally and dedicatedly; customers really feel relaxed, less muscle pain, especially neck and shoulder pain when using massage and acupressure therapy services... After the treatment, customers can enjoy a buffet with many health-enhancing dishes".

Mr. Pham Van Tung, Manager of Huong Sen Healthcare, said that the unit is coordinating with tourism businesses to welcome domestic and foreign visitors to visit Ho Chi Minh City, stop to relax, experience the medicinal wooden tubs of the Red Dao people, and steam leaves to relieve colds... after a series of fun trips in Ho Chi Minh City.

In addition to health care services and traditional medicine treatments, dental care services are also of interest to many overseas Vietnamese and international visitors, due to the team of highly skilled doctors and competitive service prices compared to other countries.

Young tourists experience the "I am a doctor" tour organized by Penguin Travel

Mr. Le Quoc Binh, an American Vietnamese living in Ho Chi Minh City, said that the cost of dental work in the US is very high, so many people decide to return to Vietnam to have fun for a long time and get dental work done at a preferential price. He also confidently showed off his shiny, even teeth with a total cost of less than 100 million VND, done at a large facility located in District 1 (Ho Chi Minh City), while if done in the US, the price would be up to 300 million VND.

Dr. Le Trung Chanh, Director of the Central Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology in Ho Chi Minh City, said that Vietnamese dentistry is competitive in terms of cost and quality compared to other countries. Most of the new technologies are available in Vietnam, with very competitive prices.

For example, a dental bridge in Australia costs about 4,500 AUD, while in Vietnam it is only 500-800 AUD. The cost of porcelain teeth in Vietnam is only 1/3 of that in the US and Australia. In fact, new technology is applied equally in all countries, so competition is mainly based on technical services (sophistication, aesthetics...) and service quality.

At present, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism has connected with more than 50 units including hospitals, medical facilities, spas, travel agencies, tourist accommodations, etc. to build 30 medical tourism products to introduce to residents and tourists.

Increase promotion and connection

As one of the hospitals that attracts many foreign visitors, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital has received about 15,000 outpatient visits and treated more than 1,000 inpatients each year. In particular, focusing on aesthetics, skin care, cardiovascular, digestive, hepatobiliary, pancreatic, neurological, respiratory, ...

Master Tran Van Hung, Head of Social Work Department, University of Medicine and Pharmacy Hospital, Ho Chi Minh City, information, medical techniques are constantly updated by the hospital, keeping up with the advanced medical technology of the world, the team of doctors and nurses plays an important role in many medical organizations at home and abroad. Moreover, to continue to attract foreign patients, the hospital also has a policy of arranging doctors with good expertise and foreign languages ​​to examine at the International Clinic.

According to Dr. Mai Duc Huy, Deputy Director of Saigon General Hospital (District 1, Ho Chi Minh City), each year, the hospital receives about 1,000 foreign patients from many countries.

“The hospital has advantages in terms of geographical location, spacious infrastructure, young professional doctors, and good foreign language communication. However, the hospital is limited in terms of communication to widely promote its services to tourists. Therefore, we have requested permission to establish a quality management - customer care department,” said Dr. Mai Duc Huy.

From the perspective of a professional agency, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism said it will continue to perfect medical tourism product packages to meet the needs of domestic and international tourist markets; promote product promotion videos in Ho Chi Minh City.

Based on the 2018 Medical Tourism Handbook, the Department of Tourism updated and adjusted information in many languages ​​including English, Thai, Cambodian, Lao, and Chinese to make it easier for international tourists to access information. Previously, the Department of Tourism also conducted tours and surveys of medical tourism product models in Thailand; promoted and advertised tourism in Cambodia, etc.

Coming up, at the Ho Chi Minh City International Tourism Fair in September, the department will also organize a booth to widely introduce the city's medical tourism products. The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health said that the outstanding advantage of Ho Chi Minh City is that it has many prestigious and quality health care centers and services, combined with large shopping centers, helping customers have more opportunities to experience good, high-class services such as resorts, shopping, cuisine, etc. Therefore, the Department of Health determined to develop medical tourism to contribute to improving service quality, enhancing and modernizing the medical examination and treatment process for people and tourists.

* Ms. BUI THI NGOC HIEU , Deputy Director of Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism:

Building more than 30 medical tourism products

This year, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Tourism, in collaboration with the Department of Health and tourism businesses, will develop more than 30 medical tourism products, including healthcare services at prestigious and quality hospitals, high-class service experiences, dining, shopping, relaxation, and sightseeing at famous monuments and destinations in Ho Chi Minh City.

Among these, there are 3 medical services that customers are interested in such as general health check-up; disease screening; performing specialized techniques, traditional medicine... with a team of highly qualified doctors and nurses, reasonable medical examination and treatment costs. Ho Chi Minh City currently has 131 public hospitals, private hospitals and hospitals under ministries and branches that are capable of receiving patients and tourists in need of treatment and health care.

* Doctor LE TRUNG CHANH , Director of Central Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology, Ho Chi Minh City:

Need an operating agency, service connection

Ho Chi Minh City Central Hospital of Odonto-Stomatology applies many modern technologies, digital techniques, artificial intelligence... in the dental field, which has shortened treatment time and limited the number of appointments in many fields.

Therefore, tourists will have a better, more convenient and more satisfying experience when combining tourism and medical care. The hospital also improves the medical examination and treatment process specifically for foreign visitors and separate service packages with specific prices, making it easier for travel agencies to sell tours for medical tourism products. In particular, it builds treatment processes that are suitable for tourists' vacation travel schedules.

However, the hospital still has some difficulties and problems. Specifically, there is no agency or association to effectively manage the connection between medical facilities providing medical services and facilities providing tourism products to build a service package including medical and tourism.

In addition, the hospital has not yet met international standards such as JCI or ISO. Although the hospital's prices are competitive, international customers often rely on quality standards to choose a service provider. In addition, the communication and promotion network to international customers to introduce medical services is not effective.

* Ms. PHAN YEN LY , tourism product design expert:

Minimally invasive product extraction

Travel agencies are considering and evaluating product packages that are suitable for market trends, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. Through practical records, it shows that customers are more interested in choosing products that focus on less invasive health care such as massage therapy, acupressure, dental work, etc.

Currently, there are not many international visitors returning to Ho Chi Minh City, while this is a potential customer group with good spending. As for domestic visitors, they can visit and use services directly without going through travel agencies, and this is also one of the difficult problems to implement, related to the interests of both parties.

Because for most hospitals, whether you come directly to the hospital or refer someone else to the hospital, the price of medical examination and treatment services remains the same, nothing has changed. Therefore, balancing the interests of all parties is an unsolved problem, directly affecting the exploitation of medical tourism products in Ho Chi Minh City.

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/du-lich-y-te-ngay-cang-hut-khach-post702828.html