With the advent of medical tourism, the limitation of catering to only local market is now over in various countries across the world. The benefit that was restricted to only western countries has started to take its place in other parts of the world where the hospitals have started to explore this as a new venture for enhancing revenue sources. Many Asian countries have started to strategize their marketing initiatives so well that they have been able to capture the international market by setting their representative offices or agencies in other countries thereby increasing their footprints and setting their roots deeper and deeper for more patient source and in turn more revenue.
Medical tourism is attached with lucrative business potential. Hospitals catering to international patients garner 10-15% more revenue than their regular patients, there by increasing their top line and mounts to 15-25% increase in net profit margins which leads to increased bottom line as well. The major factor that contributes to high revenue are upfront cash paying patients and international insurance policies that covers the patient for most of the disorders without much capping on expenses made towards their treatment unlike the conventional government insurances that have limitations in providing the cover. Not only this, these insurance companies are better pay masters and settle the claims much faster than the government insurance companies, there by passing the benefit of more cash in hand in the balance sheets of the hospitals.
Though, the concept is still embarked mostly amongst private hospitals but in few countries, it is now being supported by the government that has enabled many countries to strategize this concept for national economic growth as well.
