Korea Hospital Effects Medical Travel In China

The current medical market of China is having the biggest up-phase due to the WTO membership and foreign opening. In addition, the rapid economic growth and the living standard improvements are increasing the possibility of the Chinese medical market. Due to this, the advanced medical industries that preceded foreign capital rushed entering the markets and are engaging in a heated competition in the Chinese medical market. After2010, the Chinese government is planning on successively pushing ahead with the social insurance (pension) and the medical insurance reforms. Therefore, large scaled medical industries all over the world are rushing into the Chinese market to expand the market as much as the growth potential is predicted. The Chinese government is also stepping forward to attract international medical industries that have put advanced medical technology and capital forward. If the South Korean medical service organizations within China cannot satisfy the service and environmental demands in this type of situation, the Chinese will seek other hospitals with foreign capital which would greatly threaten the survival of Korean hospitals.For the above, this study analyzes the environment of the Chinese medical markets and shows a comparison analysis of the medical system and medical health service markets of both Korea and China, which then the problem is understood to propose a plan for the Korean medical organization so they may advance into China. In addition, the current international medical service expenditure of the Chinese tourists visiting Korea was researched upon, then the inter-relation of how the Korean medical organizations within China positively affected the medical tourist boom of Korea was analyzed. As a result, the increasing medical fees paid by the Chinese high income earners had a huge influence on the development of the Korean medical organizations, and it seems that the influences would positively affect the Korean medical tourism industries. However, since2009, South Korea enforced a medical visa system which made calculating the statistics of the systemized medical tourism capital difficult. As the period and the numbers of the Korean medical organizations in China are small numbered, there are limits in analyzing statistically which restricts the generalization of the study.Through these positive analysis results and theoretical observations, and with the current situation and cases of the medical industry and medical tourism within China and South Korea, the following development plan was proposed related to the South Korean industries advancing into Chinese medical businesses and to the medical tourism between China and South Korea.Firstly, the introduction of adequate business model, supporting policies, and supplementation of system are the first thing to do. In order to attract foreigners staying in China and Chinese customers with high income, the combining model with ’attraction of customers+private commercial health insurance+medical service’ seems to be proper. For mid-long term plan, South Korea and China joint hospital and high quality health check-up organizations. Also, there is a need to systemize the method of attracting clients by aiming at advancing private health insurance sectors of the national insurance company within the current market.Secondly, the ’Overseas Expansion Support Center for Medical Organizations’ of the South Korean health agencies should be used.The accessibility to South Korea geographically should be used to develop and provide packages relevant to cosmetic surgery and professional cosmetic medical service in accord with the consuming trends of the Chinese high-income earners.Thirdly, the local governments that support numerous Chinese visitors should develop tour packages that include tourism with medical service. They also should strengthen the lectures held for national authorities and civil services, and strengthen the exchanges related to medical service.Fourthly, the homepage that represents South Korean medical tours and personal homepages that shows medical organizations should be used as an online advertising method. Events related to international medical services and seminars held in South Korea should be used as an offline method to advertise the excellence of the South Korean medical services, which may increase the awareness of the Korean medical service.Next, there is a need to reform such systems as establishing hospitals exclusively for foreigners within the economical free zone and incentives should be provided for the international medical corporation investments so they may compete with other selected nations.Therefore, this study may be used as the basic resource by Korean medical organizations advancing into China, government organizations, medical businesses, and by medical tourism product development of the travel businesses.In the future, the professionalism of the studies on the case analysis, medical service satisfactory level, various factors that influence medical tourism, hospital selecting factors of the patients to establish hospital marketing strategies should be reinforced.