Paris's public hospitals are to start using their low cost and high
quality care to woo wealthy, foreign patients in the hopes of reducing their
deficit.
Facing a £65 million deficit in
2011, public hospitals in the Paris region now hope to cash in on one of their
strengths: quality medical care at competitive prices, kept low by a state-run
system.
Their new positioning in the
market will likely mean more competition for the lucrative, 'travel for
treatment' business in countries such as Britain, the US and Germany, which
have been traditional destinations for big-spending foreign patients from
places like the Middle East, Russia and Asia, often seeking better care for
especially complicated procedures.
"Our healthcare system is an
advantage for globalised competition," and "a tool of
influence," that will "spread the attractiveness of France,"
said Jean-Marie Le Guen, in charge of health for the city of Paris, speaking
about the project to the Journal du Dimanche newspaper.
Though some travellers already
arrange for medical treatment in France, taking advantage of lower,
state-regulated fees, until now public French hospitals have done little to
actively reach out to those customers, or facilitate tricky administrative and
insurance obstacles involved.
That should change soon, thanks
to a recently signed contract between the Paris public hospital system and a
Lebanese company called Globemed, responsible for escorting patients and
organising treatment abroad for Middle Easterners.
Paris hospitals hope to
eventually expand their reach to wealthy Russian and Asian patients, and public
hospitals in other French cities are also reportedly exploring more
cross-border medical business opportunities.
For the inbound British medical
traveller business, the French project, "poses a threat," said Keith
Pollard, Managing Director for Treatment Abroad, a UK-based guide to medical
tourism. Depending on the treatment, Mr Pollard said prices in France can be 10
to 15 per cent lower than in Britain, barring exceptional cases.
However, with "expertise and
quality of clinicians and hospitals as the key factor," much still
"depends on how good a job the French do of marketing their services,"
he said. "If France wishes to succeed in this sector, it will not be just
about price. Convincing purchasers that quality and outcomes are on a par with
the UK and Germany will be very important. Developing relationships with
clinicians in referring countries are vital. The UK and Germany also have
significant support services which provide 'added value' to the international
patient," added Mr Pollard.
London private hospitals generate
some 20 per cent of their revenue from overseas patients, and an estimated
£280m to £330m is spent annually by international patients seeking high quality
treatment in the city, according to Mr Pollard. Limits on the numbers of
foreign patients and the money they spend at NHS hospitals were also recently
raised, to generate more income, while making them, "more aggressive in
their marketing," he said.
The French project still needs to
go through some administrative hurdles, including official approval for
charging foreigners more than the regular fees paid by residents. It is still
unclear exactly how much those fees will be.
Only about 2,300 annual visitors,
often from North Africa and the Middle East, currently pay out of pocket or
through their own health insurance for French medical care, and the Paris
hospitals said they want to limit that number to one per cent of annual
patients received.
Devorah Lauter
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