By Kim Tae-jong
Four major hospitals in Korea have signed an agreement with the health authorities of Abu Dhabi, paving the way for the oil-rich Arab nation to more easily send patients here from next year.
It is the first time that a foreign country has formed a pact with local medical institutions on a government level, a deal expected to spur an influx of foreign patients here.
The four hospitals are Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, Asan Medical Center and Samsung Medical Center.
The signing ceremony took place at the Ministry of Health and Welfare in Seoul with the presence of representatives from the ministry, the four hospitals and Abu Dhabi.
Korea’s health ministry arranged the agreement between the hospitals and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), forecasting the economic benefits from the deal to reach 60 billion won ($52 million) a year.
“This agreement will help attract thousands of patients from countries in the Middle East,” said Jung Ho-won, director of Health Industry Policy Division at the ministry. “Also, it will become a new growth engine for the nation’s economy by helping local medical institutions open branches in those regions and increase the export of medical devices there.”
He added, “We hope this will be a stepping stone to create a new Korean wave in the medical sector.”
The UAE is a major client nation for the world’s medical service industry as about 130,000 patients from UAE are reported to spend more than $2 billion annually on medical services abroad, mainly in the United States, Germany and Singapore.
With the arrangement and full financial support of the Abu Dhabi health authorities, about 3,000 patients visit overseas hospitals annually.
According to a recent report by the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency, the size of the medical market in Middle Eastern countries is expected to reach $60 billion over the next two decades, up from the current $12 billion.
Before the agreement, the Korean health ministry signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the UAE last March to strengthen cooperation in the healthcare sector. It came as health ministers of the two sides met during the official visit of President Lee Myung-bak to the UAE.
As part of the MOU, groups of working-level representatives from the UAE Ministry of Health and the Abu Dhabi Health Authority visited Seoul last June to experience healthcare services here for the selection of hospitals.
Representatives from Abu Dhabi, who came here to sign the agreement Friday, visited the four hospitals during their three-day stay.
They said they were impressed to witness such high quality medical care in Korea.
“When you compare the clinical outcome from the Korean healthcare institutions to other countries, I think Korea stands out as one of the strongest countries. And this is what attracted us to come and visit,” said Mohammed Sultan Al Hameli, chairman of the Abu Dhabi Health Authority.
Among the representatives, Jamal Mohammed Al Kaabi, director of customer care and corporate communications at the Health Authority, said, “We envy Korea because it introduced new technology a long time ago and now they have the experience plus the technology and they can combine these together, which is really an amazing experience.”
Officials said that they were also interested in other forms of medical exchanges in the near future.
“We have a limited number of medical schools in the UAE and we are keen to develop and increase that number. So we are also keen to develop with Korean universities and through internships with (Korean)hospitals,” Al Hameili said.
The local hospitals, which have been eager to advance into the Middle Eastern market because of the huge growth potential there, also expressed high expectations from the MOU, pledging to enhance cooperation with their partners by providing the utmost care and best services.
“We plan to send our staff to the Middle East and establish a system to take care of patients there when we see an increasing number from those countries to our hospital,” said Hwang Tae-kon, president of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. “We will also train medical staff from Abu Dhabi so that they can take care of patients who receive medical treatment here after they return to their country.”
The Abu Dhabi Health Authority is currently selecting the firstbatch of patients to send to Korea early next year to put the agreement into effect.
Under the pact, one of the four hospitals will provide medical services to patients from Abu Dhabi, following the approved medical care plan and send the bill to the Abu Dhabi Health Authority within six months of the treatment. Then, a financial division at the UAE Embassy to Seoul will make the payment to the due hospital within 45 days after the bill is submitted.