Attracting foreign patients
Czech hospitals maintain a very high standard of medical care, and their charges are more than affordable for foreign patients. However, local hospitals still lag behind in attracting them; foreign patients are just 0.5% of all clients - a dismal situation.
Czech economists think hospital care, based on medical know-how of real specialists, is fertile ground for business here. Unfortunately, the way the healthcare system needs to change first. Patients are not allowed, for example, to pay for above standard health insurance on their own which, some insurance agents claim, leads to extremely low motivation to travel here for treatment. If all treatment costs are fully covered only by State insurance, and there is no prospect of better care covered by private funding, local medical settings simply will not be swarming with foreign clients.
One idea to help secure extra funds for the healthcare system is to combine tourism with healthcare services. Patients could travel to sightsee, and in their spare time have some minor plastic surgery that was planned beforehand. ‘As of now,’ said Michal Veber, Secretary of the Travel Agencies Association, ‘our tourist agencies do not offer any of this kind of service, although it is very common abroad.’
Former Minister of health, David Rath added: ‘There are buses stuffed with pensioners from Germany and Austria driving regularly to Hungary – because of the quality and low-cost of dental care provided by Hungarian dentists.’
Only for the chosen
Since EU accession in 2004, increasing numbers of wealthy patients have indeed travelled to Western European countries for treatment. Unfortunately, only very specific specialists are profiting from that phenomenon. Patients pay cash to orthopaedic specialists, plastic surgeons or reproductive medicine specialists, because they come to CZ to have joints replaced, eyelids re-shaped, and in-vitro fertilization is also very popular. Other medical specialists must depend on an income generated only by domestic clients.
The main obstacle for even more patients to come for treatment of different ‘illnesses’ is the fact that foreign health insurers do not pay for planned treatment but only for acute care, and they are also not paying more than local insurers pay for the same treatment for local residents. Such a policy results in lower interest among Czech hospitals to tend foreign patients who do not pay cash, but pay through health insurers in their country of origin.
Another reason might be the language barrier, which means a need for specially trained staff.
Probably most foreign patients go to Hospital Na Homolce – where foreigners make up almost 5% of all patients. Among these, 1.2% pay cash.
Nonetheless, numbers of foreigners treated in Czech hospitals are rising very slowly: 2001, foreign patients 4,781 (0.2%); 2005, patients 8,861 (0.4%).
08.03.2007
