Number of Foreign Patients Grows more than Fivefold in 8 Years
Createdd 2017-12-29 Hit 592
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Gyeonggi Province has witnessed a significant increase in the number of foreign patients in the 8 years since the launch of its international medical project in 2009.
The number of foreign patients who visited Gyeonggi Province has grown fivefold, from 11,563 in 2009 to 55,112 in 2016, posting a dramatic annual growth of 27.3 percent. The revenue earned by Gyeoggi hospitals and clinics from those patients has risen to KRW 113.9 billion in 2016, a surge of 16 times over KRW 6.9 billion in 2009 for the same period.
‘Foreign patients’ refers to those who have been hospitalized and treated at 356 registered hospitals and clinics in Gyeonggi Province. Domestic residents are not included in the data.
A large portion of the revenue came from 2,650 Kazakhstani nationals, a jump of 94 times compared to just 28 in 2009, followed by Uzbekistan with an increase from 12 to 789 (66 times), and Russia with growth from 67 to 2,932 (44 times).
The data indicates that the province’s efforts to exchange health care expertise with its foreign counterparts is paying off.
Gyeonggi Province has signed 22 agreements for cooperation in the field of health and medicine with 21 local governments in 12 countries starting with Khabarovsk in Russia, and including the Commonwealth of Independent States, Vietnam, Indonesia, and China. Those agreements have led to more than 80 treatment agreements, serving as a catalyst for conferences and workshops as well as medical requests and visits.
Moreover, as part of follow-up projects, a training fellowship program for foreign medical professionals has attracted a large number of applicants, further paving the way for the continued success of the projects.
The training program is intended not just to share advanced health care expertise with others, but also to help the beneficiaries send patients from their home countries to the province.
In the meantime, with the upcoming 10th anniversary of the international medical project next year, the province aims to expand the number of exchange regions and attract more foreign patients.
