• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.21 no.2
• /
• pp.63-72
• /
• 2016

Nowadays, many Korean healthcare organizations are provide healthcare services to foreigners and some of them are operating overseas healthcare facilities or trying to operate them. Chinese healthcare market is regarded as the most promising one. In this article, I discussed the success factors for global healthcare services and made some suggestions for the successful implementation of FDI in healthcare services, especially for the Chinese healthcare services market.

• Health Policy and Management
• /
• v.31 no.4
• /
• pp.423-436
• /
• 2021

This article summarizes the structure of China's current social health insurance system and reviews the development status of China's private health insurance (PHI). China's medical security system is mainly composed of two parts: basic medical insurance (BMI) and PHI. Among them, the BMI provides reimbursement of basic medical expenses for the insured persons according to different proportions. PHI is a necessary supplement to the BMI and provides assistance to the insured persons in the event of illness or accident. By having PHI, people can obtain medical protection outside the coverage of BMI. In the development of PHI in China, the total medical cost is high and the insurance market size is large, but the proportion of PHI expenditure is low and the personal burden is high. Through this Chinese case, it will be helpful for mutual development between Korean PHI and national health insurance, for Korean insurance companies to enter the Chinese market, and for removing the medical burden on the people.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.111-128
• /
• 2016

Trade between nations has been considered as exchange for material things. According to recent changes in the paradigm of global trade, trade is shifting focus on the exchange of an immaterial being. Among them, the service sector is growing fast and the health service has shown exceptional growth as the healthcare market is consistently expanding. It is also part of the global service targeting people all around the world. People visiting other countries for medical service tend to spend more money and stay longer than a traveler. For these reasons, global medical service is in the spotlight as a promising and higher value-added business. The global medical service industry has been developed around Asia, specifically Thailand, Singapore, India, etc. Compared to them, Korea has come late into the market of global healthcare and the Korean government is striving to attract foreign patients. Nevertheless, there is a lack of effort to make foreign patients visiting Korea revisit Korea. Regarding foreign patients' medical disputes, these are not yet a problem officially; however, the government cannot leave the matter as it is. Medical dispute related with foreign patients is a highly complex issue due to different languages, nationalities, cultures, etc. Particularly, Korea's medical tourism is developed with Chinese visiting Korea for plastic surgery and cosmetic procedure. Thus, the Korean medical tourism market can be crowded with a lot of minor medical agencies, so-called brokers, getting foreign patients connected to the medical institutions. Consequently, Korea has received a large number of complaints and dissatisfaction. No one can predict and know what's supposed to happen in the future. Efforts of the Korean government and medical institute attracting foreign patients could be in vain. In order to take a step forward, this paper will do research on present conditions and look for strategies of improving this industry, focusing on the part of medical agency and contributing to the improvement of the Korean medical tourism industry.

• The Journal of Korean Medical History
• /
• v.24 no.2
• /
• pp.135-143
• /
• 2011

The market of conferences and expos of traditional/ complementary and alternative medicine has not been mature enough while interests in those medicines are growing fast. Meanwhile, some related events in Europe, North America, and Asia, held on regular basis, have reached to the international level in size, such as CAMExpo The Complementary, Natural & Healthcare Show in Europe, Integrative Healthcare Symposium in North America, Ayurveda Congress & Arogya Expo in India, International Conference and Exhibition of the Modernization of Chinese Medicine & Health Products in Hong Kong. Those events have been held for 10 years or so, initiated their own features, and secured their own regular booth exhibitors and visitors. They open the homepage on the internet one or two years before their events are held and vigorously advertise their events on yearly basis. To succeed in, and bear fruits from, the 2013 World Traditional Medicine Expo in Sancheong, it is needed to analyze strong points of the events above and benchmark a practical timeline and technical road map to the 2013 Expo from them.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
• /
• v.23 no.1
• /
• pp.78-86
• /
• 2018

Purposes: This study identifies local Chinese consumers' standard for selecting medical care provider and their standard for choosing medical staff, as well as their expectations and concerns regarding Korean medical care providers. Methodology: A survey was conducted in China, to identify Chinese medical care consumers' standards for selecting a medical provider and the factors that influence their use of general hospitals. A total of 1,500 people across three cities, between the ages 18 and 60 participated in the survey. Moreover, a multiple logistic regression analysis was used to analyze the factors that affect Chinese medical care consumers' use of general hospitals. Findings: A total of 75.5 percent respondents chose general hospitals as their most frequently-used medical provider. Those who have health insurance, visit general hospitals as outpatients or are hospitalized more frequently than those who do not have a health insurance. Furthermore, those who have private insurance visit general hospitals as outpatients or are hospitalized more frequently than those who are not signed up for private insurance. Major standards for selecting a hospital included: the doctor's skills, word-of-mouth regarding the hospital, and distance to the hospital from the respondents' home. Standards for choosing medical personnel included word-of-mouth regarding the medical team, recommendations from family members or acquaintances, and medical team's notoriety. Friends and neighbors, family members, television and other media outlets were the channels for acquiring information on a hospital. It was found that Chinese people mostly visit the cardiovascular department of Korean hospitals for treatment. For using Korean hospitals in China, the majority of respondents answered that they were concerned about the cost. Practical Implications: Backed by highly skilled medical experts and cutting-edge technology, Korean medical care providers are attempting to enter China's medical care market. To succeed in China's medical care market, it is vital to conduct a clear and precise analysis.

• Journal of Distribution Science
• /
• v.13 no.12
• /
• pp.41-52
• /
• 2015

Purpose - Given globalization, the new niche market of medical tourism is likely to experience sustainable growth for various reasons, such as aging populations and a shift in the medical consumerism paradigm toward prevention. Importantly, understanding medical customers' behavior is necessary to benefit from a competitive advantage in this industry. The existing research primarily accessed the key factors of medical quality and costs to explain health customers' behavior but is limited in terms of enabling an understanding of the decision process. This limitation exists because, given the intangibility and greater associated risks in the highly professional industry of international medical tourism, most customers lack the knowledge and experience needed to evaluate the central factors-such as the medical competence of health care countries-before purchases. Therefore, they actively search for useful information through various distributions to reduce uncertainty and to make better choices. Interestingly, most of these information channels are associated with word-of-mouth (WOM). However, no evidence is found in the literature to estimate the effect of WOM in the medical tourism field. Thus, this study focuses on WOM to explore its interaction with key medical characteristic factors and the attractiveness of destinations referred to by sources. This study also affects customers' evaluations and, in turn, influences their intention to seek health care services abroad. Research design, data, and methodology - The literature review addressed an interesting research model for estimating the relations among WOM, medical characteristics, attractiveness, and customers' choice intention regarding international health care. In the key economic regions in China, such as Beijing, Shanghai, Jiangsu, Shandong, and Guangdong, 2,500 survey questionnaires were distributed to potential customers of different ages, education, and income levels. A resulting 1,717 (68.68 percent of the original 2,500) usable surveys were obtained for analysis. Moderated regression analysis was used to determine the effects of WOM in the decision process regarding international health care destinations. Results - The results indicate that WOM is a good moderator of the relationships between the factors evaluated by sources and customers. More importantly, the WOM effects reflect the factors of tie strength, credibility, and vividness. The results also reveal that, given the moderating role of WOM, the intention of potential Chinese customers to seek the referred health care country varies according to the medical characteristics of medical competency and reputation as evaluated by customers. In contrast, the travel attractiveness of the attractions, facilities, accessibility, and social environment are critical determinants of destination choice intention. Conclusions - The moderating role of WOM has been confirmed through the international healthcare destination selection process. Medical tourism managers should user WOM as an effective marketing tool for industry development. Specially, marketers should consider the effects of WOM determinants, such as tie strength, credibility, and vividness, to develop an effective strategy. Furthermore, this study estimates the factors that affect customers' selection of medical tourism destinations. Health care managers or policy makers should consider a broad variety of variables that may attract more Chinese customers to international health care.