There is a growing trend in the internationalization of medical services in Southeast Asia. The source and fluctuation of international patients in Singapore from 1993 to 2002 are analyzed and discussed. It has been determined that the quantity of international medical services provided by hospitals in Singapore was affected by multiple factors, including the change of overall economic environment, medical techniques, medical quality, and geography. Introduction The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO) requires member countries to open a certain range of public services, including medical care. As a result, many countries have extended their medical service market to several other countries. There are several factors which account for the formation of medical tourism. These include relatively cheaper medical cost than that available in the home country, better quality of treatment, increased insurance, and even less waiting hour,.In “Medical Tourism in Developing Countries,” (Bookman, 2007) the scale of international medical service market was estimated to more than 19 million person-time in 2005 and valued up to 20 billion USD. It is forecasted that by 2010 the market will grow to 40 million person-time, with a value of 40 billion USD. In Asia, Singapore provided medical care to 270,000 foreign patients in 2004, 400,000 in 2005, and this number will exceed the 1 million mark by 2012, with related income reaching 3 billion USD. In Malaysia, foreigner patients increased from 70,000 (2000) to 100,000 (2004), which accounted for a revenue of about 190 million USD. A similar trend is present in Thailand, with 730,000 foreigner patients having contributed 20 billion Baht to the country’s revenue in 2003. Two years later, this value increased by 16% (23 billion Baht). India, on the other hand, has been receiving 150,000 foreigner patients, with an annual growth rate of 33.3% and a revenue of more than 1 billion USD. As for Taiwan, the “Flagship Project for Promoting International Medical Tourism was approved in the No. 3049 conference of the Executive Yuan. This project is expected to promote the low-cost but high-quality medical service offered by the country to the global market. Specifically, it targets 100,000 foreigner patients who are expected to contribute about 7 billion NTD to the revenue of Taiwan in a span of three years.With high expectations on the benefits of international medical tourism, governments in Southeast Asia are intent on promoting activities related to this area. It is within this context that this study is carried out. It is hoped that an analysis and discussion on international patients who received medical service in Singapore from 1993 to 2002 can serve as a useful reference to relevant parties. International patients in Singapore: 1993 to 2002 This report is based on a survey conducted by the Ministry of Health on foreigners who came to Singapore from 1993 to 2002 mainly to receive medical service, and not for other purposes. The participants in this survey do not include foreigners working in Singapore.Two issues served as basis for the analysis in this study: timing and type of medical services. The time-based analysis was applied on the number of foreigner patients five years before and after the 1997Asian Financial Crisis. As for the analysis based on the type of medical services, the number of foreigner patients who received day surgery and the inpatients were discussed. Prior to the Asian Financial Crisis (1993 to 1997), there was a 24.7% annual increase in the number of foreigner patients who received day surgery and 8.6% in the case of inpatient foreigners. In 1998, a year after the said crisis, the number of patients lined up for surgery and for inpatient medical care declined by 38.9% and 36.4%, respectively. However, five years after, the number of patients in both categories increased by 18.1% and 8.9% each year (Chart 1).
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