Healthcare Tourism in Malaysia: Where Do I Start?
Over the last decade, Malaysia has grown by leaps and bounds to become a medical tourism destination of high renown. Winning multiple international awards in a wide range of medical specialties, Malaysia’s elite private hospitals offer world-class quality healthcare to patients from around the world; with the benefit of competitive affordability and high accessibility.
Understanding Malaysia Healthcare
Malaysia practices a two-tier healthcare system: government-funded’s public healthcare and private healthcare. Public healthcare is available to its citizens, private healthcare in contrast, is open to both Malaysian citizens and healthcare tourists.
Regardless, Malaysia Healthcare is among the most affordable healthcare services in the world that offers unparalleled standards of quality and care. In 2016 alone, almost 1 million health travellers seeking healthcare treatments, arrived in Malaysia from around the globe.
Popular treatments in medical tourism include orthopedics, ophthalmology, cardiology, IVF, neurology, gastroenterology, oncology, dentistry, cosmetic surgery, and health screening.
The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council
The Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) – the coordinating agency for the country’s healthcare tourism industry – was established to assist health travellers in their healthcare journeys in Malaysia.
MHTC’s offerings include a range of advisory and assistive services through:
- Call Centre (Kuala Lumpur)
- Representative Offices in Jakarta (Indonesia), Yangon (Myanmar), Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam)
- Concierge and Lounges at the Kuala Lumpur International Airport and Penang International Airport.
Affordable, Awards-Winning Private Healthcare for the World
Health seekers from all over the world are welcome to experience Malaysian healthcare. Thanks to systemic efficiencies and a healthy ratio of doctors to population, waiting times see a specialist of your choice is almost negligible.
Stringent regulations on prices charged for healthcare services kept healthcare in Malaysia competitively affordable. Furthermore, Ministry of Health Malaysia regulates prices charged for pharmaceutical products to ensure that healthcare remains accessible to everyone who needs it.
But patients flock to Malaysia not only for its affordable healthcare. What is noteworthy is that Malaysian private hospitals are equipped with the latest in medical technology, highly-trained medical professionals and even feature pioneering services in areas such as pediatric cardiology, neurosurgery and medical devices.
Language
Travellers will find that many Malaysians speak English, alongside other common Asian languages, such as Mandarin, Cantonese, Bahasa Indonesia, Tamil and Hindi in this foreigner-friendly and multi-cultural country.
You can see the same in Malaysian healthcare professionals. You do not have to worry about making direct communication between patients, doctors and hospital staff as it should be easy to communicate with ease. The hospitals may also arrange for a translator for native speakers of other language as an alternative. The hospitals can also arrange for translators for those who are native speakers of other languages.
Medical Insurance
You may check with your medical insurance provider to see if your policy extends to include medical coverage in Malaysia. We partner with a wide range of insurance and credit card providers in Southeast Asia, allowing portability of benefits for policyholders to seek healthcare treatment in Malaysia.
How Do I Make an Appointment?
It is as easy as contacting your hospital of choice from wherever you are. Firstly, you can book an appointment with an international patient care counsellor. Subsequently, you can get on a plane for your consultation once the appointment is confirmed – all in just a matter of days.
Better yet, contact the MHTC Call Centre or an MHTC Representative Office near you today for recommendations on specialists and hospitals, advice on visa and immigrations requirements, or any other questions