How is Covid-19 affecting Medical Tourism? 

Over the previous month, IMS has been taking the temperature of the clinical travel area and evaluating the effect of COVID-19 on the organizations that rely upon worldwide patient development. We have assembled the perspectives on 70 industry members and  pioneers from over the globe. Over portion of the respondents spoke to emergency clinics, centers, specialists, and facilitators. This is what they needed to state. 

For 64% of respondents, COVID-19 is causing extraordinary concern and there is not kidding sway on their medical services related business. 27% trust it is restricted to explicit regions of their medical services related business and are observing the effect intently. 

For the clinical travel/worldwide patient, part of their medical services business, COVID-19 has brought about a gigantic effect on tolerant numbers (Impact score of 4.3 out of 5), and there has been a huge monetary effect, remembering impacts for business activity, liquidity and capital assets (Impact score of 4.1 out of 5). Most organizations are actualizing significant changes to their working practices to empower them to re-start their worldwide patient exercises when the emergency is finished. 

16% of the respondents have shut down their worldwide patient tasks for years to come. 20% are proceeding to work for as far as might be feasible, however with altogether diminished assets and an uncertain arrangement for business progression. Simply under half are proceeding to work with a hearty business coherence plan which they accept will permit them to endure. 

We approached respondents for how long they expect the clinical travel division will keep on being fundamentally influenced by COVID-19. The lion's share (41%) anticipates that the effect should keep going for 6 months to a year. 31% anticipate that the effect should keep going for over a year. 

The effect on global patient numbers has been noteworthy. 67% express that their worldwide patient numbers have fallen by over half. There are far and wide worries about whether their organizations have the budgetary assets to keep working all through the COVID-19 episode. 

43% have rolled out no improvements to their workforce now. One of every four have decreased working hours. One out of three are furloughing or laying off staff.

Clearly, there are no real surprises in the research. It highlights the major impact that COVID-19 is having on a sector that combines healthcare, travel and tourism. For some, particularly those in the agency/facilitator business, it has already meant the end of their business. For the major hospital operators and the major hospital brands, the pain will be unwelcome but will be endured. We will certainly see a degree of market concentration in the medical travel business, as the smaller and less resilient operators exit the market. In the recovery  phase, it will be survival of the fittest and the best… which will be a positive trend in the long term