BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Attila Nott’s dental practice in Hungary is quiet.
I want patients to come from abroad for dental treatment, but they keep not showing up. Despite the lifting of pandemic travel restrictions, the medical tourism industry is still struggling to recover, first due to the Covid-19 crisis and more recently due to the rising cost of living.
“People are more cautious,” Knott said, looking out from Creatif Dental to an empty building across the street. “It made me reconsider spending big bucks on things like dental care.”
The new treatment facility is scheduled to open in March 2020. He wants to accept more patients who want dental treatment in Hungary that is cheaper than in his home country.
However, it was about 600 patients per month before the pandemic, which has now been halved. Knott is also considering expanding to colonoscopies and knee replacements.
For many years, patients in the UK and North America have had the option to travel to places such as Hungary and Turkey to be treated at local clinics. In both dentistry and other medical specialties, there is the problem of long waiting times and high cost of treatment in his own country.
Healthcare providers hope patient numbers will recover quickly once travel restrictions are lifted.
But when war broke out in Ukraine a year ago, inflation drove up energy and food prices, leaving people with little money to spare. Even more so when it comes to beauty treatments.
Hungary shares a border with Ukraine, and the war itself poses a threat to foreigners, Knott said.
Airfares have skyrocketed and flights have become less frequent. The turmoil in the airline industry last summer is fresh in our memories. Clinic owners and analysts interviewed by Reuters said those factors were also preventing people from seeking treatment.
According to WeCure, which specializes in medical tourism from countries such as the UK to medical centers for foreigners such as Turkey, the price of air tickets to destinations such as Turkey will double compared to 2019. It is said that there is an example.
Airfare, ground transportation and fuel currently account for about 15 percent of travel costs for travel and treatment packages, Wecure said. There is upward pressure on all prices, roughly twice as fast as before the pandemic.
Clinics are also facing rising costs, with some even raising treatment fees. Lithuanian orthopedic clinic Nord Orthopedics told Reuters that prices for hip and knee replacement surgeries are up about 15 percent compared with five years ago.
“(Customers) will have to make a choice,” Wecure CEO Emr Atseken said. “Instead of getting a hair transplant, it’s better to pay the gas and electricity bills.”
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To incentivize patients, some clinic operators offer the option of paying as treatment progresses rather than as a lump sum. As another form of support, crowdfunding is also expanding.
Atseken, Wecure’s chief executive, said the company is offering installment payments to some customers to spread the cost.
Lifeboat, an Indian company that provides medical services to foreign patients, told Reuters it was partnering with a fundraising site called Impact Guru to help patients pay for much-needed surgeries.
Some healthcare providers are targeting patients in the UK and Canada. In both countries, public health services are strained and there may be long waits.
At Knott’s clinic, most of his patients come from England and Ireland, with a few from other Nordic countries and France.
Linda Frohock, 73, from Staffordshire, UK, came to Budapest for dental implant treatment. To cover these costs, he took out a bank loan and dipped into his savings.
The treatment fee is GBP 8,000 (approximately JPY 1,310,000). In the UK, the same treatment costs an estimated £32,000.
“If something needs to be done urgently, it can only be done here, and I want to come here for treatment. If necessary, I have to do something myself,” Hrohok said.
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The International Medical Tourism Journal (IMTJ), published by market research firm LaingBuisson, estimates the medical tourism market is now worth about $21 billion, down from pre-coronavirus levels. But editor Keith Pollard says the data isn’t good enough.
Approximately 7 million people travel abroad for medical purposes each year, and IMTJ sees a realistic growth rate of 5-10% per year. That’s much lower than some estimates.
Laszlo Pukuzko, who runs Budapest-based Health Tourism Worldwide, said a clinic specializing in urgent care would be able to weather the current economic climate. This is because even clients who are struggling are willing to pay for medical expenses in an emergency. But Pukuzko and others say clinics that tout the low cost of optional treatments like rhinoplasty have a hard time surviving.
“If you have severe arthritis and can’t walk, you can’t put off orthopedic surgery. It’s an important, life-changing procedure,” said Nord Orthopedics’ sales and marketing department.
Bob Martin, 71, has decided to pay around £18,000 for new dental implant treatment at Creatif. Martin, a retired NHS chief nurse from the UK, has struggled with dentures for most of her life as her permanent teeth failed to erupt.
“If you need to get treatment, you have no choice,” Martin said.
No matter the cost, Knott, who runs Creatif, says patients who need basic dental care don’t hesitate.
“Those guys usually don’t even talk about the price.
(Translation: Eacleren)
