Irish Online Health Enquiries – May 2010

It’s time to look at what treatments Irish patients contacting clinics through RevaHealth.com were interesting in during May. There’s good news for dental implant specialists both sides of the border, and further afield. Denture clinics in the Republic have something to smile about too, at the expensive of their colleagues in the North. Breast reductions in both women and men are on the rise in cosmetic surgery, and Botox remains the king of cosmetic beauty treatments.

Dental Treatments in Ireland - June 2010

The trend towards lower cost and maitanence dentistry continues as the economy continues to contract, with dentures, teeth cleaning and fillings enquiries all seeing substantial increases against the last year’s averages. Bucking that trend though are dental implants, one of the most costly treatments around, which saw a 20.7% increase in market share, up to 17% compared to the yearly average of 14.1%.

Dental Tourism to Northern Ireland - June 2010

Irish patients continue to enquire about treatment in Northern Ireland in large numbers, with root canals and dental implants seeing the biggest shifts from the norms, but it’s bad news for denture clinics for this month at least as patients in the Republic seek more intent on staying put than making the journey across the border.

Dental Tourism Treatments for Irish Patients - June 2010

Figures for Irish enquiries about dental tourism treatments reveal a shift away from the slightly cheaper treatments of teeth whitening and veneers back towards implants, crowns and bridges. There were also more surprising increases for root canals, dentures and even fillings. This might be because of the run up to people’s summer holidays, so people are already travelling to foreign destinations.

Cosmetic Surgery in Ireland - June 2010

The trend more for breast reduction operations for women continues, as does the increased interest in liposuction. Male breast reduction, also known as treatment for gynecomastia, mirrors the increase in popularity noted in the UK by growing its market share from an average of 1.5% of enquiries to 3% of enquiries in May.

Cosmetic Beauty Treatments in Ireland - June 2010

Botox is the undisputed king of the hill in the cosmetic beauty treatment world, accounting for 27.9% of Irish enquiries in May. Laser hair removal is a distant but growing second at 14% of the market.

Medical Tourism from Ireland - June 2010

Finally the overview of medical tourism from Ireland shows very small falls in market share for dental and cosmetic surgery enquiries, with fertility clinics being the biggest winners. In an average month fertility clinics abroad account for 1.5% of Irish medical tourism enquiries, whereas last month they managed to take 3.6% of the market.

More data about the UK market will follow on Monday. If you’d like to see some other statistics about Irish private health patients or have any questions about the above please leave a comment in the box below.

Following on from my post last month about what treatments Irish dental patients were interested in, here is a more comprehensive look at what dental and cosmetic patients in the UK, Ireland, and the US & Canada are enquiring about on RevaHealth.com. This time I’ve included the data for the past 12 months as well as the month just gone. This gives a good indication of what treatments are growing in popularity over time.

As ever, your comments and feedback both about the figures we’ve published and other figures you might like to see are more than welcome. You can leave a comment at the end of this post or contact us via email or Twitter – full details on the contact us page.

British Patients

British Dental Treatments - May 2010

Top 10 Dental Treatments Requested by UK Patients - May 2010

First up we take a look at what UK dental patients are interested in. The classic cosmetic treatments of teeth whitening and veneers lead the way. This month I’ve broken out Invisalign from traditional braces as they account for such a big share of the market by themselves, 11.05% in the last month, a 55% increase over their yearly average.

Looking at the other differences between last month’s and last year’s figures you can see a shift towards more basic treatments like teeth cleaning, extractions and dentures to the expensive of some of the more expensive cosmetic treatments. Veneers in particular are 37% behind their yearly average despite still being the second most popular individual treatment. It will be interesting to see if the cosmetic treatments make a comeback as the UK economy turns around.

British Dental Tourism Breakdown - May 2010

British Dental Tourism Patients - May 2010

Patients from the UK heading abroad for their dental work are still interested primarily in the top end treatments like veneers and dental implants, but the number one treatment enquired about last month was teeth whitening, traditionally one of the cheaper cosmetic dental treatments. Last month it accounted for 26% of enquiries for dental treatment abroad.

Patients thinking of having teeth whitening abroad are more than likely going to be travelling to their chosen clinic’s location already, as it would be hard to save the travel and accommodation costs on the reduced treatment cost alone.

Plastic Surgery Treatments for British Patients - May 2010

British Cosmetic Surgery Patients - May 2010

For this month’s figures I’ve rolled a lot of treatments up into their category, and one surprising result is shown here in the UK’s cosmetic surgery figures. Genital reshaping is and has been for the last year the most enquired about area of treatment in the UK. I didn’t really believe this when I saw it myself, so I looked into it a bit further and it turns out that in the past this was largely down to circumcision being included in genital reshaping. However, last month it accounted for only 35% of genital reshaping enquiries. Other treatments enquired about in the last month include vaginoplasty, labiaplasty, hymenoplasty and penis enlargement.

Seeing as genital reshaping accounts for so much of the market we will probably start breaking it out into its individual treatments in next month’s figures.

Beauty Treatments for British Patients - May 2010

Top 10 British Cosmetic Beauty Treatments - May 2010

The cosmetic beauty sector has one of the most dependable treatment breakdowns around, being solidly dominated by Botox again and again. Judging by last month’s figures it shows no signs of declining in popularity.

British Medical Tourism Breakdown - May 2010

Breakdown of British Medical Tourism - May 2010

Looking at what treatment areas British people are looking for when travelling abroad, you can see that plastic surgery, cosmetic beauty and fertility enquiries are all increasing. We haven’t seen any decrease in the number of enquiries for treatment abroad so although it accounts for less of the market overall, that is just down to the increasing popularity of the other areas mentioned.

British Medical Tourism Treatments - May 2010

Top 10 Medical Tourism Treatments for British Patients - May 2010

As reflected in the breakdown by treatment area, cosmetic surgery treatments are growing in popularity relative to their market share over the past 12 months.

Irish Patients

Dental Treatments in Ireland - May 2010

Top 10 Dental Treatments in Ireland - May 2010

There is an interesting spike in last month’s figures for dental implants compared to their yearly average market share, this despite being among the most expensive treatments available. Similarly there is an increase in interest in Invisalign treatment too, again one of the more modern and expensive treatments available. It will be interesting to see if this trend continues into next month.

Dental Treatments for Irish Patients Travelling to Northern Ireland - May 2010

Top 10 Dental Treatments for Irish Patients in Northern Ireland - May 2010

Northern Ireland remains a very popular alternative for dental treatment for Irish patients, accounting for 26% of all Irish dental enquiries last month. Again the expensive treatments dominate the enquiries, with braces leading the way. There is evidence of prices falling somewhat in the Republic recently and the Euro is getting weaker at the moment, so it looks like Northern dentists will be in for some competition over the coming months.

Irish Dental Tourism Treatment Breakdown - May 2010

Top 10 Dental Treatments for Irish Patients Travelling Abroad - May 2010

The increase in interest in dental implants at home in Ireland seems to be mirrored by a decrease in their popularity last month among patients intending to travel abroad, while the other traditional favourite veneers remains just as popular. Dental crowns, invisalign and dentures all experienced a relative boost in popularity this month too.

Cosmetic Surgery Treatments in Ireland - May 2010

Irish Plastic Surgery Patients - May 2010

There has been a fairly steady interest in the cosmetic surgery treatments that are popular among Irish patients for the last year, and it continues this month. The biggest change in the last month has been an increase in popluarity for breast implants, which are 18% ahead of their yearly average.

Cosmetic Beauty Treatments for Irish Patients - May 2010

Irish Beauty Patients - May 2010

As with the UK, the cosmetic beauty sector is dominated by Botox enquiries, here accounting for just under 30% of the market. Frequent television ads for a laser hair removal company seem to have increased the popularity of that treatment also, with enquiries running 23% ahead of their yearly average.

Irish Medical Tourism Breakdown - May 2010

Breakdown of Medical Tourism in Ireland - May 2010

Again, following the trend in the UK, Irish patients looking for treatment abroad are increasingly interested in cosmetic surgery and beauty procedures, as well as fertility and bariatric surgery. The relative decrease does not represent a drop in enquiries numbers for dental treatment abroad, rather it reflects in the increase in numbers for the other treatment areas.

Irish Medical Tourism Treatments - May 2010

Top 10 Medical Tourism Treatments for Irish Patients - May 2010

The top ten individual treatments for Irish medical tourists are dominated by dental treatments but interestingly botox makes an appearance along with breast implants.

US & Canadian Patients

Medical Tourism from the US & Canada - May 2010

Medical Tourism Breakdown - USA & Canada - May 2010

Much more so than in the UK or Ireland, US & Canadian patients are looking for dental treatment aborad, and the increases in popularity of other treatment areas is much smaller. Mexico remains by far the most popular destination, followed by the Philippines and Costa Rica.

Medical Tourism Treatments for Patients from the US & Canada - May 2010

Top 10 Medical Tourism Treatments for American and Canadian Patients - May 2010

As with dental tourism in Europe, the most popular treatments are the expensive cosmetic treatments of dental implants and dental veneers.

Next Month

As ever we are interested in providing information that is not only useful to us here in RevaHealth.com, but also is of use to you, our readers. Whether you are a journalist, a business owner or a patient, we’d love to hear your feedback and any requests for additional information you might have.

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There are no shortage of articles telling us about the scale and staggering growth of the ‘medical tourism market’. Deloitte has valued it at $60 billion, while a Research and Markets report estimates it at a lower, but still substantial, $40 billion. I have spent the last 3 years working in the field and after putting over 50,000 customers in contact with overseas healthcare providers, I have come to the conclusion that while there is a growing and vibrant international trade in healthcare services, it isn’t a market in the true sense of the word.

A market is defined as any structure where buyers and suppliers can exchange goods and services, in this instance, healthcare. Once you talk to a number of ’medical tourists’ it becomes abundantly clear that they don’t purchase their overseas healthcare from a ‘medical tourism marketplace’ at all. Instead they buy from a globalised healthcare market. In simple terms, when Annie Smith considers travelling to Thailand for a breast reduction procedure, she doesn’t compare Thailand’s cosmetic surgeons to other overseas cosmetic surgeons; she compares them to local practitioners. She doesn’t buy from the ‘medical tourism market’, she buys from the globalised healthcare market – she compares the price and quality offered by multiple clinics that carry out this procedure, both at home and abroad, and chooses her preferred option.

The fundamental mistake that analysts and pundits make is to assume that globalisation creates new markets – it does not. Globalisation combines many domestic markets into one larger market place. In the case of healthcare, the consumer is free to evaluate their options at a global marketplace and choose the clinic that meets their needs. While the location of the service provider might be a consideration for the consumer, or even a deciding factor, it does not change the fact that the services being consumed are available across multiple locations.

In some ways this globalisation of healthcare echoes that of other previously globalised markets. For example, parallels can be drawn between the healthcare industry and the automotive industry. When Carlos Ghosn became CEO of the Japanese Nissan company, he started purchasing car parts from factories in China and India. This decision was influenced by the price and quality offered, not by source location. In other ways the globalisation of healthcare is unique and some lessons will have to be learnt by trial and error, rather than by reference to historical market analysis.

One way in which healthcare is different to, for example, consumer product industries, is that the patient must be transported to the service. This has two major affects on medical tourism. Firstly, it makes it difficult for governments to apply trade barriers in the form of tariffs (effective trade barriers are already very much in place, in the form of subsidies or national insurance that apply only to domestic providers). Secondly, unlike intellectual property which can cross borders effortlessly, healthcare is not a frictionless product. The cost and time involved in travelling over large geographical distances presents a significant barrier to trade. This gives an inherent advantage to the local market. It is quality, availability of care, value for money and additional privacy that enable overseas clinics to overcome these barriers.

Healthcare suppliers who target overseas patients may regard themselves as constituting a ‘medical tourism marketplace’, but this is because they operate from a myopic, supplier-centric
view of the market. It is necessary to take a step back and view the market from the consumers’ perspective. After all it is they who define the market.

What this means for healthcare providers worldwide is that they must become aware of the options open to their patients, locally, nationally and internationally. Only then can consumers be expected to make educated decisions about their own healthcare.

Sources:
http://ryanfamily.typepad.com/files/us_chs_medicaltourismstudy28329.pdf
http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/c74425

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