LOCAL ENTREPRENEUR AIMS TO CAPTURE US MEDICAL TRAVEL MARKET
EL NORTE - Monterrey, Mexico, May 10th, 2010
Gabriel Senior launches Travel For Care, a Medical Travel facilitator company for U.S. and Canadian patients and doctors and hospitals in Tijuana and Monterrey
By Palmira Gonzalez - EL NORTE (Northern Mexico's Leading Newspaper)
Although recent news and uncertainty is slowing the flow of foreign patients into Monterrey, the medical tourism market is still attractive to entrepreneurs.
In Mexico, cosmetic surgery has a cost between 65 and 80 percent less than in the United States and at least 1.5 Million people in that country seek these procedures every year, said Gabriel Senior, founder of Travel for Care, an intermediary company between U.S. and Canadian patients and doctors and hospitals in Tijuana and Monterrey.
Studies by Senior estimate that to date some 50 000 Americans travel to another country for medical treatment every year. "Of those, about 35 000 travel to Mexico. The remaining 15 000 are to destinations in Central America and Asia. Of the 35 000 people who come to Mexico, a large proportion are Hispanic that come naturally to the country on business or visiting family, said Senior. The attractive market, he added, are those 15 to 20 thousand people are non-Hispanic Americans, middle-income because they're just the niche that could trigger medical tourism in Mexico.
"On the other hand, in the United States, there are 46 million uninsured. Of these, about 12 million could go abroad to seek medical procedures because they have the necessary income and the mentality to do so. Of those 12 million, 300 000 require surgeries, Senior explained. Mexico is an attractive destination for patients because of differences in prices for elective surgeries are between 60 and 75 percent. For example, a gastric bypass can cost $ 28,000 in the U.S. and in Mexico is around $ 12,000. A year into his business, Senior serves about eight patients per month and expects in a year to be serving above 20 per month.
Travel For Care has a network for three to four physicians for each of the seven specialties offered. They work with great hospitals like San Jose del Tec de Monterrey, CIMA, Hospital Angeles in Tijuana, as well as with outpatient surgery facilities in which the costs can be 20 to 30 percent lower. To date, its operations are divided in almost the same proportion in Tijuana and Monterrey. TFC also has a network in Reynosa for South Texas customers who prefer a closer location. Senior estimates an annual growth of 25-30 percent for the medical tourism market, mainly driven by a larger number of Americans embracing this trend everyday.
"The opportunity that medical tourism brings to the table is big, since aside from individual patients, there is also potential to attract corporate customers, i.e. companies that insure their employees and insurance plans that will beenfit from affordable healthcare.” “The big challenge here is to increase the promotion at a national level, remember we have competitors such as India and Thailand, which have active campaigns to attract medical tourism, while in Meixco, we still do not even make a tenth of the noise that they are making," said Senior.
