Dubai has potential to become a leading Medical Tourism Hub

Dubai is all set to become the region’s leading medical tourism hub as it has world class infrastructure to cater to the global medical tourists according to Dr.Haider Al Zubaidy, CEO, Canadian Specialist Hospital (CSH). Medical tourism industry is estimated to be a multibillion dollar business globally and is expected to grow exponentially in the next few years. As per reports, over 100,000 medical tourists visit Dubai each year.
“Dubai is considered one of the world’s best and cost effective medical tourism hubs and attracts tourists from across the globe to avail the best health care facilities. This is largely due to the affordable cost of treatment, state-of-the-art medical facilities and the presence of bilingual medical team that can cater to several nationalities from across the globe. In terms of infrastructure, connectivity and qualified personnel Dubai is well-positioned to attract a major share of the healthcare tourism traffic,” stated Dr.Haider.

Dubai’s medical tourism strategy and an increasing number of local hospitals benchmarking their facilities and services against global best practices have added momentum to the emirate’s emergence as a leading healthcare destination. Dubai’s medical tourism strategy, announced in 2014, aims at attracting 500,000 medical tourists by 2020, the year when the city would host the World Expo.

“Hospitals in Dubai are competing with the best in the world in providing comprehensive primary-to-tertiary level care. More importantly, there is a growing focus on patient safety, quality, excellence and transparency. The medical tourism strategy identifies orthopaedic and sports medicine, plastic surgery, ophthalmology, dental procedures, dermatology, preventive medicine and skin care as areas in which Dubai can provide competitive and cost-effective treatment options to patients from abroad,” added Dr.Haider.

CSH is now an active member of the Dubai Medical Tourism (DMT) Club. As part of this esteemed club, CSH will bring together healthcare facilities of the DMT program and thereby create an environment to share experiences and promote Dubai as a Medical Tourism hub. CSH has been at the forefront of medical tourism since 2006.

Canadian Specialty Hospital follows DMTs 3Ts value proposition of trust that patients can look forward to in terms of best facility, experience and price, transparency in pricing, treatment and service offerings and lastly having the best talent cater to patients.
“The hospital has conducted several marketing campaigns and designed attractive packages covering all specialities starting from comprehensive health checkups, to laparoscopic neurosurgery for patients coming from abroad. Our hospital receives hundreds of patients from across Eastern Europe, Africa and other countries in the Middle East,” Dr. Haider added.
If a patient wishes to avail of a treatment in CSH, the hospital makes all the necessary arrangements for the patients and relatives, inclusive of visa, accommodation, consultation, admission and transportation “A spectrum of services need to be provided once the patient is admitted to the hospital, including something as basic as translations and all the daily requirements during their stay. We have to ensure that we make the patients feel at home and don’t make them feel that they are in a foreign destination,” said Dr.Haider.

Dubai can also stands to benefit from the fact that healthcare costs and hospital waiting times in the US and Europe are on the rise. Highly qualified doctors certified from the US and other countries are currently offering the best procedures and treatments in Dubai through hospitals and boutique clinics. The medical tourism sector is booming world-wide and Dubai is all set to carve a niche as it has the infrastructure and medical facilities of international repute. CSH intends to be part of this growth and grow alongside the industry.

The hospital has been reaccredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), the world’s largest healthcare accreditor, in recognition of the hospital’s continuing commitment to patient safety, quality and ethical practices.