Seodon-gyo HiMedi Co-CEO "Korean Medical Standards Are at Global Top Level"
"An Export Industry Supported by Government, Medical Association, and Tourism Sector... Confident in Record Sales This Year"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] "The United States is expensive, Germany is slow, and Korea is cheap and fast."
Seo Don-gyo, co-CEO of HiMedi, evaluated the countries leading the global medical tourism market this way. Seo's remark strongly suggests that Korea has a high potential to dominate the global medical tourism market.
According to Seo, the United States, which has been the mainstream in medical tourism, is a declining star. Medical service costs are excessively high, and due to various discriminations and unstable security, it is difficult to stay long-term for treatment. Seo said, "Medical expenses are the number one cause of bankruptcy among Americans, so it is very expensive," adding, "Unless it must be the U.S., foreign patients do not choose the U.S."
Excluding the U.S., Germany, Japan, and Singapore are Korea's competitors. Treatments that take two months in Germany can be done in one month in Korea, and Korea's lower cost of living compared to Japan is a significant competitive advantage. Singapore, as a city-state, has airports and medical facilities close to each other and staff proficient in English, making it a recent rival to Korea.
Founded in December 2011, HiMedi is a platform for attracting foreign patients. Divided into beauty and disease sectors, it provides foreign patients with telemedicine consultations with available doctors, hospital reservations, visa assistance, and medical tourism concierge services. Before COVID-19, beauty patients such as those seeking plastic surgery were the majority, but after COVID-19, most patients are those seeking treatment for diseases like cancer or organ transplants.
Foreign patients visiting Korea mainly come from Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, and Central Asian countries like Kazakhstan. They spend an average of about 17 million KRW per person on stay expenses in Korea.
An image introducing the HiMedi service, depicting a scene of a doctor conducting a remote consultation. [Photo by HiMedi]
Seo estimates that the medical tourism market in Korea alone is worth about 2 trillion KRW annually, and the global market size is expected to reach 100 trillion KRW. Seo said, "Although the global medical tourism market shrank after COVID-19, demand has recently been increasing again," adding, "Since last year, it has grown 20-30% every quarter and will soon surpass the pre-COVID market size."
HiMedi attracted 3,880 foreign patients in 2019 and recorded sales of 5 billion KRW. The system, which books treatment hospitals based on telemedicine results with specialists, has a very high satisfaction rate of 4.9 out of 5 among foreign patients.
Seo said, "Korea is highly rated in every aspect, including doctors' excellent surgical skills, state-of-the-art medical equipment, safe security, convenient transportation, and accommodations," and evaluated, "Korea's medical level has long been recognized as top global level beyond Asia."
HiMedi secured 2 billion KRW in seed investment from Murex Partners in 2018, 6 billion KRW in Series A and Bridge A investments from Whitestar Capital and others in 2020, totaling 11 billion KRW in investments, and is currently preparing for Series B funding.
Seo expressed confidence, saying, "Medical tourism services are an export industry supported by the government, medical associations, and tourism sectors," and added, "With newly prepared services such as doctors' 'second opinion' and caregiver services, we expect to set a new sales record this year."
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