Over the past few years, the intersection of healthcare, travel, and wealth management has spawned the development of medical tourism. Within this fast-growing sector, family offices—private wealth management firms serving ultra-high-net-worth families—are becoming an important force.

What is Medical Tourism?

Medical tourism is the process of crossing borders to receive medical treatment, typically in other nations that offer quality care at a lower cost than one's native country. Drivers of the international medical tourism industry include rising healthcare costs in developed nations, the ease of specialized care elsewhere, and the ability to receive treatment while still on vacation. Some popular countries include Thailand, South Korea, Mexico, and India. As the industry grows, the reasons people go for medical tourism are increasingly diverse. While cost savings continue to be a primary driver, many patients are also attracted to those places that have highly qualified specialists, state-of-the-art equipment, and greater quality of care. These latter considerations are more applicable to the concerns of the family office.

The Role of Family Offices in Medical Tourism

Family offices have traditionally focused on investments, estate planning, and legacy management. With medical tourism becoming more popular, however, family offices are now also involved in counseling their clients on healthcare options, including receiving medical treatment abroad. Family offices are not only responsible for managing financial portfolios but also for enhancing the overall well-being of their clients in this context.

Family offices should be able to get through the web of medical tourism by having direct service such as:

Research and Recommendations

Family offices provide personalized advice that is specially tailored to meet the unique needs of their clients. This could mean exploring the world's top medical centers, locating trustworthy doctors or specialists, and evaluating the standards of care at various medical tourism hubs. Family offices leverage their connections to bring their clients the best treatment options available, typically in coordination with concierge healthcare services to facilitate it.

Synchronizing Travel and Logistics

Medical tourism is not just about the receiving of healthcare—it's the entire experience. For high-net-worth individuals, receiving medical care abroad is usually paired with luxury accommodations, travel arrangements, private transportation, and personalized care during recovery. Family offices become an important aspect in arranging these logistics so that clients can experience hassle-free transitions in their medical experience. This may include reserving personal assistants, translators, or private nurses to ensure a comfortable and stress-free experience.

Financial Management

Family offices are ideally suited to take care of the finances of medical tourism. Being experienced in financial planning, family offices can take care of the expense of medical treatment, travel, and stay. They can help clients decipher insurance policies, determine whether medical tourism is a good financial option, and even arrange payment plans or funds specifically for healthcare.

Risk Management and Due Diligence

When seeking medical treatment abroad, patients must consider aspects such as the level of care received, security of the healthcare delivery system, and qualifications of healthcare professionals. Family offices mitigate such risks by conducting an intensive due diligence on healthcare professionals to confirm that the institutions and doctors involved meet international standards. Moreover, family offices can also offer legal counsel to protect their clients' interests in case they are traveling to countries with special regulations or medical procedures.

Why Family Offices Are Getting Involved in Medical Tourism

Globalization and Ease of Travel: As travel has gotten easier and the world has become smaller, more families are thinking about healthcare options beyond their native countries. Family offices are well-positioned to take advantage of this growing demand by facilitating travel arrangements and advising clients on the optimal global healthcare options.

Client Well-being: High net worth individuals will desire the best for themselves and their loved ones, not just in the context of wealth generation but also health. By arranging access to the best medical treatment and making the medical tourism experience easier, family offices are improving the overall well-being of their clients, a core aspect of their service capability.

Holistic Lifestyle Management: Since family offices aim to make whole-life wealth management a reality, health naturally finds its place in the grand design. With the rapidly growing phenomenon of medical tourism, family offices are taking healthcare management to their more holistic lifestyle packages. This entails establishing access to wellness treatments, mental health care, and preventive medical services.

Challenges and Considerations

While the marriage of family offices and medical tourism has numerous advantages, there are issues to be addressed. First, there are differences in medical standards and practices across cultures, which may affect the patient's experience and results. A lot of due diligence is needed to ensure that medical procedures overseas are done safely and effectively.

Besides, it requires experience to manage the complexities of international healthcare regulations, travel bans, and linguistic differences. Family offices must develop good relationships with credible medical networks worldwide and stay updated on the latest healthcare trends, legal considerations, and travel procedures to ensure the process is smooth for their clients requirements to ensure a smooth process for their clients.

About the Author David Antonino:

With a professional background at H-E-B, Copper Mountain, Shootsta and Dematic, David has a keen understanding of various industries. He currently works in a Family Office representing various clients' interests. As a UW-Madison graduate, avid traveller, journalist (The Daily Texan) and self-published author, David writes about the intersection of wealth management and medical tourism for Health Tourism News.