臺灣國際醫療發展現況與未來挑戰: 以醫衛合作新南向為例

Abstract

本研究主要目的為探討在經歷2019年至2023年COIVD-19(新冠肺炎)疫情的衝擊後，臺灣醫療機構在國際醫療/醫療旅遊的新南向發展策略所受到之影響，並從現階段醫療機構所遭遇的困境與政府政策的規劃角度出發，經由訪談國際醫療/醫療旅遊領域的專家分析，藉由查證國內外文獻佐證整合出臺灣國際醫療服務提供者對臺灣國際醫療/醫療旅遊的定位與未來的展望。期望能透過本研究的拋磚引玉，未來會有更多的專家投入國際醫療/醫療旅遊的領域，促成該產業的成熟與推進。 本研究採取半結構性深度訪談六位來自臺灣國際醫療/醫療旅遊服務或推廣單位的資深專家，將訪談中所提到的臺灣過往困境、現行策略與未來展望意見進行編碼，再進行比較與分類，以找出臺灣發展國際醫療/醫療旅遊政府對醫療策略的影響、後疫情時代的行銷佈局與如何實現「以醫帶商」的關鍵。 研究結果發現，雖然臺灣的健保與重、難症的醫療實力具備國際競爭力，但國家形象並不足以支撐國際醫療/醫療旅遊產業的推廣，因此行銷與宣傳是臺灣發展國際醫療的當務之急，需要藉由提供國際病患剛性醫療需求之特色醫療服務與競爭對手做出市場區隔。雖然現階段發展國際醫療並不能帶給臺灣重大收入或經濟效益，但仍有其必要性：能提高臺灣國際醫療形象增加國家知名度、提升國內醫師與團隊的治療照護經驗與醫療水準，和將傑出且寶貴的醫療經驗傳承給新一代的醫護人員，此外對產業界來說，有醫衛合作的新南向模式代表會吸引更多資金投入並幫助醫療與生技產業的發展，最終將能使國人受惠。且於文末針對政府政策、整體產業發展、醫療保險、評鑑、特色醫療、網路行銷、社群媒體、行銷標語、印尼市場與後續研究者提出具體性的建議。

The primary purpose of this study is to explore the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic (2019 to 2023) on the medical tourism strategies of Taiwanese medical institutions, particularly in the context of the New Southbound Policy. Considering the challenges faced by medical institutions and the current government policies, our study aims to analyze expert opinions from the field of medical tourism and to corroborate the findings with existing literature. The goal is to better position the Taiwanese medical tourism service providers for greater results in the future. We hope that this study will inspire more experts to engage in the studies of different aspects of medical tourism in Taiwan, which in turn may shape the development of the industry. This study employs semi-structured in-depth interviews with six experts from the medical tourism field in Taiwan. Their reflections on past challenges, current strategies, and future outlooks from the interviews are coded, compared, and categorized to identify the impact of government policies on the development of medical tourism in Taiwan, the marketing strategies in the post-pandemic era, and the key to achieving the “medical-led commerce” approach in the New Southbound Policy. The findings reveal that while Taiwan’s National Health Insurance and capabilities in treating critical and complex diseases are internationally renowned, the county’s image has yet to catch up within the medical tourism sector. Therefore, marketing and promotion are urgent tasks for the sector. To distinguish Taiwan from its competitors, healthcare providers should offer unique medical services that meet the essential medical treatment needs of international patients. Although developing medical tourism in our current state might not bring significant revenue or economic benefits to Taiwan, it remains necessary for several reasons: it enhances the international image of Taiwan, improves the treatment and care expertise and medical qualities of domestic doctors and their teams, and passes on valuable medical experiences to the next generation of healthcare professionals. Additionally, the New Southbound model of medical service providers and manufacturing industry cooperation represents an opportunity to attract more investment to support the development of the medical and biotech industries, ultimately benefiting the Taiwanese people. This study concludes with recommendations on government policies, overall industry developments, health insurance, accreditations, specialized medical services, marketing strategies and slogans, the target market, and suggestions for future researchers.