Private Medicine in Ukraine

Over the past few years, private medicine in Ukraine has been actively developing. If in 2016 the private sector provided medical services for 13.9 billion UAH, in 2018 - 21.8 billion UAH. Now the positive dynamics remains, and in the future it will only increase.

But not everything is so optimistic. The number of Ukrainians who use the services of private medical clinics is insignificant. At the beginning of 2019, no more than 5% of the local population used such services.

And that begs the question. If today private medicine is not very much in demand among the population of Ukraine, how can we even talk about its positive development? The answer is simple. The basis for the future growth indicators of private operators in the market of medical services - foreign patients who come for treatment from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

In this article we will talk about the main trends in the development of private medicine in Ukraine, as well as talk about the impact of inbound medical tourism on this development.

Among the trends worth mentioning are the following.

Continuous increase in the quality of service

Private medical institutions attract highly qualified personnel, buy modern medical equipment, diagnostic devices for laboratory and instrumental examination. They improve service and living conditions in inpatient wards. This is due to competition between participants of the private medical services market. In the race for "their" patient, clinics are constantly improving their efficiency.

Scaling up players in the private medical services market

One of the main tendencies of the last years is the enlargement of clinics by widening their profile and format. Many large operators open new branches, increase the list of services and attract a large number of narrow specialists in different fields. In addition to consultations, they introduce outpatient treatment, open departments with operating rooms and ambulance services.

Thus, large clinics, such as the medical network "Dobrobut", today offer the fullest range of services for the whole family, from consultations with a therapist to the most complex surgical operations.

Special mention should be made of dentistry - this is one of the most developing areas in private medicine. Clinics are turning into large dental centers, where patients can receive all kinds of services, from teeth whitening to maxillofacial surgery.

Emergence of new players in the private medical services market

The number of players in the private medical services market continues to grow. They tend to be concentrated in large cities. As of 2018, more than 48% of clinics were located in Kiev, 11% in Kharkiv, 10% in Dnipro, 7% in Odessa and 6% in Lviv. It is to these cities that foreigners come for treatment. At the same time the opening of new medical centers in other cities of Ukraine is demanded and expected primarily by the local population, which is ready to pay money for better quality of medical services.

As for the distribution by specialty, in 2018-2019. 27% of clinics were private general medical institutions, 23% of clinics were diagnostics, 15% provided medical services, 12% were reproductive medicine and about 6% were oncology.

The focus on medical tourism

The rapid development of private medicine gave an impetus to the development of inbound medical tourism. Many private clinics are 80% focused on foreign patients. The main fields of interest for inbound medical tourists are dentistry, reproductive medicine, plastic surgery, stem cell treatment, cardiology, and oncology.

A number of clinics work exclusively with foreigners, creating communications through specialized agencies. It is both about treating foreign citizens and serving members of the Ukrainian diaspora.

Loyal pricing policy for inbound medical tourists

As mentioned above, only 5% of the local population uses the services of private clinics. One reason is the high cost of such services. At the same time, for foreign citizens who annually come to Ukraine for treatment (in 2019 their number approached 100 thousand), Ukrainian prices are more than affordable. On average, they are three times lower than prices in Western clinics. And if you compare prices in certain areas of medicine, such as dentistry, the cost of Ukrainian dentists is 5-10 times lower than American. Here is a simple example. An initial consultation with a dentist in Ukraine costs $20, while in the US it costs $200.

Among the leaders of the private medical services market, which actively serve foreign patients, are the following clinics in Kiev: Nadiya Reproductive Medicine Clinic, Institute of Cell Therapy, Spizhenko Cancer Clinic, Israeli Lisod Oncology Hospital, and clinics located in Kharkiv: Academician Grishchenko Reproductive Medicine Clinic and International Medical Center of Ophthalmology "Oftalmyka".

Conclusions

In any state, one of the main factors delaying the development of private medicine market - it is the financial well-being of the population. Exactly for this reason private medicine in Ukraine is focused on foreign patients and further development of inbound medical tourism. Who benefits from this situation? Patients, both newcomers and locals. After all, they receive medical services of Western quality at affordable prices.