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Raffles Medical to Expand to Osaka


The Nikkei Newspaper reports that Raffles Medical Group will expand to Osaka. The branch will be staffed by English speaking doctors and nurses. Besides foreigners already living in Japan that need medical services in English, RMG plans to cater to the increasing demand in the medical tourism industry.

Medical tourism is a recent term to describe the growing practice of overseas travel to receive medical treatment, often for dental work or cosmetic surgery. Perhaps recognizing this trend, the Japanese government recently created a visa exclusively to receive medical treatment for up to 6 months. The government predicts that by 2020 there will be 430,000 medical tourists and the market will grow into a 550 billion yen industry (about $7 billion USD).

Raffles Medical Group has 73 clinics in Singapore (their home country), 3 medical centers in Hong Kong, and 1 in Shanghai. One of their clinics in Singapore services Japanese-speaking expatriates exclusively. Their new clinic in Osaka will be their first in Japan.

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