Shanghai Eye Clinic Launches Medical Tourism Service

Online, November 28, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Shanghai's longest-running ophthalmology clinic has launched a medical tourism service to promote itself to the city's growing foreign market. The service, called Seeing China 20/20, offers visitors a hassle-free, start-to-finish way of combining a holiday or business trip in China with LASIK eye surgery, a non-invasive procedure with remarkably short recovery times.

According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization, China was visited by over 55 million people last year, making it the world's third most popular destination. "Since the World Expo in Shanghai, we have seen the number of foreign travelers arriving in Shanghai increase substantially. As a result, we have hired more English-speaking staff to handle increased demand in our International Patients Wing", says Managing Director of New Vision Eye Clinic, Dr Michael Gu. "It is only natural to make more people aware of the surgical services we offer, and what we can do to assist them with travel as well."

New Vision Eye Clinic offers competitively priced LASIK performed by highly-experienced surgeons. The clinic was the first in China to perform laser eye surgery commercially in 1996. "Since we first introduced LASIK surgery in China 15 years ago, we have performed nearly 100,000 LASIK procedures, with extremely low complication rates," says Dr Gu.

Earlier this year, the clinic partnered with high-end Shanghai-based travel agency, Classic Travel, to set up Seeing China 20/20 and its website, SeeingChina2020.com. "We decided we should use our experience and skills to allow more people to enjoy affordable but high quality LASIK surgery in Shanghai," says Dr Gu.

The clinic uses a wavefront guided laser for all its LASIK procedures, and also offers the option of blade-free surgery. "Recently we purchased the most advanced Femtosecond-laser system from Alcon Laboratories, a leading ophthalmic medication and equipment company in the US," says Dr Gu. "It creates a blade-free flap in just 6 seconds, which means increased safety and patient comfort."

New Vision Eye Clinic charges RMB15,000 ($2,350) for a wavefront guided LASIK procedure on both eyes, and RMB20,000 ($3,100) for patients who opt for a blade-free procedure with the Femtosecond laser. LASIK surgery at a top tier facility in Shanghai, such as New Vision Eye Clinic, costs half or even a third of what it does in the US, the UK or Australia. "The price difference is primarily due to lower labor costs and higher volume, which all lead to better cost efficiency. Our equipment maintenance costs are very similar to clinics in US. The facility cost is somewhat lower as well," Dr Gu explains.

Dr Gu believes that the lower cost of LASIK in China, combined with surgeons' extensive experience - its leading surgeon has performed over 70,000 procedures to date, with a complication rate below 0.01% - will lead to more foreign visitors undergoing the surgery while on a business trip or a holiday in China.

Clients who opt for a medical tourism package undergo LASIK surgery when they arrive in Shanghai and spend up to two days recovering before setting off on a tailored tour of China. Depending on how they choose to travel, the combined cost of the trip to China and the LASIK surgery can cost less than having LASIK in their home country. "I think that China is the world's focus right now," says Dr Gu, "and we have made it our goal to help people see it with better focus. That inspired us to name the project Seeing China 20/20."