Foreigners are increasingly seeking medical help in Berlin clinics
"Of course, compared to the total number of patients in Berlin's 80 clinics – which from January to November last year was 755,185 people – not to mention the overall influx of tourists (about 9 million), 3,500 'medical tourists' seem insignificant," admits the head of Visit Berlin, Burkhard Kieker. "But they leave almost as much money in the capital as all others combined."
These patients arrive with large groups of attendants – families, assistants, security guards, interpreters. And if a classic tourist needs two to three days to see the city and spends an average of 99 euros per day, the entourage of 'medical tourists' lives here while their boss is in the clinic, from 10 days to two weeks, spending an average of 154 euros per person per day. And that does not include the cost of the medical services themselves, where the bill runs into tens of thousands of euros per patient (especially sought-after medical services in fields such as oncology, transplantation, neurosurgery and cardiology).
"These are very wealthy people – sheikhs from, for example, Qatar or Dubai, as well as Russians," continues Kieker. "According to our data, at the Charité clinic alone last year there were about 1,000 Arabs and Russians, which is 20 percent more than in 2010. The number of such patients also increased by almost 10 percent at the German Heart Center. Recently, wealthy patients from Poland, Spain, Italy have also been coming. But there are few of them: the main flow of 'medical tourists' comes from the Arab Emirates and Russia. These people demand luxury, and they get that luxury."
Out of curiosity, I called my acquaintances who are involved in receiving and accommodating 'med tourists' from Russia. Their stories amazed me! Here is just one example.
A certain Russian oligarch, before arriving in 2005 for an examination in Berlin, demanded from the receiving party that he be met at the airport at the airplane steps by a Mercedes of the 2006 model ("I know that you have already released this model," he said) with a driver in livery and necessarily in a top hat. The head physician of the clinic where the oligarch was to be admitted, upon learning how much money he was willing to pay for such a reception, volunteered to meet him personally. And he did not regret it! When he pulled up to the steps and introduced himself to the patient, the latter said approvingly: "You did the right thing by coming for me yourself." And he doubled the fee.
But according to my acquaintances, it is not Russian oligarchs who make up the main contingent of Berlin clinics. Most 'med tourists' from Russia are high-ranking officials. How they pay for treatment here is a separate story (I will only say that it is certainly not from their own pockets: the salary, for example, of a governor of a not particularly economically developed region is 195 thousand rubles a month, or 4,800 euros – for such a pittance, a foreigner in a Berlin hospital would at most get a wart cut out).
The concern Vivantes, which unites 10 capital hospitals, is also interested in the influx of wealthy 'med tourists'. "When in 2009 we invested funds in the construction of two elite clinics in the Mitte and Spandau districts, each for 100 patients, detractors predicted losses for us," recalls the head of the international department of Vivantes, Nizar Maarouf. "They claimed that we would not be able to fill these clinics because of the high cost of daily stays there. But they miscalculated. Last year, about 1,600 foreign patients passed through these clinics. And the waiting list for the next year is almost full."
Also interesting for foreign citizens may be options for treatment in Germany developed by the Association of Medical Institutions German Medical Group. This non-profit organization unites leading clinics and private medical institutions in the southern regions of Germany. The selection of highly qualified specialists allows organizing optimal service for foreign patients directly in university and regional clinics in Germany, without intermediaries.
According to the association Health Capital Berlin, the annual turnover of the capital's medical industry is 14.5 billion euros and has a steady growth trend. However, the economists' optimism is not shared by the president of the Berlin-Brandenburg Academy of Sciences, Günter Stock: "It is impossible to save the German healthcare system at the expense of foreign patients," he warns optimists, calling them "dreamers."