TAIPEI - Taiwan hopes to emulate Hong Kong and the Republic of Korea to become a medical service provider for wealthy mainlanders as cross-Straits individual travel began last month.

Many mainland residents have gone to Hong Kong or the Republic of Korea for medical treatment and beauty services, but Taiwan could be a new option, said Hong Tzu-jen, general manager of Shin Kong Medical Club, in an interview with Xinhua on Friday.

The cost of medical checks in Taiwan is two thirds or even half of that in Hong Kong and Singapore, Hong said.

"And they will not have a language problem in Taiwan as in Korea,"  he said.

Taiwan hospitals had always hoped to attract more clients from the mainland, but it had been impossible before cross-Straits relations eased and direct cross-Straits flights were adopted, he said.

There have been mainlanders going for medical services in Taiwan even when they could only travel in tour packages to the island.

Shin Kong Medical Club, the health check division of Taipei-based Shin Kong Hospital, has received about 700 mainland clients since 2009.

Many of them came to take the PET/CT examination, which checks for cancer, Hong said.

The three-and-half-hour examination is often part of their travel schedule along with sightseeing.

"The PET/CT examination cost in Taiwan is even lower than in the mainland, and patients don't need to wait for two weeks as they do in mainland hospitals,"  Hong said.

According to a survey by the hospital, 90 percent of their mainland clients are satisfied with the service and most impressed by the  comfortable environment in the hospital and the medical staff's courtesy," he said.

The two sides of the Taiwan Strait lifted the ban on mainland tourists to Taiwan in June 2008, but they could only travel in tour packages. Individual travel began on June 28, but the permit only covers residents in Beijing, Shanghai and Xiamen.

As mainland travelers are free to design their own travel schedule in Taiwan, local hospitals expect more of them will come for medical purposes only and choose programs that cost more and require more time.

Hong expects more mainlanders will choose the comprehensive health check package that requires two days.

Shih Chung-liang, director-general of the medical affairs bureau with Taiwan' s health department, told Xinhua that about 10 percent of mainland travelers who have applied for individual trips since June 28 would come solely for medical programs.

"Each of them might spend 30,000 to 50,000 New Taiwan dollars ($1,049 to $1,748) on average," Shih said. "The market could be huge."

A number of travel agencies have been engaged in the medical tour business. Shanghai-based travel agency Shasettour has tried to introduce medical programs to its clients in tour packages and is spending more resources in promoting medical tours.

Lin Yuzhen, general manager of Shasettour, told Xinhua that some individuals travelers have previously visited Taiwan and are thus more likely to do something different than sightseeing.

However, very few mainlanders would seek medical treatment that requires stays of longer than the current 15-day legal stay.

Lee San-kan, deputy superintendent of Taichung Veterans General Hospital, told Xinhua that Taiwan hospitals, with their skills, equipment and services, would attract more mainland clients if travel permit policies were eased further.