How to perform a medical tourism Conference ...

The Autumn is the season of Conference, and it seems that medical tourism is becoming the most talked about it in the Conference platform. Three years ago, there was little interest in this area, but in 2008, it seems that every company events and Association jumped on the bandwagon Conference.

In recent weeks, I watched the World Congress of health tourism in San Francisco, the Conference of health tourism development in Vienna, the health tourism show in London, the global health Conference in Dubai and spoken on medical tourism for a UK NHS management meeting and Convention Healthcare Cerner in Kansas. My colleague Philip Archbold spoke during the Indian medical tourism Congress in Chennai. Coming ...I'm approaching international travel Conference in Korea and speak at a meeting of the Council of health promotion Cyprus.

Then I became a bit of a "medical tourism Conference groupie ....

But he asks the question: do we need all these events, and they are really worth?

In my previous company, one of the main activities was event planning and management. many of these events were within the health sector. So I have some knowledge about what makes a good event and what can go wrong. Being an attendee/speaker/delegated these events medical tourism has been an eye opener. Frankly, compared to other industries most of them aren't delivering goods.

Where he's wrong?

Here are my top ten recommendations for event organizers: medical tourism

1. set some goals. ...

Most medical tourism events I've attended seems to have some sort of vague objective of "Let's make a lot of people together to" solve some problems "and facilitate some networks (and we'll make a lot of money, while we do it. ..).

2 ...., and measure your success!

If you do not have SMART objectives, you can't measure its success. Sending a postback event search "what do you think of the Conference?" is the usual cop out this respeitomas what's really measure? Most medical tourism conferences don't even bother with this most basic measuring tools.

3. plan the schedule

The current approach seems to be mainly in the sense of "we get the word out". Why not plan a schedule and then identify who would be best to cover specific topics? Let's have some speakers from outside the medical tourism fraternity that can give a different perspective!

4. buy professional specialization

If events are not its expertise central, buy some expert help. Get a professional organizer of events to plan, sell and run the Conference, the medical tourism Association did a great job to get numbers for the San Francisco Congress, but in terms of structure, content and organization.

5. abolish the all-day session

Different people have different information needs. The medical tourism industry is a cauldron of suppliers, buyers, facilitators, insurance companies, etc. Run sessions that address key issues for targeted groups of delegates or specific workshops, minors. Start the day with a lively, thought-provoking keynote presentation then breaks the audience into smaller sessions. The Convention Healthcare Cerner has cracked this one. A lecture by encouraging every day followed by 300 more targeted workshops for 5000 more participants.

6. Fire some speakers

I saw good, bad and just plain horrible this year. My biggest complaint? Speakers who gave a clear and very specific brief ... and then ignore it completely, often doing a presentation "this is what we do in XXXX we wonderful". All speakers are guilty of promoting their own interests and business. That's part of why they are there and what should be expected. But he shouldn't make until 100% of your presentation. If you want me names, I'll send email
them for you ....

7. prohibit the presentation of "target"

The platform of the Conference is not the place to run a 30 minute "propaganda" .... "my country/destination/hospital/company has the" highest quality healthcare "," State of the art technology "etc etc

8. organising

If you're going to try to perform some structured networks or sessions of "buyer meets seller", plan it correctly, make sure the right people and run it as a clock. Take a look at other industries and see how they do it.

9. maintain time

If there's one thing you should do a Conference, especially when it is based on parallel sessions runs on time. If speakers to long-term, turn off the microphone. Dubai could learn a thing or two here.

10. make it fun!

Cheer you! We are human beings. We're out of our regular work for a few days. We enjoy ourselves. Someone please do something different ....!

Finally, a medical tourism Conference not to miss in 2009. the II European Congress on health tourism in Budapest. Why? Under the guidance of a tourism specialist, Dr Uwe Klein, maybe this one will hit the mark?

The smoke and mirrors of medical tourism

When is a facilitator of medical tourism a medical travel agent?
According to our research medical tourism in 2008, about one third of the United Kingdom medical tourists make arrangements through a facilitator of medical tourism. In some countries, such facilitators represent a greater portion of the market and its influence is growing. The concern of many is the uncontrolled growth of the sector and the lack of regulation within it.

Let's say I want to start a business facilitation of medical tourism. It's easy?

What do I need?

I need a name. I'll call my business "Magical Medical travel". I need a phone. I have one of those. I need an Internet connection. I have one of those. I need a Web site to generate some patients. I can create something that will do the work, using a cheap as 1 & 1 Web hosting. I need some hospitals and clinics abroad who are willing to pay me a Commission if I send patients to them. I am sure that I can find some of them. I think I need to find someone in the country of destination that can take care of patients while they are there. ... and maybe some documents that I can get the patient to sign. Oh, and it might be a good idea to invent some testimonies of patients ... You must be a qualified doctor? Well, I am known as Dr Pollard on various internet forums, and got some drpollard @ email addresses, so that should be fine. Cash flow. Well, if I take patients ' money up front and then pay final treatment providers, which is not a problem. I'll buy some advertising online and let him some months before paying the Bill. I'll pay a few hundred pounds to join one of travel medicine associations; that will give me some credibility.

It is very easy really? And that's how has emerged some medical tourism facilitators (not all!). Medical tourism is a very fragmented market and there is a very wide range of facilitators in the business.

Which brings me back to the title of this blog: "When is a facilitator of medical tourism travel agent a doctor?"

In the United Kingdom and in Europe, which is really quite an important issue. Let's expand the question ...

"What is the difference between a medical tourism facilitator who sells a package of travel, accommodation and treatment of a consumer and a regular travel agent who sells an consumers a suite of accommodation, travel and activities related holidays?".

In the United Kingdom, activities of travel agencies are highly regulated. For example, "package travel, package holidays and package Tours regulations" were introduced to protect consumers against unscrupulous travel agents. A package is defined as "pre-arranged combination of at least two of the following components-transport, accommodation and other tourist services".

Thus, it is a facilitator of medical tourism a travel agent? Some would say ... Yes!

And if so, come from package travel regulations and my new business facilitation, Magical Travels doctor may have some problems. This means that my company will be monitored:

What can I say in my site or brochure. The nature of any contracts that I do. The information that you provide to the consumer. Price changes. Safety in case of insolvency. IE. You must be connected.

Regarding the latter, when someone books a holiday in the United Kingdom, many will look to see if the ABTA travel company (Association of British Travel Agents) adherent. This means that the company put a link to an institution authorised on the basis of its turnover. The minimum is £ 20.000 loop.

Even if you pay the connection, you cannot join ABTA, unless you comply with the code of conduct and random inspection.

Let's compare this with the business of travel medicine, an industry that was once described last year by Avery Comarow, as "the Wild West of Medical Care Abroad".

Anyone can set up as a travel agent/facilitator of doctor. There is no regulation. There is no compulsory code of conduct. Anyone can join one of the associations as MTA or TAG E RAG. There is no necessary link.

So that the industry was do to fix the problem?

In the perfect world, we need an ABTA travel medical world-adequately perform a true representative of the Board, that responds to their accession, which publishes an annual report and financial statements, which only accepts Members that meet clearly defined criteria, which inspects Member facilities at random and which requires all members to bring a significant title for the protection of medical travellers.

Likely?

I doubt it.

What is more likely ...

Grows the medical travel, especially on a background of Government controlled by initiatives such as the European directive on Cross Border Healthcare, Governments will begin to regulate medical travel facilitators and agents. Bodies like the ABTA in United Kingdom and similar organizations in other countries likely to favor and support this.

"What makes a medical travel agent any different and exempt from the Regulation of?", they say.

Predict future demand of medical tourism

The latest data on hospital activity in the UK National Health Service provide a useful indicator of where future demand of medical tourism can lie. One of the advantages of the system of public health of the United Kingdom is that with a provider .... the NHS and a paying .... the NHS means that can be captured a massive amount of meaningful data on the State of health of the country, on the demand for health services and on how is changing the profile of population health

How many countries developed with health systems established, the United Kingdom faces the challenge of meeting the needs of an ageing population at a time when there is enormous pressure to reduce or put a hold on public spending and indeed reduce expenditure on health services. All UK hospitals collect data in the same way (well, almost ...) and the data are collected centrally by the NHS.

The following data are drawn from the recent report "Hospital Episode statistics: admitted Patient Care – England 2009/10", published by the NHS information centre.

Take a look at how the demand for NHS hospital services has changed over the past ten years. First let's look at the age profile of patients admitted to hospitals from UK:

In 2009/10 were:

stays in hospital 16,806, 200, an increase of 38 percent in 1999/2000. 1,939 .190 stays for patients aged 0 to 14. an increase of 15 per cent in 1999/2000. 7,333 Mameli 47 stays for patients aged 55 to 59. an increase of 29 percent in 1999/2000. 3,642,940 stays for patients aged 60 to 74. an increase of 48 percent in 1999/2000. 3,837,990 is for patients aged 75 and more, an increase of 66 percent in 1999/2000.

We are living longer, and we're put incredible pressure on hospital services. The average age of the patients has increased from 46 to 51. Fortunately for the NHS, 38% increase in patient numbers was to some extent offset by efficiency – average duration of hospital stay fell 28 percent of 19. 8 days for 5. 6 days.

If you are targeting countries to medical tourism companies, you need to understand the health problems that affect the country's population and more than stretching their health services now or in the future.

In the United Kingdom during the past ten years:

Admissions for diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (including conditions such as arthritis, joint and back problems) have grown more rapidly than any other group of Diagnostics; at 82 percent (from 618.660 admissions in 1999/2000 and 1,126,010 in 2009/10). The number of hospitalizations due to obesity increased in 972 percent! The number of admissions entirely because of alcohol increased by 54 per cent.

So. .. .. If you're in the business of medical tourism and you are targeting the United Kingdom or other Western markets and developed, and you're working on your plan five years ....

.... give some thought to where the future demand for medical tourism is likely to come and tailor your offer as a result of service.

If you want to read in detail the report, you can view a full version of the report here.

Choice of patients in medical tourism ...Let's listen to the voice of the patient.

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The recent Medical Tourism Climate Survey conducted by IMTJ for the European Medical Travel Conference 2010 provided an interesting insight into the current state of the industry and how people in the industry are thinking about medical tourism. The survey analyzed the views of over 250 people involved in medical tourism from 55 countries. One particular question that drew my attention was one that asked people in the industry about the factors that influence patient choice. The question was this:

"What factors do you think are important to medical tourists when they choose a healthcare facility or treatment provider abroad?"

Expertise and qualifications of the doctor/dentist ranked first. Comments and ratings by other patients ranked second.

It's the high ranking of "patient opinion" that surprised me, given the industry's apparent Roosevelt to "buy in" to the concept of patient ratings and reviews. Hospitals worldwide are investing large sums of money in accreditation and quality standards, sometimes as a marketing tool to attract patients and referrers. But very few patients have any idea what JCI accreditation means, or how this can help them to compare quality at different hospitals.

So, how are patients comparing competing destinations and healthcare providers?

The patients evolve into healthcare consumers, they are considering the purchase of healthcare in much the same way that they consider the purchase of any consumer good or service. And medical tourists are no different.

Let's consider the tourism or travel element of medical tourism and medical travel. When consumers are booking a holiday or a hotel, what do they do and where do they go to gather information that will guide their choice. To determine price and availability they visit travel and holiday portals online. Sites such as lastminute.com and Expedia attract massive volumes of traffic. And where do these consumers go to gather "opinion" about quality and services at their destination or hotel. Travel consumers want to hear from "people like me" before they buy .... which is why TripAdvisor has become one of the busiest web sites in the travel sector.

So, what are the options for medical tourists who want to hear from "people like me" before they buy? Many patients whether they are travelling patients or "stay at home" patients make extensive use of patient forums before they make a decision on treatment at home or abroad. Infertility treatment abroad is a good example. Take a look at the Fertility Treatment Abroad section of the FertilityZone web site, and some of the discussions that take place around the services provided by various IVF and infertility clinics abroad:

If you were a patient seeking infertility treatment abroad what would influence your decision more ...

The accreditation status of the clinic? The qualifications of the doctor?

I'm willing to bet that the views of other patients .... "consumer opinion" would be the major influence on your decision. (Obviously, for IVF treatment, patients would also be looking at outcome date/fertilisation rates published by the clinic). This seems to be the conclusion reached by the respondents in the IMTJ Medical Tourism Climate Survey.

So. .. why hasnt the medical tourism sector bought into patient ratings and reviews?

At Treatment Abroad, we were the first to enable medical tourists to rate and review overseas hospitals and clinics. At Medical Tourism Ratings and Reviews, patients can score these clinics and post their comments about the service and treatment received. To enable this, we invest heavily in Bazaarvoice, the world leaders in online rating systems to manage our new service. They make sure that only valid reviews make it on to our medical tourism reviews site. The moderators are well educated, trained and tested to ensure only appropriate user-generated content gets posted. Nevertheless, we are disappointed in the adoption of this reviews system by our clients.

When we promote the reviews system direct to patients and people who have enquired about treatment abroad, we get excellent take up. Patients are keen to share their experiences and benefit from other patients ' experiences. Similarly, some of our clients see the benefit of allowing patients to rate and review their services and actively encourage their past patients to visit the site and post a review. The system is free. It doesn't cost the client a penny extra to participate. But many of our clients are less enthusiastic about patient reviews.

Why is there Roosevelt to encourage patient reviews for medical tourism?

The most common objection from clients is that they are worried about negative reviews. What happens if the patient actually says something that they don't like?

Well, all of the hotels and holiday providers on Trip Adviser know, a negative review may affect their business negatively. Or will it?

On Medical Tourism Ratings and Reviews, we publish negative patient reviews, as long as they are not profane or violate other rules of moderation, such as raising litigation or malpractice issues.

Negative reviews are valuable patient

Negative reviews are of value to the healthcare provider and to healthcare consumers. Negative reviews show credibility – if there are nothing but 5-star reviews for your services, healthcare consumers get suspicious about the authenticity of the content.

Negative reviews also give objective feedback and help healthcare providers uncover blind spots. Perhaps there was a breakdown in the process or poor communication with the patient, or some misinformation in the description of your services on your website. Direct feedback from your patients is the most transparent way to uncover these issues and get them solved quickly.

When we publish a negative review on Medical Tourism Ratings and Reviews, we give the client the chance to respond – to explain what went wrong and to say what they are doing to put things right. Negative reviews which we reject and do not publish (but we do pass to clients) are also incredibly valuable. When patients are upset with your service or their treatment, they sometimes get angry, which can cause them to violate the terms of our review, use profanity, threaten legal action or go off on a tangent – all things that can lead us to reject the review.

Don't ignore negative patient reviews

It's important for healthcare providers not to ignore this information, because if you can uncover and solve a legitimate problem, and complete the circle, it makes it less likely that the patient will spread their rancour to blogs, forums, and other places where you are unable to see, control or address their comments .it's important for healthcare providers to review all negative content, so they can uncover service or system improvements to improve future patient interactions.

The message ... It's time for medical tourism providers to start actively encouraging patients to rate and review their services and to start listening to what patients have to say. Accept that sometimes things go wrong, that patients will be unhappy and will want to tell the world.

You may learn more from getting something wrong than you do from getting something right.

Medical tourism ratings and reviews

Has been a couple of months since we launched the desk doctor ratings and reviews. He met with a response variable medical tourism industry and patients themselves.

Medical tourism ratings and reviews on treatment abroad allows patients to provide feedback about your experience of traveling for treatment abroad. The ratings system and opinions is an integral part of our business philosophy of "helping patients make the right choice." It runs through Bazaarvoice, world leading U.S. based on reviews of systems that operate similar systems for companies such as Dell, Sears, Argos and many others.

When a patient presents a review of an agency of medical tourism, a hospital or a clinic, the revision is marked by the team of reviews to ensure that:

The review is valid comment, honest and fair. There is a spurious revision that has been "invented" by a health care provider to promote its facilities or damage the reputation of a competitor. The review does not contain profanity or inappropriate content. The revision does not raise issues of legal liability.

Health care providers and agencies are the opportunity to answer any negative comments.

So. .. What do providers think ratings and reviews of health care?
Is interesting…. medical tourism agencies and health care providers that are "marketing oriented" adopted the approach with enthusiasm. See it as a highly attractive way of generating "word of mouth ' recommendation of its services and do not cost a dime.

Companies like beautiful tours in South Africa and Europe vital in Hungary are actively encouraging your patients to review their services:

Others are less enthusastic .... and I don't know why! Is because they are afraid of patients posting negative comments about your experience? Is because they simply are not connected to the power of "word of mouth" and how consumers whiuch are using the Web to influence the purchase of products and services?

The experience of other sectors shows that:

63% of consumers are more likely to purchase a vendor, if you have ratings and reviews. 77% of online shoppers use reviews and ratings when buying. 82% of people who read reviews said that their purchasing decisions have been directly influenced by those reviews.

Asking people to register their medical tourism experiences should encourage more patients to travel for treatment abroad. And medical tourism, ratings and reviews should help health care providers to tune the "voice of the patient".

So. .. what patients think that?
They love! Feedback about your experiences of medical tourism is overwhelmingly positive, and it's helping to reassure other patients who are considering traveling doctors. Patients are health consumers; typical consumer behavior and is beginning to influence the way they buy health care. If can rate and review your hotel or vacation experience at TripAdvisor .... why not do the same for the medical course?

NHS Patient Choice-lessons for medical tourism

In the United Kingdom, "patient choice" is one of the driving forces in the area of health. Since April 2008, choice of patients was extended in the United Kingdom. Patients can choose which are treated in hospital .... anywhere in the country. Patients can choose the time of his appointment of hospital. In some cases, patients can choose individual consultant who see. The NHS Choices website lists information about all NHS hospitals, such as its MRSA rates, facilities and ratings and feedback by patients means that patients can make an informed choice.

The NHS Choose and Book site allows people to make their choices.
In reality, the initiative of choice for patients was a bit of a disappointment. One problem is that there are actually aware patients that they have a choice. The report of the national patient Choice survey, England-December 2008 examined patient acceptance of choice so far.

The main conclusions:

The percentage of patients, remembering to be offered a choice of hospital for your first outpatient appointment was 46% in December 2008, the same as in September, but above 30% in the first search (May/June 2006) 50% of patients were aware before they visited your GP that they had a choice of hospitals for your first appointment, up 48% in September and 29% in May/June 2006 survey.

The factors influencing the choice

Hospital Cleaning and low infection rates were given in most cases (in 74% of patients) as an important factor in choosing a hospital. The other five are the quality of care (given by 64% of patients), waiting periods (63%), the friendliness of the staff (57%), the reputation of the Hospital (55%) and location or transport considerations (54%).

So what medical tourism companies learn from this?

If UK patients may compare Hospitals NHS MRSA rates, rates of infection post operative and results, because they can't make it to hospitals abroad? Or maybe, because it is difficult if not impossible, to find a hospital medical treatment of tourists who publishs such data or make available for free on your site?

Many people in the United Kingdom are entitled under EU law to travel abroad for treatment. The EU directive establishes a framework around this. but the fundamental right of free movement already exists. So why aren't people taking advantage of this?

They don't know that they are entitled. They do not "rely" hospitals abroad. They would prefer to wait for treatment on the NHS in your local area.

Awareness of the options of treatment abroad can be generated by the providers themselves. One of the best tools to consider is the use of the stories of patients to create local press coverage and thereby raise awareness. See this story on Scottish. Let's see more of them!

Light at the end of the tunnel of medical tourism?

After my desabafos on "perspectives for medical tourism in 2010," I am pleased to say that I have received some positive feedback (always a good thing .... I'll keep on blogging!). And some assurance that I'm not alone in my point of view of the world medical tourism.

In particular, one of the long established medical tourism facilitators told me "as he was" in 2009 and how they think he could be in 2010. It's refreshing to hear someone being open and upfront about their experiences in medical tourism business and the challenges facing people in business.

I'd like to share some of these comments with other people of the world medical tourism. Here's what he was really like in 2009 to the business of a medical tourism, a business that is well established, well executed, and is not a shoe "a man and his dog". I'll respect your confidentiality and not the name of the undertaking concerned.

The view on the market
Here is our medical tourism facilitator had to say about 2009:

"Having dabbled in elective surgery market and came to the same conclusions as you .... that continue to this sector which would need to consolidate and concentrate on niche or a little more specialised sectors. Otherwise, we're finding it become a "Jack of all trades and master of none".

Last year was a very bad year. We were very busy with requests for information, but our conversion rate was disappointing and for those who convert, average spending was down. We put the conversion issues down to a 50/50 mixture of:

Recession-people don't pass, or when they are traveling for treatment, they are spending less. Competition-it seems that in the past 18 months that all people in Europe, with a fourth vague and who knows a dentist, jumped on the bandwagon of medical tourism.

Another factor that helped isn't the pound sterling against other currencies, especially the euro; This meant a 20% increase in costs and prices. This only apply to the cost of treatment but stay of patients while they are away. (Hotel rates are more expensive, eating out is more expensive etc). The effect has been significant. Our patient numbers fell by 30% in 2009 and the average spend per patient decreased by 25%. "

Thus, a difficult time for this business of medical tourism. But is not exclusive. Some dental clinics in Europe have been related to similar experiences. An implant Center in Budapest reported numbers of patients abroad down by over 20% and 25% similar fall on average spend per patient.

These experiences reflect the reality of medical tourism business in a recession?

Lies, damn lies and statistics?
The United Kingdom is a country where we can count things. We have a National Institute of statistics and employing about 4000 civil servants who count things ... including medical travelers. In treatment abroad, we can do our part to keep public employees in jobs, buying the data they produce – more specifically, the international Passenger Survey (IPS), a survey of a random sample of passengers entering and leaving the United Kingdom by air, sea or the channel tunnel. IPS attempts to identify the number of people traveling both inside and outside the United Kingdom United Kingdom where the main reason for the trip is the medical treatment (unlike business or vacation).

Now ... you need to take these statistics with a pinch of salt too large. Statistics contain statistical errors and the smaller the sample, the greater the risk of error.

Here is a graph of data showing medical travellers IPS of United Kingdom emerged from 2002 to 2009 (projected third quarter statistics). The sample size is small-these data about 50 to 100 the number of real travellers interviewed in each quarter, who stated that their main reason for the trip was a doctor. Thus, there is space for large variations in data!

But, it may well be that a reflection of the actual medical tourism trends in the UK and for 2009, in fact, it may reflect the experiences of many on the market that saw the number of tourists doctors in decline over the past 18 months or so, since the credit crunch hit.

Light at the end of the tunnel?
Our medical tourism facilitator cited above has a more positive outlook for the future:

"We have seen an increase in numbers of reservation of Dentistry in 2010. January is already up 100% in January 2009 (and almost the same number as in 2008, so something is starting to change.

With a good economic news on the horizon in the United Kingdom, we may be seeing an increase in consumer confidence. House prices increase and saw a return to economic growth, although not as good as many would have expected. Let's wait to see what the effect can be about unemployment. But, like many industries, medical tourism follows the trends of economy as a whole. Medical tourism is not immune to recession and certainly not thrives on it.

The way forward focus and think niche
Back to our facilitator of medical tourism, which is planning strategy for 2010:

"Our progress for 2010 will expand further dentistry and focus more on cosmetic surgery. We had taken a step in plastic surgery in 2009 due to the difficult climate and similar to your points (Keith Pollard) on offer too, we recognize that rather than being a "Jack of all trades ....", we need to have a separate Department. Having the same team alternating between the two products (Dentistry and cosmetic surgery) actually works. "

And our medical tourism facilitator concludes with a message to everyone in the industry:

"Totally agree with the conclusions of the article and recognize that this medical tourism industry is not as simple and as great as people have done. Only companies that maintain the adaptation and recognize the importance of focus and having the right resources to manage a specific sector of the industry will survive or commercially viable. "

Medical tourism ... lessons from the California gold rush

In 1848, gold was discovered in California by John Sutter, a German immigrant. Find news spread rapidly and thousands arrived in search of their fortune. Prospectors lighthouses came through the United States, Hawaii, Mexico, Chile, Peru and China. Had begun to the California gold rush. Output of California gold rose from $ 5 million in 1848, $ 40 million in 1849 and $ 55 million in 1851. But there wasn't enough gold to go around .... only a minority of garimpeiros made much money of California Gold Rush ... the best equipped and better informed, better organised and resourced.

Others also made money. salon owners (and holders of brothel!) that kept the Prospectors entertained earned a profit healthy, and so did entrepreneurs and storeowners who provided the material and tools that Surveyors needed (often the exorbitant prices).

There are some similarities and some lessons here for those involved in the gold rush of medical tourism?

The discovery of gold of medical tourism ....
While the concept of traveling for treatment has been around for centuries, was probably around 2005 when the gold rush medical tourism took off. He still continues until today and shows little sign of abating. News appeared around the world about an outbreak in medical tourism – patients travelling to save money on treatment costs (as opposed to seeking medical services and the quality of health care that was not available in your country). The first prospectors lighthouses appeared-agents and medical tourism facilitators and overseas of hospitals and clinics, seeking their fortune in the world of medical tourism.

Word spreads, prospectors lighthouses chase the dream of gold of medical tourism ....
The tales of medical tourism gold began to multiply. Estimates of the number of tourists doctors were in hundreds of thousands, millions and then tens of millions. Some medical tourism prospectors lighthouses questioned the validity of these claims of discovery of a rich vein of income or whether it was sustainable.

Involved the early gold rush exaggerated their successes, claiming that is massive (for example, "a million tourists doctors to ....), encouraging others to join agitation. Health care providers throughout the world entered the race-Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, Jordan, the Philippines, Tunisia, Turkey, Eastern Europe, many of them supported by their advice desk, health departments and governmental initiatives that saw medical tourism as a rich source of foreign exchange.

... .without thinking or understand what is really involved
New entrants chased the dream without really thinking through your strategy and approach to the market. Some were poorly equipped to market; Some have entered the market without realizing what it might cost to be successful; Some were looking for gold medical tourism in place completely wrong!

A community of medical tourism develops prospectors lighthouses
As the number of medical tourism grew, other prospectors lighthouses (guardians saloon) arrived quickly to profit from this growing community and storeowners and tool vendors appear guide the Surveyors in their quest for gold.

Salon owners arrived in the form of associations and medical tourism conferences that earn their money from membership fees and delegate rates. They provided a place where Prospectors could get together, but they also built on the hype, recount stories of the most recent discoveries and attract more people to the gold rush of medical tourism. Naturally, the more people in the gold rush, the more people there are in the saloon and more money there must be made by the owner of Salon.

Entrepreneurs and storeowners also arrived on the scene to provide the tools that the Surveyors needed the goldmine of medical tourism. Sites like our own (treatment Abroad) that connect patients with suppliers, systems companies like health Travel Technologies and e-Medsol that provide systems to manage patients and consultancies, strategists and advisors as Irving Stackpole and Vivek Shukla which help gold Prospectors find medical tourism came to exist. Are these entrepreneurs and owners of shops (including my own treatment Abroad "shop") leveraging prospectors lighthouses uninformed, providing products and services of poor quality and overloads for them. Or are they providing wisely quoted services and much needed tools that will bring long-term success for those who use them wisely? Only time will tell .... and it will be the success of the prospectors lighthouses that determine our success.

Gold runs out ... or is it more difficult to find and mines
As in the California gold rush, the reality was unable to meet the expectations of many prospectors. Clinics, hospitals and facilitators are finding it harder to acquire patients and there is a lot of competition out there. However, for many continues the mentality of gold rush.

After the gold rush?
So what is the likely outcome of all this? What can we expect in the next step of the gold rush of medical tourism? In my next blog post, I'll give some thought that will find gold and how will the industry to develop.

Wales .... the latest medical tourism destination for patients from the United States?

A recent news on CNN attracted my interest when presented a patient U.S. that traveled to Wales (United Kingdom) for breast surgery to save money. It was titled "' I can't afford surgery in the United States, ' says bargain shopper". Is an interesting story that shows how the media can sometimes put a viewpoint on a story to create news, but it does highlight some real opportunities for suppliers of medical tourism.

The story (see CNN video) tells us about Godfrey Davies, an American, who needed surgery of sinusitis. He tells how he "planned on a mission to find a surgeon accessible" and was shocked by the costs that he was going to incur in the United States. The story was picked up by a multitude of other web sites that took it at face value.

If you see the video, you get an impression. If you dig a little deeper, you really begin to understand the full story and where this patient fits within medical tourism market.

As a Brit, I found a bit strange when I viewed the video. My first impression? Here is a story about a guy American travel all the way to the Wales for surgery .... Why would he do this? And why Wales? But then I dug deeper. He was indeed a story about someone who started life as a "dude Welsh", became a guy "American" and went home for an operation. There is a track on your behalf (Davies ... is a Welsh surname) and your accent a little weird (is a Welsh accent). Godfrey comes from Wales. Is where your family lives. It is a United Kingdom and bearer of a U.S. passport. He married an American and became a u.s. citizen in 2002. He didn't have health insurance in the United States because he believes that the prize of $ 1000 per month in quotation marks is very large. He says that "with the relief and health, I would have to pay more in more than three and a half months than back home to Wales."

So what medical tourism companies learn from this story?

Firstly, don't take News at their nominal value. Sometimes there is a logic behind a news story that the media does not expose always fully. Can do less interesting news. In this case, it is understandable that a weight (as opposed to an American) can choose the Wales as a medical tourism destination.

Secondly, it highlights that one of the key factors in why people Select medical tourism destinations. Godfrey Davies chose Wales because it is an excellent game cultural, there is no problem of language for him and he feels 100% safe there. And it's cheap!

Godfrey went to the hospital in Bancyfelin Werndale IMC, Carmarthenshire. Is part of BMI Healthcare, a leading provider of independent healthcare with almost seventy hospitals and clinics throughout the country. To give another example, I myself had a total knee replacement in a hospital healthcare BMI near London, BMI Clementine Churchill Hospital. How much would it cost for the replacement of the knee in an American hospital? $ 50000. How much it cost me in the United Kingdom? £ 10000 all-in ($ 15000). The price of United Kingdom is cheaper than Korea ($ 17.800) and not far prices that Americans pay in countries such as Thailand ($ 12000) and Singapore ($ 10.800). Taking into account the cultural and language match and the lowest cost of travel, if you were an American destination would you choose?

Thirdly, it is a great example of the kind of American tourists doctors that some companies of medical tourism should be target .... people from their own country. Thus, the opportunity for a greater and more realistic u.s. Korea medical tourism providers based is more likely to be Korean Americans. Target the easy victory, if you want to succeed.

Fourthly, it supports the argument that the United Kingdom may actually be a medical attractive tourism destination for patients of the United States. Despite the different accent, there is no language barrier! There is a public health system that delivers excellent results. And there is a system of private hospital which already offers treatment for patients from all over the world who travel to the United Kingdom for access to quality health care and expertise. And. .... as demonstrated Godfrey Davies, you can save a huge amount of money on UK prices.

As the cost of special treatment in the United Kingdom?

In addition to treatment abroad, also we are UK several health information sites. One is Private Healthcare UK. He will tell you everything you need to know about the particular treatment in the United Kingdom.

If you want to know which particular treatment costs UK go to private hospital treatment-what does it cost? and select an operation.

And if you're an American (or weight) and intends to follow in the footsteps of Godfrey Davies, you can obtain a quotation for UK surgery by filling in the enquiry form for the treatment of private hospital, UK.

Marketing, recession of medical tourism

There are conflicting opinions about how the global financial crisis is affecting medical tourism. The views expressed by such organizations as the medical tourism association is the "....with the economy and the credit crisis, more people are waking up and paying attention (medical tourism). "

The harsh reality can be a little different. BusinessWeek reports that "... Read some medical tourism hotspots, formerly flourishing hospitals are seeing empty beds. " The MD of Parkway hospitals in Singapore, "hopes that the numbers of foreign patients to stabilize after dropping 10 per cent".

If the credit crisis encourages more people to consider that if travelling abroad for treatment remains to be seen. People are short of money, you can't lend and are delaying expenses with purchase of housing, cars and other large expenses. Healthcare is not immune to this. Although the last global recession, was less affected, the more likely it is that people who may have considered medical tourism may decide to postpone your expenses.

Areas most affected are those "non-urgent", discretionary treatments such as cosmetic surgery. In countries where medical tourism is influenced by waiting lists, patients can decide endure for free treatment on your own, instead of going for the treatment of paid for immediately available elsewhere. In the US, the story might be different, as the financial crisis puts pressure on health insurers and employers to find ways to cut growing health care costs.

The simple answer is that nobody knows yet how the financial crisis will affect medical tourism. But it is better to be prepared.

So, here are our recommendations for marketing in a recession medical tourism (... these and they also will pay all, if there is an increase of. follow).

And there are no excuses to give treatment services abroad a plug!

1. its activities to target
There are many hospitals, clinics and medical tourism operators out there that do not have a clearly defined service strategy. Which service I am selling, in which markets and what demographic data? Now is the time to think this through and clearly identify your niche market.

2. Maximize the return on marketing investment.
Measure the return on investment across all marketing activities. And invest in those that generate results:

Investing on the Web, because it is the only area of expenditure, where you can measure the profitability and easily track your marketing budget. Use (PR). Is a low-cost manner and effectively promote their services to patients in other countries. (Become a client of treatment abroad and we'll give you our free guide to generate coverage of PR)! Take advantage of free web promotion. Send your news articles for treatment Abroad, (is a feed for medical tourism – your news News Google approved will get indexed by Google in time, if published).

3. improve your conversion rate
Web surveys and Turn more prospects into paying patients and customers. If somebody bothered to complete an enquiry form for your service, then you probably did the same for some of its competitors. Respond faster and better respond with a reply informative, personalized and high quality. (Become a client of treatment abroad and we'll give you our free guide to managing IP)!

4. Generate referral business
Passed patients are one of the best sources of future patients. 20% of tourists who travel to medical treatment have been recommended by a friend or relative.

Give a voucher discount "recommend a friend" that their patients passed can give a friend or relative. Generate word of mouth recommendations, encourage patients to contribute to reviews sites such as medical tourism Ratings and analysis.

5. be brave!
Don't cut your marketing budget. In a recession, the strong survive. Use the opportunity to take market share from competitors who are less well equipped and poorly prepared to deal with a recession.

Do not cut their prices because you think it will bring you more business. Think about where you can add value to your service offering to give yourself a competitive advantage and focus on customer care and quality of service.

Placed above into practice. Then, if we see an increase or decrease sharply .... you'll be on the winning side!

How many medical tourists exist?

There has always been speculation about the true number of medical tourists traveling in the United Kingdom for treatment abroad.

We've just completed the first ever desk doctor search providers and came up with some interesting data about medical tourism market. The treatment abroad Medical tourism Survey 2007 (http://www.treatmentabroad.net/), reveals that more than 50000 people traveled abroad for treatment in the past year and spent $ 161 million in medical tourism. The number of medical tourists increased 25% during the 12 months and will continue to grow over the next 6-12 months.

Dentistry is the most popular service with dental treatments as crowns, dental implants, bridges and veneers leading the way. Over 20000 Brits travel abroad to teeth, spending around £ 2500 each, with an estimated market value of over £ 50 million per year.

Cosmetic surgery is a close second with about 14500 patients traveling outside the United Kingdom. Breast augmentation, liposuction, Tummy tuck and lifting are popular choices. patients spend approximately £ 3500 each, creating an estimated market size of 50 million pounds.

The most common types of elective surgery for patients travelling abroad are hip replacement, knee replacement, removal surgery and laser eye cataracts, with about 10000 patients spend $ 37 million in 2007.

What can learn medical tourism recessions?

How will the medical tourism sector fare in a global recession that affects everything from house prices for sales of cars for polar bears and dog ownership!

If unemployment in the Western world rises to record levels in the coming year, is this good news or bad news for the health sector?

Good news comes in a recent analysis of McKinsey. According to McKinsey in recessions, u.s. consumers changed their spending priorities instead of cutting all expenses across the Board. Discretionary expenditure in areas such as dining out, personal care products and charitable donations fell. But the cost of groceries, books, insurance, education and healthcare in fact rose.

See the analysis McKinsey-industry trends in recessions.

However .... in comparison with 1990/1991 and 2000/01 recession we face now could be much, much worse. In the United Kingdom, there are early indications that discretionary expenditure on private education and, more relevant, private self paid surgery is being affected.

It remains to be seen if those with less money in your Pocket will be attracted by the low cost of treatment abroad and, if the credit crisis stimulates new demand for medical tourism.

Prospects for medical tourism in 2010

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Before looking forward to 2010, let's look back and assess where medical tourism is now. So, was 2009 a good year for medical tourism? In 2009, we heard medical tourism “experts” across the world continue to talk up the potential for medical tourism without any sound basis in reality. It’s in the interests of some within the industry to boost the profile of medical tourism and frankly to exaggerate its potential. But whereas some industry pundits talk in tens or hundreds of thousands of patients, others talk in millions.

These over optimistic forecasts have in themselves created a burgeoning medical tourism industry and a flurry of market entrants who may find that the going gets tough in 2010. Much of the current medical tourism sector has been built on hype rather than solid foundations. “In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King” said Erasmus, and this has certainly been true in medical tourism.

Reality bites.... in the UK
The medical tourism sector is (a) not immune to recession and (b) is not going to thrive in a recession. The argument that people are more likely to look for low cost treatment overseas if money is tight just doesn’t stack up. How has the recession affected self paid treatment in a mixed healthcare economy such as the UK? The number of patients paying cash for elective surgery such as hip and knee replacements and the discretionary spend on cosmetic surgery is down 20% over the last 12 months. And the missing 20% are not going abroad because it’s cheaper. They are hanging on to their money, delaying treatment or deciding to spend their money on more essential outgoings.

Reality bites.... in the USA
For many new entrants to the market, the USA is seen as the “golden goose” of medical tourism. It depends what you read and who you believe. Compare these predictions and numbers:

For 2008

For the future

“23 million Americans could be traveling for medical tourism in 2017.” (Medical Tourism Association – Sep 2009). Recession adjusted forecast: 1.62 million medical tourists in 2012. (Deloitte Medical Tourism Update – Oct 2009)

Is either of these future predictions anywhere near the mark? What might be the factors influencing an upward or downward trend:

Obama... the President who may change the way that the USA funds healthcare. And he’s making progress. Universal healthcare coverage in whatever final form it takes pushes medical tourism to the margins.... which is where it is in most developed countries. People do and will travel for treatment but it will always be a small minority wherever they are. Insurers, employers, HMOS’s..... We’re still a very long way from seeing funders of healthcare make a significant move towards using medical travel as a way of reducing healthcare costs. Will it happen? Yes... but slowly and at the margins. The recession isn’t over.... and it isn’t going away anytime soon. In both the US and Europe, unemployment levels hit 10% in December 2009. American workers have been unemployed an average of 29 weeks, the highest ever recorded since the data was tracked from 1948 onwards. Americans are visiting their physicians less, reducing the number of drugs they pay for. They are reducing their level of care. But as with the UK, large numbers are not offsetting this by pursuing lower cost options overseas.

According to a report in USA Today this month, medical tourism is number nine in the top ten travel trends for 2010 in the USA. According to USA Today, the three drivers are:

More coverage of overseas medical care by major U.S. insurers. An increase in individual insurance policies that typically carry a high deductible. A marketing push by companies that combine travel and medical services.

But will these drivers drive significant growth in the USA or elsewhere in the world?

Some, but only a few, insurers will provide coverage....but will patients actually want to travel? There may well be an increase in deductibles....but will patients be able to afford to “top up” their healthcare anywhere....in their home country or overseas. Companies may well increase their marketing spend and may increase public awareness a little....but what we don’t have in medical tourism is a “big player”, a company that’s prepared to risk hundreds of thousands of dollars/pounds/euros in bring medical tourism to the masses.

So... is it medical tourism boom or bust in 2010?

Neither. Medical tourism is not the Holy Grail that will save holiday destinations around the world who are already suffering from the “let’s stay at home” effect of the credit crunch? It’s not the easy win for hospitals and clinics who have been adopting the “if we build it, they will come” approach. The reality is that we will see growth in the long term.....growth where medical tourism makes sense and not at the exponential rates that some have predicted.

The good news (for medical tourism) from the economic downturn is that every Western government is going to be under pressure to cut public expenditure and that usually means cuts in healthcare provision. Let’s take the UK as an example. The UK government knows that it cannot afford to fund the healthcare system as it has in the past. The UK national debt in 2010 is 72% of Gross Domestic Product; ten years ago, it was 33% of GDP. In Ireland, the Irish government unveiled one of the most severe budgets in the Republic's history embracing cuts in public expenditure across the board.

In many countries, the pressure on public funding of healthcare will be greater than ever before. In the long term, an ageing population demanding more healthcare and pressure on healthcare budgets will mean more patients funding their own care and looking at overseas treatment as a serious option. And that means there’s an opportunity for medical tourism.

Regional healthcare not global healthcare
In truth, there has never been a global healthcare market, and it’s unlikely that there will be one in the near future....unless, of course we:

Invent an aircraft that can cut flight times by several hundred percent without increasing flight costs and global warming! Unlikely. Convince disparate healthcare systems worldwide to standardize the way they treat patients. It isn't going to happen. Get doctors in different countries to work together in providing continuous care for an individual patient (or at least talk to each other!). Some hope here, perhaps....

Where does medical travel really work...and happen? Across borders....from one neighbouring country to enough....within rather than between continents. However in need of treatment they are, and however desperate they are to save money, the number of patients who are prepared to board a plane and fly for eight hours plus to a different country with a different language and culture is minimal. It’s medical tourism at the margins. And it’s medical tourism that puts patients at risk through combining surgical procedures with long flights.

Patient flows in medical tourism follow low cost airline routes with short flight times or cross border land routes. Americans flying or driving South for surgery, Brits traveling to Budapest for dental treatment, the Japanese heading West to Korea for cosmetic surgery, the Indonesians travelling to Malaysia and Singapore, Central Africans heading for South Africa and so on.

The competition is going to get hotter
With medical tourism numbers failing to live up to the inflated predictions, we may now be faced with too few patients for too many providers. Those who have come to the market in the last twelve months are going to wonder where all the promised patients are. The simple laws of supply and demand mean increased competition. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that prices will plummet. Only the foolish will drop prices to attract patients. Consumers don’t opt for the cheapest when it comes to making healthcare decisions. Yes, they want to save money, but cheapest implies low, quality, risk...all those things that medical tourists are trying to avoid. Added value, customer service, creating new business from existing or past customers will all become important in differentiating your business, and attracting new patients.

New models for medical tourism?
The credit crunch, increasing competition, the slow growth in patient numbers (if we see any growth at all in the near future) will encourage new approaches to medical tourism. We’ve seen the Hungarian “dental tent” come to the UK, and we hear that cruise ship medical tourism is on the agenda of the European Medical Travel Conference. And perhaps in 2010, we may see the serious adoption and exploitation of telehealth and e-medicine in the medical tourism sector.

In a recession....find a niche
So, what can those pursuing the Holy Grail of medical tourism learn from all this?

One key to success in a recession is to find a niche and ideally one that is a recession proof niche - one that people spend their hard earned cash on when money is tight. Whereas many healthcare providers try to be all things to all patients, those that succeed will select their niche and focus their efforts.

There are some niche areas of healthcare that are relatively recession proof and may prove attractive. Infertility treatment is a good example:

Public funding of infertility treatment is under pressure in many countries. The need is high and people aren’t prepared to delay treatment too long. Money may be tight, but having children is the one thing that they may spend money on rather than anything else. It’s high value.

There are others...get your thinking cap on and go out and find them.

In summary
2010 may be the year in which we see some rational thinking and some rationalisation in the medical tourism world. Perhaps the recession will bring some of the “blue sky” thinkers down to earth. New market entrants are going to feel the pinch; the long established players will maintain their reputation, improve their services and continue to thrive.

Long term, the medical tourism sector is here to stay.

Stay with it.... businesses that ride out the recession will come out of it in better shape. It’s still an attractive market sector and the business is there for those who take the long term view.

Practice makes perfect ... a message to medical tourism providers and patients

In the largest ever study of hospital mortality rates published in the United Kingdom, "mortality rates for emergency patients 6 percent jump when newly qualified doctors begin working. In the health service Journal reports that "the traditional first day for NHS doctors is the first Wednesday in August. The researchers found that patients introduced in hospital in the week before were more likely to survive .... researchers could not find a definitive reason for the higher mortality rate, but the beginning of August said was known as a "period insecure" in hospitals because of the influx of new doctors "

Now, what can we conclude from this?

I might suggest that doctors with more experience are better than those with less experience? Needless to say, really.

So, how this can help the tourist physician who is trying to make a decision about which doctor or specialist overseas to choose for your operation? The problem of the choice of patients in healthcare is a choice of a surgeon abroad or a surgeon in the internal market is the "How do I know that he is good?"issue. In the United Kingdom, we're probably ahead of the game in enabling patients to make informed choices about treatment. The NHS is site has been renamed "NHS Choices" and in recent years there has been a drive to expose data on clinical outcomes and hospital and the surgeon performance and make it freely available to patients.

One of the strengths of the UK health care system (and one of its weaknesses!) are that the large proportion of health care is provided by a health service provider-the NHS. This means that data about processes, results, performance and patient satisfaction enough are normalized, allowing for valid comparisons to be made between a hospital and another, between one and another expert.

Let's imagine that I need a knee replacement. Under the NHS, I can choose to go to any hospital in the United Kingdom, not just my local hospital. But suppose I want to stay quite location. Here are some things that I can access on my local hospitals through the NHS Choices. For each "quality factor", highlighted the best result.

Impressed? Which hospital you choose? Or which hospital would rule out of the question? The table above just scratches the surface of the data that is now being made available to patients. I also could compare the quality of the food, service levels, and so on. And I can also start making comparisons between individual surgeons.

Where does that leave the tourist physician? The reality is that there are few countries where this type of comparative information is available for the patient. And the reality is that different health systems often measure things in different ways, so that the comparison of results data of a hospital in Thailand with the data from the result of a hospital in India can be very difficult.

Thus, the tourist doctor probably need to do some basic questions about the hospital and the expert. One is a key measure of "How do I know that he is good?" He has "how many times have you done this before?" "Practice makes perfect" as the recent study demonstrates. Choose a surgeon with experience in exactly what you need. If you're looking for a replacement of the knee, choose an orthopaedic surgeon that knee replacements and almost nothing else. Do not choose an orthopaedic surgeon general ", which makes" everything under the Sun "-knees, shoulders, hips, feet, etc.

And ask the guy "how many you have done this year?"

Medical tourism: the answer to the problem of global health?

A recent article from McKinsey International highlights the magnitude of the challenge that the leaders of the Governments of developed countries will have to deal with sooner or later. The article analyzes the growing proportion of the wealth of a country that will be dedicated to the health of its citizens in future years.

In Europe currently around 9% of GDP is spent on health care. in the USA is higher, more close to 16% of GDP. Over the past fifty years, the increase in expenditure in OECD countries Healthcare has been above 2% of GDP ... which means that healthcare is taking an increasing share of national wealth. But what happens if this continue? McKinsey says that "If current trends continue to 2050, most OECD countries will spend one fifth of GDP on health care. By 2080, Switzerland and United States will dedicate himself more than half of GDP for him and until 2100 most other OECD countries will reach this level of spending. "

These are quite startling statistics! There is a decent article analysis, outlining the factors of supply and demand that drive growth and offer some arguments why this trend won't or can't continue at this rate. However, the harsh reality is that whatever the Governments and their citizens, they will be confronted by the weight of ever increasing health care costs.

And that is why health care is becoming global, medical tourism is being talked about as one of the solutions. Increasingly, Governments will not be able to provide and consumers will not be able to afford health care they need. The global market in healthcare expands to meet the growing demand of consumers and Governments to low-cost treatment abroad. And this is where enter the medical tourism.

Reference: healthcare Costs: a market-based view: International McKinsey

European Union directive gets the nod of Lords of medical travel

The EU directive on Cross Border Healthcare is making its way through the maze of the British Government. Slow progress, but it is progress towards a European market in healthcare.

The EU Committee of the House of Lords have welcomed the proposal for a directive of the European Commission on the rights of patients to healthcare. The Commission demanded improvements and warned that due to the impact of the provisions of Directive unpredictable, it must be carefully monitored in the implementation.

The Commission agreed with the Commission that, as the right of EU citizens to travel to another Member State to receive healthcare was confirmed by the European Court of Justice over the last ten years, it is essential to put in place a legal framework to replace the current ad hoc arrangements.

The Committee also considers whether patients seeking healthcare in other European, Member States shall pay the costs of treatment and then claim a refund later. They have concerns that this would prevent those without adequate financial means to take advantage of their right to health care. The Commission's report recommends that a health service provider of the patient must pay the fees directly to the supplier in another Member State and suggests that this could be related to the process of securing authorisation before the trip, which it considers necessary to protect the financial resources of health systems and to allow patients to make informed decisions about your treatment.

The report also urges Member States to ensure that patients are aware of their rights under the directive and are informed about the quality of care they can expect, any potential barriers of language and how to complain that should be necessary. Member States should provide information about health care abroad for its own citizens and shall prepare a description of your own health care system to guide the other Member States. Recognizing that it can fall for doctors, such as doctors and dentists, really provide the information to patients, the Committee argues that the directive should avoid imposing an administrative burden for health professionals.

The Commission has also called for greater clarity on systems repair when patients are unhappy with, or harmed by healthcare provided in another Member State.
The Committee welcomes the provision of the directive that a Member State would be able to refuse to accept a patient from another Member State if, for example, this would increase the waiting time for treatment. However, they recommend that this part of the directive would benefit from some reinforcement.

Finally, the Committee noted that the impact of the directive will only be clear after it was implemented and then recommend that it be reviewed within three years instead of five, as proposed by the Commission.

 

A code of conduct for medical tourism

In treatment abroad, we introduced the first medical tourism code of practice for health care providers. The "code of practice for medical tourism" aims to encourage best practices of medical tourism through commitment to health care providers outside a voluntary code of practice.

Business practice standards and customer service in medical tourism indutry are variables. That said, but ....they are probably much higher than many critics of the industry. (In our recent survey of 650 medical tourists, 97 percent of patients find that they would be willing to travel abroad for treatment again).

The code is an opportunity for agencies and health care providers to reassure patients in treatment abroad they are adopting best practices to consider.

If the medical tourism industry continues to grow, it needs to adopt some common standards and practices. Therefore, the code of conduct for medical tourism. Health care providers and agencies who register in the code will be identified as a "recommended practice for medical tourism" and will be recognized at http://www.treatmentabroad.com/.

In addition to the vendors that are approved will be capable of displaying the accreditation mark treatment abroad on your site and patients will be able to access details of accreditation online.

To receive the accreditation, organizations are invited to demonstrate best practices in several areas that covers the provision of information, the patient experience and contractual terms, conditions and guarantees. The request shall be examined by an independent consultant.

We believe that this is a positive step forward for the industry and provides an opportunity for suppliers to demonstrate its commitment to best practices in dealing with patients from abroad.

More information about the code of practice for medical tourism are available at: www.treatmentabroad.com/medical-tourism/code-of-practice

The war of words .... Is medical tourism or medical travel?

I just read Constantine Constantinides latest missive about medical tourism and informative. Constantine runs Healthcare Cybernetics and is one of the heads "wise men" of medical tourism.
Constantine says:

"I'm getting fed up with industry newcomers (" Johnny-come-latelys "), and the auto industry strange upstarts who take issue with the word desk – arguing that isn't" big "enough to be associated with. They propose replacing it with the word" trip ". Some suggest we drop everything and start talking of Global Health (as if health care has not been global for ages) .... I don't like the word "tourism" – but also do not like the various alternatives suggested "

He makes some interesting points:

"The word that is derived from tourism Tour-tur Anglo-French, turning tourn, circuit – a journey there and back .travel cannot include a" back ".

So, here is my two pennyworth (English idiom!).

Let's start with vista from Google. Why? Because Google reflects the way that people use words.

I did a Google search for multiple terms: UK

A survey of medical tourism generated 19,700 000 results. (Our treatment abroad and related Web sites to protect three of the ten best positions. A pat on the back by our team of search engine optimisation)! A search for the course doctor generated 73,300 000 results. A search for health tourism generated 36.600.000 results.(Treatment abroad is not 2 for this search. Another Pat on the back to SEO.) A search for travel health generated 250,000 000 results. A global health survey generated 133,000, 000 results.

But we probably need to be a bit more specific. Putting the phrase in quotation marks, for example, "medical tourism", Google only returns results for the exact phrase:

"medical tourism" generated 5,290 000 results. "medical travel" generated 443000 results. "health tourism" generated 798.000 results. "health travel" generated 505.000 results. "global health" generated 3,220 000 results

The previous analysis tells you which words and phrases are used most often on sites indexed by Google. But what terms people use when searching? Here is another analysis. This time we look at the monthly average search volume on Google around the world:

travel medical tourism-90.500 searches per month of health tourism-if searches per month health-165000 searches per month global health-135000 searches per month

And the winner is?

Medical tourism Is probably ....

Why? Why is the phrase that is common to use, whether we like it or not. Is what the media uses when they write about the industry. Is what the man on the Clapham omnibus would probably say. Is the best phrase to use? Probably not.

I prefer medical travel!

Helping patients make the right choice of medical tourism

More and more people are using online assessments to make decisions about the products and services that they purchase. Consumers across the world want to hear from "people like me" before making a decision about which product or service to buy. TripAdvisor became the first place that many people visit when they are planning a vacation or book a hotel.

Therefore, tourists doctors would benefit from hearing about the experiences of others who traveled abroad for treatment? Undoubtedly, Yes!.

The Web is now the first place people look for clinics and hospitals research online before deciding where to go. Choose a doctor, hospital, or operation is a big decision and the views more that a patient can collect, the more secure, they feel with your final choice.

The philosophy of our business online is "helping patients make the right choice." That's why we launched just treatment abroad Ratings and analysis to provide patients with the "word of mouth" that will help them make the right choice of service desk doctor, hospital or clinic. We know from other areas of industry:

63% of consumers are more likely to purchase a vendor, if you have ratings and reviews.
77% of online shoppers use reviews and ratings when buying.
82% of people who read reviews said that their purchasing decisions are directly influenced by those reviews.

But how much confidence they can place people in reviews of these services? An agency desk doctor, hospital or clinic, physician or dentist may be tempted to anyone:

Create a fake review to promote your own service.
Create a fake review damage the reputation of a competitor.

We chose BazaarVoice as partner to our system of ratings and comments because of its ability to identify false reviews through algorithms that run review submissions, trace IP addresses of the reviewers, validation of email addresses and the experience of BazaarVoice moderator thousands of reviews for large customers each month.

We also warned customers and health care providers that any attempt to influence our reviews will result in immediate removal of reviewing all content.

Let's see how treatment abroad Ratings and analysis develops over the next few months. But we're sure will help potential tourists doctors to differentiate between the good and bad in terms of providers of services of medical tourism.

The proposals of the EU promise to boost medical tourism

European Commission's proposals, to be released next week will increase patient mobility in the European Union and NHS patients access to hospitals across the continent; patients in other EU countries will also have access to NHS hospitals.

The proposals will confirm the judgment of the Court of Justice in treatment abroad for waiting list patients suffering "delay". Yvonne Watts, a British patient, who was on a waiting list for hip replacement paid go to a French hospital to their exploitation hip. She then went to court to reclaim the costs of the operation of the NHS. The Court confirmed the legal right of patients to seek treatment in another EU State, if they have to suffer "delay" in your country of residence.

The new proposals could result in a boom in tourism health service NHS sponsored. Patients would pay the costs of travel and accommodation, but the NHS would foot the Bill for the treatment.

Details of the new proposals should be made available this week.