Medical travel: Articles and features: 2012

Our articles and features on medical tourism and medical tourism services are written by some of the leading experts on medical tourism and medical travel.

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Those medical tourism numbers revisitedIan Youngman revisits some well worn ground on the medical tourism numbers to see if the industry is making any progress. And there's some good news out there.
Malaysia... the best kept secret in medical tourismThe first Malaysia International Healthcare Travel Expo and Conference (MIHTE 2012) in Kuala Lumpur marked an important point in the development of Malaysia's medical tourism industry, led by the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC).
What is destination branding in medical tourism really all about?Destination branding is the latest buzz phrase in medical tourism. It is widely used but often misunderstood. If it is not about your logo, your strapline, the size of your exhibition stand. then what's it really all about?
I won an award! (but not for medical tourism)The plethora of awards, certificates and badges that are now available in the medical tourism sector set me thinking. What are all these awards about, what do they mean, who gets them and are they actually worth anything?
Poland invests in a medical tourism initiative for 2012-2015Within Poland's economic strategy for 2012-2015, medical tourism has been selected as one of fifteen priority areas of Polish industry to receive funding from both the national government and the European Union. IMTJ spoke to Dr Ada Kostrz-Kostecka, Project Manager at the European Center for...
Best practices in international patient programsBambi Rose, Director of Certification at the Medical Travel Commission, identifies the five key themes which are essential for the adoption of best practice in delivering services to international patients.
The medical tourism industry: healthcare experts needed!Harvard Professor Glenn Cohen hit the nail on the head this week when he commented that the medical tourism industry seems much more dominated by the business and marketing people rather than the healthcare people.
Conjoint Analysis: A research tool for medical tourismIrving Stackpole of Stackpole & Associates explains how a well established research tool can help you to measure destination attractiveness, and allows scientific analysis of the "trade-offs" which consumers make in selecting a destination for medical travel.
Discovering Medical Tourism...in times of economic recession and dwindling fortunesIn his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics highlights the conflict between established players and new entrants within the evolving medical tourism sector. His message those who will survive and prosper are those who add value.
Trends in the development of medical tourism in PolandAdrian P. Lubowiecki-Vikuk, a Polish academic and researcher, looks at how Poland is taking a role in the medical tourism sector, and provides an analysis based on the Boston matrix of where Poland should be targeting its efforts.
Medical Tourism: A model of destination attractivenessDestination attractiveness is what determines patient choice in medical tourism. Choosing a destination for treatment is not about quality and cost. Choosing a destination is affected by a complex set of factors.
Beyond accreditation in medical travelIan Youngman, medical tourism writer, researcher and analyst reviews the current role of accreditation in the medical travel sector. What does accreditation mean to the potential customer? Is accreditation a route to additional business? Do healthcare providers need to change their focus?
Delivering a better medical tourism experience: Part 2: Developing a training planIn the second part of a two part article on training to improve the patient and medical tourist experience, Elizabeth Ziemba, President of Medical Tourism Training, Inc explains how to develop a training plan that meets the needs of your healthcare or medical tourism organization and why you need...
Health tourism destinations should start with strategyScott Frankum from The Well Report, TheWellList.com and a consultant at Mercury Advisory looks at the current approach to destination marketing and where it is going wrong. When destinations get bad advice, it does more harm than good.
Delivering a better medical tourism experience: Part 1: Why bother with training?In the first part of a two part article on training to improve the patient and medical tourist experience, Elizabeth Ziemba, President of Medical Tourism Training, Inc looks at why many healthcare organizations don't bother to train.
Medical tourism clusters... beyond the hypeThere's a lot of hype around the industry about medical tourism clusters. Maria Todd from Mercury Advisory Group looks at what medical, health and wellness tourism clusters are really all about and the considerations for design and development. When it comes to building a health tourism "cluster",...
Healthcare politics and medical tourismIan Youngman considers the impact of US healthcare reform on medical tourism and how economic and political change in Europe will affect the medical tourism sector.
Is there a gap between the EU Directive on cross-border healthcare and the ECJ case-law?Markus Frischhut from MCI Management Center Innsbruck examines the content of the EU Directive on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare on the one hand, and the legal requirements developed by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in its case-law, on the other. Do they correspond, or are there...
The Push Factor in medical tourism; putting the onus on the healthcare service providerIn the second of a series of three articles, Zahid Hamid from the UK facilitator, Euromedical Tours, looks at the requirement for aftercare for the medical traveller, and the current shortcomings in the delivery of a comprehensive and effective medical travel experience.
Should medical tourism facilitators be regulated?Zahid Hamid from the UK facilitator, Euromedical Tours, puts forward his view on the need for regulation of medical tourism facilitators and agencies in the growing medical tourism market. Do we need regulation... and who should be the regulator?
A novel approach to judging quality in medical tourismThere has been much discussion on forums recently about certification and accreditation of hospitals, price versus quality and negative stories on medical tourism. Ian Youngman considers some of the possible solutions.
The future of domestic US medical tourismMuch has been written on Americans going abroad for medical treatment, but the hoped for "millions of Americans going abroad for medical treatment" has not happened. However, there is a new trend: domestic medical travel where people go to another US state for treatment.
How much has the world of medical tourism changed?Having just completed the mammoth task of updating and adding to his 2010 report to produce 'Medical Tourism Facts and Figures 2012' Ian Youngman reflects on how much the world of medical tourism has changed in the last two years.
How do you deal with negative reviews?Treatment Abroad operates the website Medical Tourism Reviews. The site enables patients to publish reviews and comments about their experience of travelling for treatment, and in theory this means telling others about both good and bad experiences. The problem arises when a patient says that they...
What are the goals and benefits of Health Tourism ''Free Zones''?In his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics looks at the growing interest in Healthcare Free Zones, how they may aid the development of medical tourism and what is needed to take them forward.
The medical tourism numbers game: Part 3... ''Medical tourism skyrockets''This week another medical tourism news story hit the headlines. According to the New York Daily News, Medical tourism skyrockets...Turnover is expected to total $100 billion in 2012, compared with $79 billion in 2010 I picked up this news story this week from various sources; it's been re-published...
Why are the Spanish and British health services attacking medical tourism?In recent weeks, both the Spanish and British health services have openly attacked medical tourism. But what they mean by medical tourism and what those within the industry mean are two different concepts. Even some people within the industry are very confused, due to not understanding the...
Treatment abroad... for childrenOnce a pediatric surgeon, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics looks at how medical tourism has developed within the field of children's healthcare and how the EU Directive may stimulate an increase in cross border healthcare for children.
PIP breast implants: A legal precedent for medical tourism?There is very little case law on medical tourism, but the PIP breast implants scandal could provide an indication on who is liable for what when treatment does not go as planned.
Medical tourism....it's not about price!New research looking at cosmetic surgery tourism shows that different destinations are targeting potential customers in different ways with different messages. Whether this is intentional segmentation or is because the destination believes all of its customers come from a particular segment is up...
The European Cross-border Healthcare Scheme...''On Ice''?Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics looks at the progress (or lack of progress!) with the EU Directive on Cross Border Healthcare. In the midst of a Euro crisis and economic recession, has the scheme just stalled? Or does the delay in implementation provide a welcome...
What class of medical tourist do you want to attract?New research looking at cosmetic surgery tourism shows that different destinations are targeting potential customers in different ways with different messages. Whether this is intentional segmentation or is because the destination believes all of its customers come from a particular segment is up...
San Serriffe... all that glisters is not gold...The IMTJ Special Report on San Serriffe published on April 1st certainly made an impact in the medical travel world, receiving extensive coverage and attracting applications from potential consultants and advisors.
Medical tourism investment planned for San SerriffeThe Indian Ocean island of San Serriffe is planning one of the most ambitious medical tourism projects seen so far in this rapidly expanding business sector. Competing with near neighbours, the Seychelles and the Maldives in the traditional tourism market, San Serriffe has developed an impressive...

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