Medical Travel Today

THIS WEEK IN MEDICAL TRAVEL TODAY
Volume 3, Issue 3
by Amanda Haar, Editor

An interesting PERSPECTIVE by Billy and Akaisha Kaderli, authors of The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement, offers us an overview on medical vacations as a possible solution to retiree healthcare. It's a different view on the industry and one that might cause our readers to consider a new approach to marketing.

Check out SPOTLIGHT for an interesting conversation with Keith Pollard of Medical Treatment Abroad—a quickly evolving and adaptive company.

As usual, we have a round-up of the latest news and events, and this week's MEDICAL SPOTLIGHT features Trans Urethral Resection of Prostate (TURP).

PERSPECTIVES
Medical Vacations: The Retiree Health Care Solution?
By Billy and Akaisha Kaderli

Excerpted with permission from The Adventurer's Guide to Early Retirement, 3rd Edition, RetireEarlyLifestyle.com

The debate over U.S. health care reform rages on. But you don't have to wait for someone else to dictate your future. You have many options -- if you're willing to take a vacation. If recovering from a medical procedure while lying on a palm-swept beach, relaxing by the hotel pool, or shopping for terrific bargains sounds good, then medical vacations may be the right solution for you.

From hip replacement to heart surgery, more people are discovering the advantages of traveling abroad for their medical needs.

In just the past few years, medical vacations have gone from a tiny niche market to an impressive growth story with substantial market-share gains. From Mexico to India, Costa Rica to Thailand, hospitals are taking advantage of this global trend. And U.S. companies are taking note as well. Aetna (NYSE: AET) (http://caps.fool.com/Ticker/AET.aspx) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina are among the health care companies tailoring their corporate health insurance plans to give employees the opportunity to head to India or elsewhere for surgeries such as knee replacements and the more modern, less invasive approach to hip replacement, hip resurfacing.

In the Western Hemisphere, Costa Rica is currently the "in" destination for travelers, especially for dental (http://www.prismadental.com/) and cosmetic surgery needs. You can schedule online and receive a custom-made package, appointment, and prices in your e-mail response.

For years, people in the American Southwest have capitalized on the high-quality dental work available south of the border for a fraction of U.S. prices. Now more people are traveling to Guadalajara (http://www.americashospital.com/site1.html) in Mexico for body augmentation and other surgeries, too. Many of the doctors there are U.S.-trained, and the equipment is top of the line. (We know, because we've used it.)

In Asia, one of the world's most acclaimed hospitals is located in Bangkok, Thailand. Bumrungrad (http://www.bumrungrad.com/) looks more like a five-star hotel than a medical facility -- until you get to the third floor. World leaders from around the globe fly here for medical procedures. Bumrungrad's Web site is user-friendly, as is its professional, English-speaking staff. The hospital has more than 200 surgeons who are board-certified in the United States. We have quipped many times that the cheapest health care plan is an air ticket to Bangkok.

Also close by is the Bangkok Heart Hospital (http://www.bangkokhearthospital.com/). Both of these facilities are located in the center of the city, with easy access to shopping and attractions. If necessary, they will arrange your hotel stay along with the medical procedure you're having performed, all without waiting times or disqualifications. Your entire extensive physical will be done in one morning, with your blood results and consultation that afternoon. In and out in a single day. How's that for service?

Many people interested in medical tourism are concerned about the quality and safety of going abroad for technical and complex medical care -- and how to get post-operative care once they return home. All of the hospitals mentioned here use the latest equipment and are either internationally accredited facilities or have U.S.-trained physicians on staff. Some U.S. health plans also provide an in-state network of physicians who will treat a patient who's gone abroad for medical care. The one thing that sets these hospitals apart from many of their U.S. counterparts is their attention to customer service -- they are professional and courteous in a way you rarely see anymore at home.

According to 2005 statistics from the University of Delaware, Escorts Heart Institute (http://www.ehirc.com/) in Delhi and Faridabad, India, performs nearly 15,000 heart operations every year, and the death rate among patients during surgery is only 0.8 percent -- less than half that of most major hospitals in the United States. India also has top-notch centers for hip and knee replacement, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, bone marrow transplants, and cancer therapy. Virtually all of these clinics are equipped with the latest electronic and medical diagnostic equipment.

Even though you get high-quality care at these hospitals, prices are quite a bit lower than what you'll find in the United States. Several sources report big cost savings in recent years for many procedures. For example, coronary angiography in Bangkok costs less than $900. A metal-free dental bridge that runs $5,500 in the United States costs about $500 in India, and a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about a fifth of what it would in the United States. Cosmetic surgery savings are even greater. A full facelift that might cost $20,000 in the United States runs about $1,250 in South Africa. (http://www.hasa.co.za/)

The attraction is straightforward. The costs for everything from facelifts, dental implants, or hormone therapy to reverse the signs of aging can be one-half or less for comparable procedures in the United States. Have your surgery, then recover and recuperate in a beautiful mountain setting or at a resort hotel.

Most procedures can be found online, letting you know what's included in the cost. The figure quoted to you will cover everything, including follow-up visits. There are no hidden charges, and the price includes the room, doctor, and staff.

If you'd like to retire soon, but you're held back by health care issues, or if you've got the health care blues and need a holiday break, why not do some research online and take a vacation?

Keith Pollard
Managing Director, Managing Editor
Treatment Abroad

Medical Travel Today (MTT): Let's begin with your background. How did you first get involved in medical travel?

Keith Pollard (KP): My background is exclusively in the health care field. I first worked in the pharmaceutical industry and then spent10 years, within the private health care sector, in the United Kingdom. In 1996, I started my first online venture in healthcare. Our biggest site is Private Healthcare UK, the leading portal for the private health care industry in the U.K., with half a million visitors every month. Four years ago, we developed Treatment Abroad, one of the first and one of the biggest portals for medical travel.

That said, medical travel has been around for years. In the 1990’s, the U.K. was a major medical travel destination for patients from Europe and the Middle East. It still is! People are willing to travel to the U.K. for both the expertise and the price.

When I was a private health care marketing director, 80 to 90 percent of patients in our London hospitals were medical tourists. I mention that to make the point that I've really never not been involved in medical travel.

MTT: It seems your company has grown and evolved rather quickly from its initial consumer-directed services to now offering assistance to medical travel professionals. Can you talk a bit about your initial goals, how they've changed, and what factors influenced the change?

KP: Our focus has always been the health care consumer. At our core we're a business-to-consumer online publishing company that specializes in the health care sector.
What's happening worldwide is that we're no longer talking about patients anymore but rather health care consumers.

All the sites we operate are aimed at health care consumers. Our mission is to help health care consumers make the right choice of health care provider or service. We aim to provide online, up-to-date information on all the various choices a consumer needs to make related to medical travel.

We have invested and continue to invest funds in research. We're responsible for the biggest piece of research related to the medical travel consumer. We research why they went, what the experience was like, and so on. We fund the research and then publish it not because selling it makes us money, but because it helps us to understand the market better and generates positive public relations for the industry in general.

We also fund the Medical Tourism Ratings and Reviews site. We encourage patients to write a review of any place they've been around the world. We are investing around $50,000 a year in this service, and it’s free for any medical travel provider who wants to generate “word of mouth” recommendation from their patients. It's another PR tool for our clients and for the industry.

What we've been trying to do for providers is to encourage more consumers to buy into the concept of medical travel. We do that in part by publishing the research results I mentioned and by doing more for advertisers on our site than just giving them advertising space or giving them leads. We try to add genuine value to our clients.

The truth is health care providers are good at providing healthcare. And that's the way it should be. We happen to be good at marketing what they do, so we share that with them.

For example, we educate our clients on how to respond to e-mail and Web enquiries. We provide a guide on how to write an effective press release and generate press coverage. We provide a guide on how to turn an enquiry into a patient. And recently we introduced "Perfect English." This is a service that enables providers to improve Web sites targeted at U.K. and U.S. consumers. We actually have a team of people that reviews sites and re-writes them so that they are in "perfect English." This is really important since a Web site is usually a prospective patient’s first interaction with a healthcare provider; clarity of communication is a huge area of concern for medical travelers. To have glaring typos or poorly worded content in your first point of contact is simply not good.

MTT: Tell me a bit about your Code of Practice for Medical Tourism. What are the areas in which you're looking for compliance, and how does it help the consumer?

KP: We invested in the Code of Practice for Medical Tourism because we felt there was need for a more sound business practices in the field. Many areas of healthcare in the U.K. operate similar codes of practice. We felt something similar was needed in medical travel.

The Code is not about vetting doctors or looking at infection rates. It's really in response to feedback we receive and the research we have carried out. We look at the issues that medical travelers face, related to information, communication, clarification of financial issues, patients’ rights, the ease of the process, the risks of something going wrong, and so on.

Our aim is to encourage the adoption of best practice in medical tourism through the
commitment of healthcare providers to a voluntary and relatively straightforward code of practice. The code is intended to provide reassurance regarding the key communication and information issues that concern patients who are considering treatment in other countries.

In short, people need to know their rights and be given the right information. We're looking to make sure that providers and facilitators improve patient communication and offer the right information. The Code is a step towards achieving that. It's not enforceable, but compliance is a good indicator to a prospective patient that a health care provider or facilitator is making an effort to ensure that the way they deliver health care services meets some basic standard of business practice.

MTT: Since we're at the start of a new year I'm wondering if you have any predictions for the industry in the year ahead.

KP: You know, I'm right on the fence. The problem is there are a hundred different types of medical travel. You simply can't be global about predictions. Medical travel embraces hundreds of different market segments and is affected by a multitude of different drivers in these different segments – waiting lists, exchange rates, availability of credit, travel costs, employee health care costs, availability of facilities and resources…and these affect each segment in a different way.

MTT: Fair enough. Then let's turn to what you do know. Tell me what you think the greatest weakness in medical travel marketing is.

KP: If you start at the beginning of how you think about marketing, most companies haven't really given enough thought about their service offering or marketing strategy. Plus there's the problem that in medical travel there's very little differentiation. Everyone is trying to be all things to all people. "We have the highest quality," "we have the best facilities," -- blah, blah, blah. It becomes meaningless to the patient.

The research in this area is interesting. For example, in 2008, we surveyed 650 people in detail about their experience related to medical travel. If you go through the 50 pages of verbatim comments and look for how many of those are about the operation or the quality of treatment…you'll find very few. Nearly every comment is about the “touchy-feely” things that make up customer service. It's all about communication, information, etc. The same stuff consumers moan about when they buy any service. That's really where companies can make some of the greatest gains. And they need to promote that aspect.

Now let me jump back to predictions. I do think that we'll be seeing more and more companies putting some serious dollars and effort into improving their online efforts. We're certainly encouraging our clients to do that.

Online is the first point of contact with the consumer nowadays, and they simply need to make sure it's sharp, inspires confidence, and accurately projects who and what they are. Any company that’s doing that is certainly starting out right.

About Keith Pollard
Keith Pollard spent ten years in marketing and operational roles in the private health care sector before setting up Acumen Solutions, an Internet development company in the mid-1990's, specializing in the health care market. Private Healthcare UK was one of several Internet ventures that were created at that time. In 2003, Keith formed Intuition Communication as a Web publishing company and embarked on a major investment in the redevelopment and expansion of the Private Healthcare UK. The Intuition portfolio has grown impressively since then, and Intuition has become a leader in medical tourism with the development of Treatment Abroad.

About Treatment Abroad
Treatment Abroad is the most popular site on the Web for medical tourists from all over the world seeking information about cost effective surgery and medical treatment abroad. The site provides information covering the health care services available, doctor accreditation, treatment costs, travel, and accommodation.

INDUSTRY NEWS

CMS Announces Sites for a Demonstration to Encourage Greater Collaboration and Improve Quality Using Bundled Hospital Payment

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced site selections for the Acute Care Episode (ACE) demonstration. ACE is a new hospital-based demonstration that will test the use of a bundled payment for both hospital and physician services for a select set of inpatient episodes of care to improve the quality of care delivered through Medicare’s fee-for-service.

Baptist Health System in San Antonio, Texas; Oklahoma Heart Hospital LLC in Oklahoma City, Okla.; Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital in Denver, Colo.; Hillcrest Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla.; and Lovelace Health System in Albuquerque, N.M., have been selected to participate in the demonstration.

“We are always looking for ways to improve Medicare, both in efficiency and in better care for patients, and this new demonstration promises to be a big step in that direction,” said CMS acting administrator Kerry Weems. “Too often, there are missed opportunities to coordinate care, which can adversely impact Medicare beneficiaries’ health. This important demonstration brings hospitals, physicians, and patients together in an innovative cooperative effort to improve the quality of care.”

The goal of the Acute Care Episode (ACE) demonstration is to use a bundled payment to better align the incentives for both hospitals and physicians, leading to better quality and greater efficiency in the care that is delivered. The demonstration will also test the effect that transparent price and quality information has on beneficiary choice for select inpatient care.

“CMS expects to demonstrate how to better coordinate inpatient care and achieve savings in the delivery of that care that can ultimately be shared between hospitals, physicians, beneficiaries, and Medicare,” Weems said. “The Acute Care Episode demonstration reflects CMS’ ongoing commitment to break down silos in healthcare by creating better care teams and improved communications between care givers and their patients. This demonstration is another important step to develop new value-based purchasing approaches by rewarding health care providers who provide the right care at the right time.”

The ACE demonstration was open to applicants from Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Colorado. Each demonstration site, or “Value-Based Care Center,” will be actively marketed to both beneficiaries and referring physicians.

For purposes of this demonstration, a bundled payment is a single payment for both Part A and Part B Medicare services furnished during an inpatient stay. Currently, CMS generally pays the hospital a single prospectively determined amount under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) for all the care it furnishes to the patient during an in-patient stay. The physicians who care for the patient during the stay are paid separately under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for each service they perform.

There are 28 cardiac and 9 orthopedic inpatient surgical services and procedures included in the bundled payment demonstration. These elective procedures were selected because volume has historically been high; there is sufficient marketplace competition to ensure interested demonstration applicants; the services are easy to specify; and quality metrics are available for them.

Lovelace Health System will be a Value-Based Care Center for orthopedic procedures; Oklahoma Heart Hospital and Exempla Saint Joseph Hospital for cardiac procedures; and Baptist Health System and Hillcrest Medical Center for both.

This demonstration provides an opportunity for Value-Based Care Centers to develop efficiencies in the care they provide to beneficiaries through quality improvement in clinical pathways, improved coordination of care among specialists, and “gainsharing.” Gainsharing, or provider incentive programs, allow physicians and hospitals to share remuneration for implementing and coordinating improvements in efficiency and quality.

This demonstration also provides an opportunity for Medicare to share savings achieved through the demonstration with beneficiaries who, based on quality and cost, choose to receive care from participating demonstration providers. However, beneficiaries will still be able to choose a hospital that best meets their needs (Value-Based Care Center or other) and will not be restricted by this demonstration.

The ACE demonstration will be implemented starting in early 2009. More information can be found here.

Chicago Tribune Highlights Hospitals Offering Deep Discounts

The January 26, 2009, issue of the Chicago Tribune ran an interesting story by Judith Graham regarding a new trend emerging in the Chicago hospital market. Seems area hospitals are offering substantial price breaks to customers in need of care but without medical insurance.

To view the complete story, click here.

Medical Tourism Facilitator and International Insurer Partner to Provide New Protection for Medical Tourists

INDIANAPOLIS, IN and NEWTON, MA--(Marketwire - January 28, 2009) - Seven Corners, one of the industry's most experienced specialty travel insurance underwriters, announces a new partnership with award-winning medical tourism facilitator, Healthbase Online, Inc. By combining Seven Corners' experience in underwriting and administering specialty travel insurance plans, and Healthbase's expertise in matching medical tourism patients with a world-class network of internationally accredited hospitals, the companies have developed the industry's first custom benefits package covering medical complications to be provided to all Healthbase clients.

The strategic alliance between Seven Corners and Healthbase is founded on a shared vision to unify patients seeking medical treatments abroad with relevant medical insurance benefits specifically designed for medical tourists. By engaging the companies' unique and expert competencies in their respective markets, the alliance will allow both companies to better serve the unique needs of medical tourists -- ultimately transforming the medical tourism business by reducing patients' medical costs before, during, and after treatments abroad.

"We are the only medical travel facilitator to provide a custom insurance program to our clients as a further commitment to providing high quality medical travel services at an affordable cost," said Saroja Mohanasundaram, CEO of Healthbase. "The insurance program enhances our clients' satisfaction in the economic delivery of quality healthcare; whether they are seeking minor procedures like hernia surgery or major procedures like knee replacement or spinal surgeries."

The insurance plan provides Healthbase patients coverage for the treatment of common surgical complications such as adverse reactions to anesthesia, stroke, myocardial infarction, deep vein thrombosis, infections, and other medical complications incurred during and after their treatment abroad. The insurance plan provides first-dollar coverage for medical complications, which further reduces follow-up care and unexpected medical expenses for an uninsured or underinsured patient.

"The cost of the insurance plan is a fraction of the overall cost of the treatment, which in and of itself, is significantly less than the expense of treatment in the United States," said Jim Krampen, executive officer of Seven Corners. "The medical complication benefits we designed for Healthbase clients will provide peace of mind and cover the cost to treat medical complications abroad and when they return home."

RevaHealth.com, the World's Largest Medical Tourism Search Engine, Expands to Include Singapore

Lifesaving Heart Bypass Surgery Available From Just $28,000

Dublin, Ireland (PRWEB) February 1, 2009 -- Savvy tourists and business travelers looking to take advantage of huge savings on high quality health, cosmetic, and dental treatments in Singapore can now compare clinics and prices on RevaHealth.com, the search engine dedicated to helping people find clinics in countries all over the world. Heart bypass surgery, costing on average SP$195,000 (US$130,000) in the United States and SP$66,000 (US$44,000) in the United Arab Emirates, is available for as little as SP$28,000 (US$18,500) in Singapore.

A spokesperson for Singapore Medicine says that 410,000 overseas patients travel to the country annually (*). Patients from the Middle East come seeking heart and vascular surgical procedures, encouraged by the high level of healthcare provided and the use of top-of-the-range medical equipment. Other patients, typically from the United States and Australia, come for cosmetic surgery and dental treatments ranging from cheek implants and breast augmentation to dental crowns and implants, attracted by the huge savings that can be made. For example, a facelift procedure costing on average SP$12,000 (US$8,000) in the United States and SP$15,000 (AU$15,000) in Australia is available for just SP$2,600 (US$1,700) in Singapore.

However, people searching on the Internet for information about clinics are running into problems, with traditional search engines returning too many irrelevant results. A search on RevaHealth.com helpfully returns only relevant clinics and lets potential patients compare their various options.

CEO and founder of RevaHealth.com, Caelen King comments, "People find it difficult to source clinics in Singapore that offer the particular treatment they are looking for, be it a coronary angioplasty, an eyelift, or tooth implant. RevaHealth.com lets visitors easily find and compare over 160 clinics in Singapore, helping them save time and money in finding the best clinic and treatment for their needs."

(*) Source: http://www.singaporemedicine.com/abt_us/abt_us1.asp

About RevaHealth.com
RevaHealth.com is a search engine that makes it easy for users to find and compare health clinics worldwide. Founded in 2006, it currently stores information on over 60,000 clinics in the United Kingdom and Ireland -- and thousands more in 50 countries around the world. Revahealth.com helps people take control of their health care choices and find the most suitable clinic and treatment for their needs.

Bangkok Hospital Set to Blitz Spa and Wellness Tourism as Well as Medical Tourism in 2009

Bangkok Hospital has revamped its Health and Beauty service offering, coinciding with the release of SpaFinder's Top Ten Spa Trends to Watch in 2009 naming the blending of hospitals with medical spas one of their top trends for 2009. Bangkok Hospital recently added several new massage services to their Healthy and Beauty offering. Patients can now access several spa-type treatments in-room at Bangkok Hospital, including:

Full body Thai massages
Hour-long foot massages
Therapeutic Western style massages
Manicures and pedicures
Hair styling services

A one hour Thai body massage costs 350THB, or around US$10 at current exchange rates. A one hour therapeutic massage, administered by a qualified physical therapist, costs 600THB or US$17 at current rates for outpatients, and 1000THB or around US$28 for in-room service. Manicures and pedicures cost 100 baht in-salon, or 200 baht in-room; these costs equate to around US$2.80 or US$5.70 at current exchange rates.

SpaFinder has named the blending of medical treatment with spas and tourism as third on its list of Top Ten Spa Trends to Watch in 2009. President of SpaTrends, Susie Ellis, notes that "for 2009, whether it's the rise of wellness tourism or diagnostics, there's never been more breeding going on in the spa Petri dish." This increasing combination of medical and spa services is the report's flagship prediction, and appears third in the list of top ten trends.

Bangkok Hospital fits neatly into the report's forecasts. SpaFinder advises to "watch for the line between spas, medical spas, and hospitals to become ever more creatively blended," and Bangkok Hospital has been leading the trend.

Chris Sharasuvana, the hospital's e-marketing manager, believes that the spa offering is an important part of the hospital's services. "It not only helps differentiate us from Western hospitals and draw first-time patients to Bangkok Hospital, these services play an important part in the speed of recovery, positivity, and mental resilience of our patients", Mr Sharasuvana notes. "We couldn't do without them."

About Bangkok Hospital Medical Center:

Bangkok Hospital Medical Center (BMC) is one of the most technologically sophisticated hospitals in the world today. Located in Bangkok, Thailand, BMC is an expansive state-of-the-art medical campus providing comprehensive medical care through multidisciplinary teams of highly trained specialists. With its four hospitals and broad range of specialized clinics, BMC is equipped with all of the diagnostic and treatment facilities not generally available at local hospitals. The center has received Joint Commission International accreditation and is known throughout the world for delivering world-class, award-winning healthcare.

For more information:
Call (+66) 2310 3344 (contact center 24hrs)
Email: info@bangkokhospital.com

DESTINATION

Robin Elsham is busy preparing for a trip to East Asia. We look forward to his upcoming first-hand reports from South Korea. In the meantime, you may access previous stories at the following links.

MEDICAL SPOTLIGHT: Trans Urethral Resection of Prostate (TURP)

According to the National Kidney and Urological Disease Information Clearinghouse, the most common prostate problem for men over 50 is prostate enlargement. By age 60, over fifty percent of men have an enlarged prostate; by age 85, the number climbs to 90%, according to the American Urological Association (AUA).

Also known as benign prostate hyperplasia, or simply BPH, an enlarged prostate may cause problems associated with urination. BPH can raise prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels two to three times higher than the normal level. While an increased PSA level does not indicate cancer, a higher PSA level can increase the chance of getting cancer.

When the prostate enlarges, it presses against the urethra and interferes with urination. At the same time, the bladder wall becomes thicker and irritated. The bladder will frequently contract even when only a small amount of urine is present. This in turn causes more frequent urination. Over time, as the bladder weakens, it may not empty completely, leaving some urine behind.

Unchecked, BPH can lead to incontinence, kidney damage, bladder stone, bladder damage, and urinary tract infections.

While a number of surgical and non-surgical treatment options exist for BPH, Trans Urethral Resection of Prostate (TURP) is among the most common.

Typically performed under a general anesthetic, TURP involves the insertion of a resectoscope into the urethra. An electrical loop on the resectoscope is used to remove obstructing tissue from the prostate gland.

The procedure itself takes between 60 and 90 minutes with patients generally recovering for one or two days post-procedure.

COMPARATIVE COSTS FOR TURP

U.S.	$10,000-16,000
India	$3,600
Thailand	$4,400
Singapore	$5,300
Malaysia	$4,600
Panama*	$3,200
Korea	$3,150
South Taiwan	$2,750
does not include doctor's fee SOURCE: Patients Beyond Borders,* Second Edition, July 2008

Is there a topic you'd like to see covered in our MEDICAL SPOTLIGHT? Please let us know. Send your thoughts to ahaar@cpronline.com

UPCOMING EVENTS

Asia’s Biggest Landmark Healthcare Congress – Global Health Conference (GHC) 2009—Announces Its Agenda

Disease management will directly impact the future models of care. But what shape and form these models will take is of question. Will we see more of specialized hospitals? If so, where will they be located? How will innovative ‘disruptive’ technologies help the future health care cities and hospitals cater to and deal directly with new disease management?

The future of health care delivery lies mostly in disease-based intervention programs. The health care cities and hospitals of the future will greatly benefit from a clearer understanding of how to effectively integrate disease management into future facilities and core competencies to be built.
Another contributing factor that will shape future care models is the growing number of highly valued patients globally – many of whom are crossing international borders in search of quality care and access. How should hospitals convert their centers of excellence to cater to this growing sector? How can they adequately build capacity and expertise to ensure they are able to meet new and growing demands?

Leaders in global healthcare will be tackling these issues head-on at Asia’s biggest landmark health care congress, Global Health Conference (GHC) 2009, which will feature two co-located events, “Healthcare Cities & Hospitals of the Future” and “Crossing International Borders” (February 23-26, 2009, Singapore).

For more information on the event, please visit www.magenta-global.com.sg/healthcare or kindly contact:

Attn: Ms Catherina Koh, Conference Director Magenta Global Pte Ltd
DID: (65) 6391 2539
Email: catherina.koh@magenta-global.com.sg with subject code “GHC-MTT”

For media inquiries, please contact:
Nathalie Visele
Director
Shamal Marketing Communications
Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Tel.: +9715 04576525
E-mail: nathalie@theshamalgroup.com

Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau to Sponsor the 2009 World Medical Health Tourism Conference in Phuket

Thailand Convention & Exhibition Bureau (TCEB) is set to sponsor the World Medical Health Tourism Conference: A New Way Forward, which will be held in Phuket, Thailand, September 2009.

TCEB’s participation and sponsorship in this internationally diverse networking event will aim to promote Thailand on an international scale as a medical tourism destination and a preferred venue for international meeting, incentive, convention, and exhibition (MICE) events.
The whole of Phuket Island is getting behind the conference, which will cater to more than 1,200 delegates. Local supporters range from local community groups, tourism operators, and many of the major hoteliers and resort owners, namely Woraburi Phuket Resort, Millennium Resort Patong, The Moevenpick Resort, Karon Beach Resort of Kata Group, Aquamarine Resort, Cape Panwa Hotel, and Andaman Seaview Hotel group.

Phuket, dubbed as the medical tourism hub in Asia, is the ideal location to hold the conference because of its infrastructure, capacity to host a massive number of international guests, and the availability of cutting-edge technology and internationally trained medical experts manning their world-class medical facilities.

Sometime within the next month the floor plan or layout for exhibitors at the venue, Hilton Phuket Arcadia Resort & Spa, will be published online and application forms will be available for the exhibitors to download from the Web site. Many pre-conference and post-conference activities have been planned for the conference, which early estimates expect to bring a windfall to Phuket of about $10 million over the two-week period. Interested parties are advised to visit the conference website: www.sosmedicaltourism.com for more information.

Alternatively, for more information call + (66)76-289-800, to request a printable registration brochure by email sosmedical@sosmedicaltourism.com or sosmedical@ymail.com

Date Set for Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress in Dubai: October 27-29, 2009

With the healthcare travel industry poised to play an important part in Dubai's growth strategy, the Institute for International Research (IIR) Middle East, the organizers of the first medical tourism conference in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which concluded in Dubai, recently have reported high levels of interest from a potentially huge international market.

"Research unveiled at the event indicated a global market of around two million medical travelers a year and an industry constrained by hospital capacity and lack of consumer familiarity with medical travel," says Sietske Meerloo, marketing manager at IIR Middle East and organizer of Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress.

IIR Middle East is also the organizer of the Arab Health Exhibition and Congress, the region's premier event for Middle East healthcare that takes place in Dubai 27-29, October, 2009.

“Large numbers of hospitals and clinics around the world are attempting to tailor their health services to cater to medical tourists," Meerloo added. "Several major insurance companies offer a travel component in their policies, and governments are looking closely at policies to take account of the trend."

The health care event was officially opened by Haidar Al Yousuf, M.D., transition director at the Dubai Health Authority, who highlighted the importance the Authority is placing on the future of medical tourism.

"As we look to develop our domestic health strategy, we also want to develop a joint strategy with our colleagues in the Department of Tourism & Commerce Marketing (DTCM), for the future of health tourism in Dubai," says Dr. Al Yousuf. "The health care sector in Dubai will become an increasingly attractive place for international health care investors, providers, services, facilities, and other health care professionals."

PlanetHospital, a California-based leader in medical tourism, used the event as a platform to announce the official opening of its Jeddah Saudi Arabia office to serve inbound and outbound medical tourists from the Arabian Gulf region.

"The Gulf has the potential to drive growth in medical tourism," says Mohammed Alarifi, managing director for the new operation. "It is not only a destination from where patients seek medical care abroad but is also becoming a medical tourism destination itself thanks to major hospital developments throughout the region."

The American Hospital Dubai also had high visibility at the event. There was "a lot of exchange of experience among colleagues from around the world," says Naser Saleh, director of marketing and sales. “On the conference side, the sessions were very informative."

Gary Miller, CEO of Health Travel TV, says the event had been important for them. "We have a unique product, and we’re the only broadcast media here dedicated to this area. I’m coming back to Arab Health in January."

Organized in association with the International Medical Travel Association, the Healthcare Travel Exhibition and Congress was supported by the UAE Ministry of Health and the Health Authority of Abu Dhabi. Platinum sponsors were Singapore Medicine. Gold sponsors were the American Hospital Dubai and Dubai Health Authority.

For details about Arab Health events, please visit: www.arabhealthonline.com