THIS WEEK IN MEDICAL TRAVEL TODAY
Volume 4, Issue 13

by Amanda Haar, Editor

Greetings,

There's an underriding theme to this week's issue: Knowledge is power.

From making sure consumers understand what medical travel is and isn't to dispelling the myths that industry professionals hold about its potential and what role they can fill, knowledge will make us or break us.

I think you'll enjoy this week's interview with Marc LeShay of Premiere Medical Travel and learn how they help organization's use knowledge of their strengths and weaknesses to develop successful strategies. We also have a column from Jack Schafer in which he explores how knowledge gained from the traditional travel industry could (and should) be applied to the medical travel industry.

Plus we have news of new websites designed to give consumers and professionals access to more industry information than ever before.

So get reading. There's lots to learn.

Cheers,

Amanda Haar, Editor
ahaar@cpronline.com

READERS WRITE

Editor's Note: We recently received the following letter in response to a SPOTLIGHT interview with Sarkis Khoury, M.D., of Global Medical Excellence (Issue 12).  

To the Editor:
I need to take issue with the use of the term arbitrage relating to medical tourism in your recent newsletter:

"Dr. Sarkis Khoury (SK): I'm a Professor at the University of California focusing mostly on international markets. I've been researching medical travel since June 2009. At some point it occurred to me that health care costs are perfect candidates for arbitrage.

MTT: Can you explain the principals of arbitrage?

SK: Certainly. Essentially it's the opportunity to buy an asset at a low price then immediately sell it in a different market for a higher price. So, for example, if gold cost $500 in the U.K. and $475 in New York a person will arbitrage the prices. They could buy gold in the U.S. and then sell it in London for a nice, risk-free profit. This eliminates artificially high prices."

With arbitrage, you purchase an asset (currency, stock, etc.) at a low price in one market and sell at a higher price in another market. The goal is to make a profit on the difference.

Health care is a service and not an asset. You seek a lower price abroad in order to obtain the service at a lower price. There is no asset transaction and no financial gain. Your only gain is to obtain the necessary service (e.g., operation) at a lower price and drive personal benefit from this transaction. It does not make sense to refer to arbitrage in relationship to medical tourism.

Bruce A. Friedman, M.D.
Active Emeritus Professor of Pathology
University of Michigan Medical School

Dr. Khoury responds:

Narrowly defined the doctor is correct. But, what he is overlooking is the fact that in any case someone is taking advantage of differences in prices -- some with risk and some without. Global Medical Excellence (GME) has figured out ways to mitigate the risks. GME simply transports the patient to a safe and highly accredited medical facility (by the Joint Commission International) with excellent surgeons, and the saving is realized.  The net effects are that the patient will realize the enormous price advantage without incurring any uninsured risk.

SPOTLIGHT: Marc LeShay, Premiere Medical Travel Corporation

Mark LeShay, President, Premiere Medical Travel Corporation

Medical Travel Today (MTT): Let's start with a little background on yourself and the origins of Premiere Medical Travel Corporation (PMTC).

Marc LeShay (ML): My background is that I'm a Corporate 100 guy. I’ve been working with companies such as Disney, NBC/Universal, Warner Bros., and so on. . I've done a lot of consulting in the area of operational efficiency and strategic planning.

The initial idea for PMTC actually began with company founder Dr. James McCormick while in graduate business school.  It started with us talking about what services we might provide. We then began doing serious research trying to figure out what a company could look like. We did a lot of traveling and looked into how various countries and individual facilitators were looking to attract U.S. consumers.

What we found was that most of the existing strategies — that is, where they existed — were very naïve. This approach of "we want to be all things to all U.S. consumers" is simply not efficient financially and you're never going to get the penetration you need to be successful in the marketing.

MTT: How does PMTC help these organizations bring focus to their strategies?

ML: Most of our current clients are large facilities as well as governments at the local, regional, and national levels. 

Because not everyone is at the same stage of development, we offer a series of services. Typically it begins with a Readiness AnalysisSM that helps us determine how ready a facility is to take on U.S. consumers. The analysis is designed to help identify gaps in services for the consumers, for the referring physicians in the U.S., and insurance reimbursement.

Our most demanded service is our Market Penetration SystemSM and analysis. Penetrating the U.S. market isn't easy, but with our own primary research and secondary research we're able to align a destination, facilitator services, and a consumer profile with almost laser-like precision.  Our goal is to optimize the severely limited marketing budgets prevalent in the industry. We have other systems for our clients as their businesses grow and mature.

MTT: What's the biggest area of need or focus among your clients?

ML: Interestingly enough they need focus on how to get focused.

They tend to specialize in a lot of things, especially those markets that operate under a nationalized medical plan. But not all of those services are applicable to the U.S. demographic. For example, for many destinations there's a long flight required to get there. That means emergent treatments are not appropriate. In those cases we need to look at their portfolio of services and identify the areas of excellence that do make sense to offer to the U.S. consumer.

Another example of an offering that doesn't make sense is stomach stapling. A lot of folks have invested in this area, but this procedure has pretty much been commoditized in the .US. You just can't make it work as an offering abroad.  The product is in the declining stage of its lifecycle. These folks need to find other services to focus on.
We try to get them into a position from being okay at all things for all people to being the best one for a very specific audience. That's how you achieve success: Laser focus.

MTT: Are there any common misperceptions about the U.S. market?

ML: The biggest misperception about the U.S. market has to do with cost.

There's this false assumption that a country/facility can make a go with a premium priced product as long as it's priced below U.S. providers. That's simply not true. Some of the large insurers are able to carve out such deep discounts with U.S. providers that foreign providers really can't compete.

Anthem, for example, has no motivation to send cardiac patients abroad when they can negotiate the same price in the U.S.  The added risk and cost prohibits serious consideration.

Now, there are insured segments that the pricing model does make sense for…small HMOs, for example.

But the idea of getting an Anthem or an Aetna to send patients around the globe is not really going to happen – not in the immediate term. Again, that's just my opinion  based on several hundred hours of analysis and research.

MTT: Can you give us a sense of where most of your clients are based?

ML: All over, but largely the Americas and Asia although we're interested in exploring Eastern Europe.

MTT: No U.S.-based clients?

ML:  We have a few U.S. facilitators. We are valuable to them because they'll have an international client who says, “We want you to get us X-number of Y-procedure patients.” Next thing you know, the facilitator puts up a website. It's what we call a "build it and they will come approach."  What we're able to do is give them some highly refined research that matches their offering with a very precise consumer profile. It’s basic supply and demand alignment. We can look at what they're offering and they say, "Hey, your customer is this age, lives here, makes this much money, and is this gender."  This is what you need to effectively reach consumers— even with a small marketing budget.

MTT: Are there particular marketing vehicles that work especially well?

ML: The industry is not mature enough to view historic data so it's hard to say.  And the Web is particularly hard to assess because of all the various factors that influence how consumers get to a site, how it's optimized, and so forth.

There's an incongruence between the target and the Internet so it's important for us to get clients to think beyond the Web.

For example, many Asian organizations want to go after Asian Americans. They speak the language, they're comfortable with the culture and diet…it's just a lot less work to get them to consider traveling to Asia for care.

So, for example, we'll say to our clients, you want to attract Asian males between the ages of 45-60, with a good socio-economic status.  Before we suggest an ad on the Internet, we'll suggest an ad in a golf magazine.  In many cases a traditional vehicle simply works better. That's not to say we won't also consider texting or Facebook.  The point is to create a strategy that aligns with the target demographic.

MTT: In your recent white paper you drew an analogy between the current state of the medical travel industry and the early stages of e-business. You also made a point about the need for an agreed upon taxonomy in the industry.   How exactly did the e-business industry come to an agreement on taxonomy?

ML: Well, first let's be clear. There are some differences between the industries.  The technology field is heavily governed and has been for a long time. There were standards created and complied because people understood the need for and importance of them. They were essentially given tool sets to do what was needed in the way of taxonomy.      
I used the e-business analogy because the psychological aspects and challenges of the industries are the same. Remember how fearful we were of using credit card online. As consumers, there were challenges and threats. Mass adoption of e-commerce didn't happen until banks and credit card companies stepped in and offered fraud protection. Then technologists stepped in and offered a safe way to do business via encryption and other technologies.  Then there were successes like Amazon. Eventually, people got comfortable with it.

Medical tourism is at the same point. People are curious but fearful. There are still lots of “what-ifs” and risks.  We can look at it intellectually and say it's a good idea, but that alone is not enough. Until we feel safe, we won’t participate.  We’re talking about people’s lives.

We need to work with clients to find ways to take away the large stumbling blocks. At some point participating insurance carriers will cover the liability. For our industry this will be the equivalent of offering fraud protection in e-business.

MTT: PMTC focuses specifically on strategies for attracting U.S. consumers. Why the mono-country focus?

ML: We focused on it because we have a team of medical experts who have been administrators or have practiced medicine in the U.S. and have highly developed specialties. Plus, everyone wants this market. The U.S. spends more on health care than any other country, our system is struggling…we're a great opportunity.

And we have an understanding of this "great opportunity" that others don't.
Right now a lot of people in the industry—especially consultants —are talking with a lot of ambiguities and with vagueness.

There's a "ready, fire, then aim" approach to the industry.

We've spent the time developing a systematic, holistic approach that's designed to change that sequence. We look at everything from getting ready to deliver to penetrating the market to continuous improvement and quality control…it's a highly developed cyclical system that offers a road map to getting at the market.

About Marc LeShay
Marc LeShay holds an M.B.A. in business management from Pepperdine University’s Presidential program and is a seasoned executive and lifelong entrepreneur. Over the past 15 years, Marc has built and branded several successful companies with a client roster that includes notable Fortune 500 entertainment organizations such as NBC/Universal, Disney, Warner Bros. and DIRECTV. Marc is also an adjunct faculty member at Pepperdine University and an active member of the Pasadena Angels investment group.
Please contact Marc at:  marc.leshay@premieremedicaltravel.com

THINKING OUT LOUD: Jack Schafer

Jack Schafer, P.E., Industry Consultant

This is a column that might educate you, annoy you, or simply get you thinking. Most of the subjects that I'll bring up are topics that, on a good day, I could argue from either side.

The purpose here is not to express a firm opinion, but to open options for continued dialogue. I do not claim to be an expert on every topic that I bring up, but I'm willing to kick a sacred belief if I believe it needs kicking. Think of me as one of your many partners in the medical tourism industry and this space is where I'm just thinking out loud.

Medical Travel: One more chance to get it right

Medical travel has put enough years behind it to allow a side-by-side evaluation against earlier projections – and give us a chance to see how far we’ve come. We could go as far back as Ancient Egypt and look at the images left behind depicting travelers arriving on boats with surgical equipment, but, for the sake of simplicity, let’s go back about five years.

Perhaps the best measure of industry growth combines the number of clients, sales volume, and profits. When I started as a facilitator three years ago, there were more than one million Americans going abroad for medical or surgical procedures – and it was a $5 Billion industry projected to grow to $20 Billion this year. Those of us who developed our business models based on these predictions have had to do a lot of three-step dancing: One step forward, two steps back.  Overall, those projected numbers were about 25 percent inflated. Once you get past the smoke and mirrors, the real growth lies in the number of those taking part in the industry. Clearly, many of us still believe in the future of medical travel.

When I first got involved, I conducted an informal survey at the mall, asking 35—55 year-old shoppers what they knew about medical travel. Four out of five (80 percent) had never heard of it, but showed interest when I gave them my elevator pitch.  Last month I went back to the same mall and asked the same question – with identical results. That means that today 80 percent of our potential clients do not know we exist. The good news is that this time around almost everyone I polled wanted to hear more and asked for my business card.
Medical travel is a valuable product in our current sagging economy – and our clients know it. So what are we doing wrong? The providers are in place, waiting for the marketing machine to deliver results. We are able to offer outstanding medical facilities and care around the world. Some of the most recognizable facilities — Johns Hopkins, Mayo, Harvard, Stanford – deliver care overseas without relying on facilitators. In fact, the international director at one of the Latin American hospitals I work with told me that his department handles more patients directly from calls and Internet contact than all of his facilitators combined.

The clock is ticking. Right now medical travel facilitators have a golden opportunity to make the final push to the finish line in terms of achieving this industry’s full potential.  

To read the rest of this piece, click here.

About Jack Schafer
Jack Schafer, P.E., is an industry consultant, with a combined 23 years in medical travel and international leisure tours. As the owner of Global Surgery Providers, Inc. (a U.S.-based facilitator), he is an expert at breaking complex components into enjoyable little pieces. He sees nothing but the greatest potential in the future of the medical travel industry and is an outspoken advocate for developing public awareness.  

INDUSTRY NEWS

Costa Rica Puts Brakes on Popular Stem Cell Tourism

Costa Rica (Reuters) - Costa Rica is cracking down on an unauthorized stem cell clinic that has attracted hundreds of foreigners seeking relief from degenerative diseases and serious injuries.

Better known for its idyllic tropical beaches and lush cloud forests, Costa Rica's many hospitals and clinics have made medical tourism one of the fastest growing segments of its tourism sector, the motor of its economy.

To read the complete story, click here.

Medical Tourism Facilitators Can Now Add Their Details on www.TourNCare.com

Medical Tourism Social networking site, www.TourNCare.com announced a new feature that allows medical tourism facilitators to add their company details and medical tourists to search for facilitators by their needs. TourNCare is hopeful that this new feature will help medical tourists and facilitators.

This new feature has multiple levels of validations to check the validity of the medical tourism company.

Medical Tourists and visitors to TourNCare are currently using the 'Find Hospitals' feature to find hospitals in popular medical tourism destinations.

About TourNCare
www.TourNCare.com is a social networking site for all medical tourists, hospitals and medical tourism facilitators. Medical Tourists may post their experiences online to help other medical tourists to make informed decisions.

Prospective medical tourists can find hospitals and medical tourism facilitators.

Medical Tourism Facilitators can be more visible by adding their information to TourNCare's database.

Europe4health Launches New Medical Tourism Site for Europe

(I-Newswire) - The wide variations across the globe of all the above factors has meant that health care travel and personal health is now all about choices, and people are choosing to combine their travel and vacationing with their health care needs, and saving money at the same time.

Europe4health is a medical tourism platform that has been established by core professionals with extensive knowledge and expertise in the sensitive and complex industry of health care. Using their vast experience in managing hospitals, leading clinics and hospitals towards accreditation, and surveying their policies and procedures based on international standards, they have developed a platform whereby health care travelers can optimize their search for secure and quality services in the health care industry within Europe.

Europe4Health aims to showcase the positive aspects of going to Europe for medical, health care, and wellness needs, and specifically the services, treatments, and facilities that the medical and health care providers have to offer. International patients are able to search the platform for a provider throughout Europe of the treatment that they are seeking, and even communicate with them to have specific questions answered before they are ready to make an informed choice.

The website has many features with searches, information, health-related news, and much more.

To view the new Europe4health website please visit: http://www.europe4health.com

Veiovis Launches GlobalAccess

TAMUNING, Guam, June 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Veiovis, a trailblazer in the medical travel industry, launches its first branded product for individual consumers. Its Veiovis GlobalAccess adds to a growing array of Veiovis products and services that meets the needs of both employer groups and insurance companies on the one hand, and individuals on the other.

"Veiovis GlobalAccess was innovated precisely in response to today's consumer, who demands direct access to the best medicine the world has to offer," says Joseph Husslein, president and CEO of Veiovis.  "Patients themselves – not just their employers or their insurance companies – are more globally and medically aware.  Veiovis GlobalAccess has innovated a way to give individual consumers more control over their medical travel options."

Veiovis GlobalAccess is the company's high-quality, low-cost solution for individual patients seeking one-time access to its medical travel services. Veiovis GlobalAccess allows individual patients to tap into Veiovis' international network of world-class medical providers, doctors, and travel and concierge partners to avail of the best, fully coordinated medical care.

According to John Runge, the company's director of International Development,  "Veiovis GlobalAccess will appeal to a variety of individuals, such as those with limited or no health insurance, Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) or high deductibles; or those seeking a single medical procedure that, even with insurance, is not easily or affordably accessed locally."

High success rates, ease of travel pre- and post-treatment, and manageable aftercare procedures make medical travel a viable option for a host of medical treatments. Procedures that are frequently sought overseas include: cardiovascular surgery – such as heart bypass and heart valve replacement; orthopedic surgery – such as hip replacement and knee replacement; cosmetic surgery – such as breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, abdominoplasty or tummy tuck, and face lift; women's health services, such as hysterectomy; and vision correction procedures such as Lasik surgery.

Veiovis GlobalAccess offers all-inclusive package rates that cover doctor and hospital fees, diagnostics and pharmaceuticals, hospitalization costs, and patient aftercare. Even with the cost of travel and hotel accommodation, the Veiovis GlobalAccess package rates offer significant savings compared to the cost of the same procedure performed in the United States.

Veiovis is a global health care partner for the patient-traveler who seeks an uncomplicated, pleasurable experience in customized, coordinated health care between domestic and overseas doctors and hospitals. The evolutionary result of TakeCare Insurance's 20-year experience in overseas patient care, Veiovis brings a proven track record in delivering significant cost-savings to patients and businesses while also providing them access to excellent international medical providers and delivering high patient satisfaction.  Veiovis facilitates medical travel that is strongly anchored in expert global health care management, meeting and exceeding the international community's and the United States' highest standards of excellence.

Veiovis has presence in Seattle, Wash., and Manila, Philippines, with a hub in the United States Pacific Ocean Territory of Guam, U.S.A. – only a few short flight hours away from most major Asian medical destinations.

The Veiovis global network includes internationally accredited hospitals in North America, New Zealand, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea, Japan, and the Philippines.

Visit the Veiovis web site at www.veiovis.com

Low cost, high quality European dentistry has arrived in the UK with savings of up to 70%

In an innovative and groundbreaking move, Perfect Profiles UK has brought low cost
European dentistry to the UK by opening the first UK based clinic to offer high quality dental treatment at European prices saving patients up to 70% on private dental costs.  
 
Working with its Budapest dental partner, the Vital Center, the new UK Clinic is the first of its kind to offer patients the same high standards of dental care available abroad by bringing
highly qualified teams of Hungarian dentists to the UK to its brand new clinic. Dental patients no longer need to leave the country, not only saving on treatment costs but travel costs and time too.  
 
Perfect Profiles, have been sending patients to Hungary for dental treatment for over eight years and this new clinic, conveniently located close to London and major transport routes, means patients no longer have to travel abroad for low cost, high quality dental treatment.
 
Mike Silford, Managing Director of Perfect Profiles UK says: “we opened in the UK because after 8 years experience of sending patients overseas for dental treatment, we wanted to demonstrate that it is possible for dentists in the UK to provide low cost, high quality treatment for domestic patients. We are proud to be in the forefront of this radical change of offering dental treatments in the UK, at prices patients can afford and remaining competitive with costs found overseas.”
 
Hungarian dentists have a well deserved reputation for being among the best trained and
highly skilled dentists in the world and this innovative approach to providing low-cost
dentistry to UK patients and with teeth whitening from £199 and implants costing from £680 it is no wonder the clinic is already proving to be a big success.
 
Consultations and treatments at the clinic include cosmetic dentistry, bridge work and of
course the Hollywood Smile using veneers, crowns, bridge work and teeth whitening.
Implants and complicated restorations including bone grafting are also available. Patients
can have the treatment the same day if they wish. For those wishing to stay overnight there are numerous good value hotels close by.

Makewell Meditour Helps Nigerian Family Find a Facility to Perform Rare Separation Surgery for Conjoined Twins

(PRWEB) June 18, 2010 -- Makewell Meditour Ltd. http://www.make-well.com/, a pioneer in India’s medical tourism industry lived up to its tagline - “Connecting you to good health” when it successfully organised the surgery that gave a new life to eight-month-old, co-joined Nigerian twins.

The eight-month-old twins shared a common gut from the duodenum to the end of the small intestine; along with having interconnected large intestines and blood vessels, the twin girls also shared a common liver and gall bladder. Understandably, the surgery to separate them was going to be an extremely complex one and to a large extent beyond the reach of their father, Emmanuel Adugbe who works in an ice cream factory and mother, Comfort Adugbe, a housewife.

With the ratio of such occurrences being one in every 1,00,000, the rarity and complexity of the surgery was not in their favour and the parents approached Makewell – an ISO certified company, in November 2009 to enquire about the medical facilities available in India. The team from Makewell realised that the success rate of such operations is only 30% and conducted a due diligence on what the best route would be while ensuring the comfort and peace of mind of the family with the progress they were making with their research.

Through the company’s networking with the best medical practices, leading healthcare institutions and doctors, most of whom have received overseas medical training and are widely acclaimed for their medical acumen; they ensured complete care of family’s medical procedures at a fraction of what it would cost anywhere.

After months of dedicated search, Makewell presented this case to the Narayana Hrudayalaya Woman and Child Institute, which agreed to conduct the complex surgery. Many surgeons who were part of this had operated on Lakshmi Tatma in 2007, born with her partially formed parasitic twin and had eight limbs. A team of 24 doctors operated on co-joined Nigerian twins, Peace and Patience Adugbe, and successfully separated them despite their complex internal anatomy.

The success of this operation is a big achievement for Makewell that is setting itself apart through the provision of its professional services and its end to end solutions provision – a service which they provided this family by taking care of and organising not only the surgery but also the passports, visas and all their travel arrangements.

The personalised care, hospitality and quick response time to an urgent medical situation provided to this family by Makewell and the entire medical team is a true example of the leading medical facilities available in India today. Parents of the girls have expressed their gratitude to India and specifically to Makewell for making it possible for their girls to have a normal life. CEO of Makewell Meditour Ltd., Mr. Sandeep Khemka has to say - "It feels great that we worked on this case. It further strengthens the fact that India is indeed an apt medical tourism destination; truly a milestone for the company as well because sometimes satisfaction comes from going beyond the call of the duty.”

Global Health Resource Raises the Standards of Medical Tourism

(I-Newswire) June 15, 2010 - Frankfurt, Germany - A newly formed resource group named Global Health Resource has just promised to raise the standard of care, and safety for patients seeking medical attention abroad.

The CEO, Mr. Daniel Beyer made the following comment: “ I have seen many people seeking medical help in other countries but the results always seemed to me to be a hit or miss affair. Patients often don’t know how to go about arranging treatment abroad, what dangers there are and what pitfalls they may encounter. There is a whole range of companies offering their services, but there is no guarantee as to how you will be looked after and what kind of treatment you will receive once you have arrived. This is something we at Global Health Resource want to change”

When asked what makes Global Health Resource different to other companies Mr. Beyer replied “Global Health Resource has a team of some of the top active clinicians in their field. As doctors, they are committed to offering the best possible care to their patients. They make certain that patients are looked after in an exclusive and professional way. They are personally familiar with the facilities we recommend and, more often than not, they will be the physician handling the case.”

Global Health Resource’s mission is to make state of the art equipment and world class doctors from around the globe available to their clients, making high quality treatment available at an affordable price.

Although the company is relatively new, the Global Health Resource team has over 2 decades of experience in providing high quality health care to overseas patients.

Mr. Beyer also announced plans to launch a new program directed at helping patients from developing countries forced to seek specialist treatment abroad.

Mr. Beyer: “Global Health Resource is designed to cater for the wants of those who can afford luxury treatment abroad and also for the needs of those who have no choice but to look for treatment outside of their home country.”

To find out more please visit www.globalhealthresource.org

Contact: Daniel Beyer Gerlachstrasse 29d 65926 Frankfurt dbeyer@globalhealthresouce.org
Tel: +49 17662336227

National Health Options Creates First Private National Health Care Assistance Program for Employers, Individuals Who Are Underinsured or Uninsured

Mt. Kisco, N.Y. – June 2010 -- National Health Options (NHO), http://www.nationalhealthoptions.com, announces the first health care assistance program of its kind designed to offer an affordable, accessible, and comprehensive solution for Americans, employers, groups, and associations -- including an estimated 47 million people who are underinsured or unemployed.  NHO provides access to high quality health care products and services that can improve individual health and welfare.

“The Congressional Budget Office estimates that reform legislation will eventually cover 32 million more Americans, leaving 23 million uninsured by 2019,” says Richard Lungen, president of NHO.  “Similar to ‘big box’ retail shopping clubs for purchasing merchandise at a lower cost, NHO offers convenient, cost-effective options to access prescription drugs and health care services through a private network of nearly one million dentists, physicians, and other health care professionals.  Nobody is excluded, including non-citizens or those with pre-existing conditions.”

Marketed directly to consumers and through insurance brokers, third-party administrators, and channel partners, NHO’s private label, custom health care programs can mirror or supplement traditional employer benefit plans.  NHO has assembled best practice companies into a single platform:

• Pharmacy Benefits Card: Thousands of brand name and generic drugs at significant discounts up to 50 percent including tiered co-pay programs.
• Competitive premiums:  Limited liability and short-term medical, hospitalization coverage, discount dental, telemedicine, medical tourism.
• Programs that include guaranteed issue, price transparency, immediate coverage, NO declines.
• Bilingual advocacy and customer support.
• Telemedicine: Telephone “house calls” from board certified licensed physicians eliminate wait times for office visits and reduce costly ER visits.
• Reloadable debit card (no-credit check):  Member or employer funded, used for any purchase, including the monthly health care assistance program, coming soon.

“We took more than 60 years of health insurance and human resources experience to create the single best solution available anywhere in the country,” says Lungen. “Market receptivity is already palpable.”

About National Health Options
National Health Options is the nation’s first membership-based, health care assistance program of its kind designed to offer a comprehensive, retail solution offering multiple options for accessing high quality, affordable health care products and services. Visit http://www.nationalhealthoptions.com.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Destination Health Rescheduled for June 26-27, 2010

Destination Health, a consumer event for the growing numbers of people
planning on and interested in travelling abroad for health and medical treatments, has confirmed new dates after having to cancel the original event because of the effect of the volcanic ash cloud. 

Visitors can come to the show for free if they pre-register on the Destination Health website www.destinationhealth.co.uk.

All the original exhibitors will be attending the event, which will give potential medical tourists the opportunity to meet doctors and personnel from around the world, compare and discuss treatment options and attend seminars on all aspects of medical tourism including fertility treatment, tips and advice on everything the medical traveler needs to know, medical travel insurance and many other subjects.

Destination Health has been launched to help the increasing numbers of British medical tourists find out all they need to know about travelling aboard for health and medical treatment. The two-day event will showcase top hospitals, clinics, and spas from around the globe giving visitors the opportunity to meet doctors and medical specialists, get free advice, and explore various treatment options abroad including cosmetic surgery, dental treatments, the growing trend for obesity surgery and fertility treatments -- among others. 

With a large amount of exhibitors at the event it will be easy for potential patients to easily find the type of medical specialists they are looking for. The event is divided into different areas to include sections for dentistry and cosmetic surgery, fertility and conception, medical spa and wellness and general treatments and procedures and the organizers, Bluewater Events, are expecting a large audience.

Nav Mann, event director says: “Interest from exhibitors and consumers in the event indicates that we expect a high turnout and hope that Destination Health will become a popular annual event for the medical tourism businesses and consumers alike.”

www.destinationhealth.co.uk

The Second Malta Medical Tourism Summit by Europe Business Assembly  

The second Malta Medical Tourism Summit, June 26, 2010, St. Julians (Malta) at the Corinthia San Gorg Hotel and Business Centre, is set to bring together many senior figures within the industry.

The events of the forum will be held under intellectual and organizing support of the Government of the Republic as well as leading medical institutions of Malta - St. James and St. Phillip Hospitals.

The official organizer of the summit Europe Business Assembly (United Kingdom) under the auspices of 'Malta Enterprise' Corporation (Malta).

The Europe Business Assembly (EBA) is an independent international project-development and management organization.  

Our international panel of expert speakers will be sharing their thoughts and experiences on topics such as:

-The dynamics of the current medical tourism marketplace
-Implementation of cross border healthcare collaborations
-Regulation and accreditation, currently and in the future
-More effective marketing, addressing the issues and capitalizing on the opportunities

To view the current agenda and speaker list, visit: www.ebaoxford.co.uk/Malta_Medical_programme_06_10.html.

Medical Travel Meeting Brazil Scheduled for August 25-28, 2010

Joe Carabello, President and CEO of CPR Strategic Marketing Communications and Publisher of Medical Travel Today, to Address “Keys to Raising Awareness and Generating Consumer and Business Inquiries for Medical Travel to Brazil”

The medical travel industry is estimated to be worth $60 billion globally.
Aiming to encourage this new market in Brazil, the "Medical Meeting Travel Brazil" will take place between August 25-28, 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Sao Paulo (SP). This is the first international event in the country that will generate business opportunities for healthcare operators, brokers and international facilitators, in addition to presenting the excellence of Brazilian medicine and its hospitals to the world. The meeting will feature national and international markets and the presence of the key players and buyers.
 
Joe Carabello, President and CEO of CPR Strategic Marketing Communications and Publisher of Medical Travel Today (www.medicaltraveltoday.com) will address the subject of Marketing Communications and PR:  The Keys to Raising Awareness and Generating Consumer and Business Inquiries.
 
From Social Networking to media relations and email campaigns, getting the word out to prospective individual customers and business clients is essential. This presentation will provide some guidelines for achieving media attention that drives interest – and business – to Brazil.


Attendees will learn:
- What works with US editors – both consumer and business trade media.
- “How To” - reach B2C and B2B editors and reporters - print, TV and electronic
- How to target appropriate US geographical areas to generate optimal interest.
- What to say - what not to say regarding Brazil.
- How to launch an email campaign.
- How to capitalize on the new social media opportunities.

Schedule e registration: http://www.medicaltravelmeetingbrazil.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/mtmbrazil

Asian Countries Unite for Medical Tourism in IMWell Summit
With the Philippines spearheading the initiative for Asia to be a regional hub for health, wellness, and retirement, representatives of different Asian countries including India, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore are set to gather in the International Summit on Medical Travel, Wellness and Retirement (IMWell Summit) on October 12-15, 2010, at the Makati Shangri-La Hotel to discuss the most important issues in global health care.

A convergence of health care, hospitality, and travel industry leaders, the IMWell Summit is envisioned to be a forum for different countries to hold multilateral dialogues and discuss how they can cooperate for the region to further develop medical and wellness tourism.

“Without question, medical travel has significantly transformed the face of global health care,” says Undersecretary Cynthia Carrion, who heads the Department of Tourism’s Office for Sports and Wellness. “The pool of patients around the world seeking medical treatment abroad has grown, with increasing cost efficiency and adoption of advanced medical technology overseas. This presents a huge opportunity for us, and it is only fitting that the Philippines is hosting the IMWell Summit, as we have already proven our country to be an emerging powerhouse as a health and wellness destination.”

According to the Department of Tourism, the number of overseas patients and clients visiting the Philippines has rapidly increased from 60,000 foreign patients in 2007 to about 100,000 foreign patients in 2008 and gross revenues estimated to be at US$350mn since the program was launched in 2006. In light of this booming phenomenon, the Department of Tourism expects the Philippines to corner a total of US$3bn of the global medical tourism industry by 2015, with 200,000 foreign patients arriving annually.

“The IMWell Summit demonstrates that the Philippines is at the forefront of this ‘sunrise’ industry, which has been a key driver in our economic growth. As a pioneering initiative in the whole region, it also establishes our pro-active stance in cooperating with our neighboring countries and making them partners in medical tourism,” says Joyce Alumno, Conference director.

The four-day event features a full agenda that includes plenary sessions on Industry Perspectives, Opportunities and Risks; Regional Presentation of Best Practices; Global Opportunities in the Retirement Industry; Marketing and Branding for Global Markets; Quality Management and the Continuity of Care; and the Future of Medical Tourism and Healthcare Travel Industry.

The IMWell Summit also includes Executive Workshops about Balanced Score Card in Healthcare Organization and Effective Leadership Styles in Healthcare Organization. Four break-out conference tracks will be presented: Quality in Healthcare, Marketing, Investment and Capacity Building, and Retirement, giving an in-depth look at each specific aspect of medical and wellness tourism.

“We have ensured that the program of the IMWell Summit is comprehensive and at the same time attuned to the needs and gaps in information of this growing field. By gathering the region’s leading policy makers, decision makers, and solution providers, we aim to redefine, redesign, and refine health care delivery around the world,” stated Sanjiv Malik, M.D., a renowned international guru in medical tourism, who sits as the Conference Honorary chairman.

The Advisory Board and Speakers of the IMWell Summit include prominent leaders in their fields of expertise, including David Vequist, M.D., of the Center for Medical Tourism Research (USA), Dato Jacob Thomas of the Association of Private Hospitals in Malaysia, Nipit Piravej, M.D., of Bangkok Chain Hospital (Thailand), Ares Leung, M.D., of Union Hospital (Hong Kong), Sam Bernal, M.D., of Cedar Sinai and The Medical City (USA and Philippines), Samie Lim of Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industries, Girdhar J. Gyani, M.D., of the National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (India), Jeff Staples, M.D., of Parkwayhealth (China), Tony Gibson of the Australian Human Resource Institute, Henry Schumacher of the European Chamber of Commerce, and others.

“Aside from our powerhouse line-up of speakers and advisors, what makes the IMWell Summit truly exceptional is the fact that it’s a pioneering event in regional cooperation. It is the first of its kind to present the global state of health care, explore current and future opportunities in medical tourism, and map out a strategy for the growth of the entire industry,” adds Alumno.

The IMWell Summit is produced and organized by HIM Communications, in collaboration with the Department of Tourism as Host, and supported by the Department of Health, Department of Trade and Industry, Retirement and Healthcare Coalition, Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Spa Association of the Philippines, with HealthCORE and Asian Academy for Healthcare Executives as Knowledge Partners.

For more information about the event, please visit www.IMWellSummit.com, or call (63 2) 910.8030 or 468.9999, or email info@himcommunications.com