THIS WEEK IN MEDICAL TRAVEL TODAY
Volume 4, Issue 7

by Amanda Haar, Editor

Hurry up and wait.

That might be the best motto for medical travel professionals to apply to the outcome of the newly passed U.S. health care reform bill.

While designed to reduce health care costs for most Americans, the bill looks to increase premium costs for self-insured individuals making $88,000 or more per year. It also has the potential to increase wait time for procedures (adding 32 million people to a pool tends to have that effect), and no one is quite clear on how the physician shortage will be addressed.

Will those factors conspire to make medical travel more attractive to the self-insured making $88,000 or more a year? How big is that group? How big will that group be in five years? Ten years? And what about those making less than $88,000 who aren't willing to wait for a procedure? How many of them are there? And how much are they willing to spend for care when they want it?

Certainly health care reform promises a lot of answers for a lot of Americans. But for those of us in medical travel, we have no choice but to hurry up and wait for the answers we seek.

As always, we welcome your comments, story ideas, and press releases.

Cheers,

Amanda Haar, Editor
ahaar@cpronline.com

IMPACT: Healthcare Reform and Medical Travel

Editor's Note: Because of the great interest in the potential impact of American healthcare reform on global medical travel, Medical Travel Today is introducing a new section devoted to the topic. For the next several months, we will reserve the opening section of the newsletter for opinion pieces on the subject.

We invite readers to share their thoughts and concerns and respond to the ideas presented here. To submit a piece, please email: ahaar@cpronline.com.

Laura Carabello, Publisher and Executive Editor, Medical Travel Today

Health care reform may be a “done deal” in the minds of many, but it appears that at least thirteen states will challenge the constitutionality of the health care overhaul passed this week by the U.S. House, though this may be more political theater than a challenge with teeth. 

Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum has been vocal on the issue, contending that the legislation places a burden on already cash-strapped states to fund an expanded Medicaid program and build a new insurance exchange so that individuals can find affordable insurance. Florida is being joined by Texas, Colorado, Louisiana, Michigan, South Carolina, Pennsylvania, North and South Dakota, Alabama, Nebraska, Utah, and Washington in a lawsuit that was filed by their state attorneys general just minutes after President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (H.R. 3590) into law.

The counter proposals and heated debates are likely to carry forward for the next decade. Despite the uncertainty, many basic issues are a sure bet, and these items will have a positive impact on the business of medical travel, both domestic and international:

Access to care will be compromised:  With so many new entrants having insurance, the pressure on a declining number of physicians, especially in primary care, will result in longer wait times for care.  This has proven to be the case in Massachusetts where similar reforms have been in place and health insurance is mandated.  The word is that it often takes 60 days or more to get an appointment with a physician.

Inevitably, prices will rise and quality will go down.  Individuals who require medical attention are likely to turn to medical travel as a viable and quality alternative to “waiting it out” in the U.S.  They may also seek U.S. hospitals that do not have waits.

Health care reform will do little to control the problem of spiraling costs: Health care reform was initially conceived as a solution to both the impending insolvency of the Medicare program in 2018 and as a means of expanding coverage to those who are uninsured. It has morphed into legislation primarily directed to expanding coverage for the uninsured, but is not expected to control costs. The true causes of our system’s escalating health care costs have not been addressed directly by this legislation.

Conversely, the cost of care outside the U.S. appears to remain stable, with savings of 50 to 80 percent on some procedures.  Medical travel will continue to present less expensive options for quality care.

 “Regulating premiums won’t do anything to reduce the soaring costs of medical care. This would be like capping the prices automakers can charge consumers but letting the steel, rubber, and technology manufacturers charge the automakers whatever they want.” 
-Karen Ignagni, Wall Street Journal, February 23, 2010

U.S. hospital labor costs will continue to rise:  Hospital care in the United States is the biggest driver of overall health care spending growth, accounting for 33 percent of every health care dollar spent.  The cost of labor is the single most important factor for the accelerated growth in spending and, according to a report from the  American Hospital Association*, accounts for more than half of the growth in the cost of purchased goods and services.  Foreign hospitals, on the other hand, are not contending with these extraordinary labor costs and may be better positioned to hold down their pricing. Medical travelers will be the beneficiaries and will look forward to accessing less expensive options for quality care. 

*American Hospital Association, “The Cost of Caring’’, March 2010

Domestic medical travel:  Some hospitals within the U.S. that have excess capacity, offer centers of excellence – and can surmount this “labor cost” problem -- will be in  a better position to match the pricing of foreign hospitals.

The key is to find waste in the system. For instance, if the clerical tasks being performed by an RN could be shifted to a clerk or business staffer, an institution may be able to increase productivity, lower operational expenses, and match the pricing points offered by foreign hospitals.  As a result, they can expect to attract and serve Americans who live outside of the hospital’s immediate catchment area and are willing to travel long distances to access less expensive – yet high quality – care.  This emergence of “domestic medical travel” is a new market phenomenon that is gaining traction.

Non-covered benefits:  Cost containment strategies under health care reform may increase the scope of non-covered benefits for many Americans – plastic surgery, gastric bypass, and dental procedures are three examples where Americans have been willing to travel for affordable, high-quality care.  This is likely to accelerate in the coming years, with or without health reform.

Additionally, there may be procedures that are not yet FDA-approved but are available outside our borders.  Stem cell procedures or HIFU (ultrasound treatment for prostate cancer) come to mind as examples in this category.  Look for a bump in medical travel volume among those facing end-of-life diseases.

Existing coverage will be affected:   The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that employers will drop coverage for five million people, forcing them to purchase individual insurance. Not only is this a disruption, but many of these people will face further disruption when the insurance they subsequently purchase will require them to find new primary care physicians as their existing physicians may not have contracts with the new plans. Many will choose to travel to another area where medical care is more readily available, especially for annual physicals that can be accessed for extremely reasonable fees.

Uninsured will not really get coverage:  While it is true that those who are currently uninsured will have greater access to coverage than they did prior to reforms -- through a combination of government subsidies and Medicaid eligibility -- the employer and individual mandates create bizarre incentives that will lead to many people with coverage today to elect to go without insurance.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated that five million people will lose employer-sponsored health coverage as a result of the legislation. These individuals will then determine if they want to pay upwards of $5,000 annually to have individual insurance vs. paying a modest penalty and purchasing basic care out-of-pocket. If they elect to go without insurance, these individuals will always have the option of obtaining insurance if/when they get really sick because of guaranteed issue requirements. This creates a situation where only those who are sick will purchase insurance, driving up insurance prices for everyone.

The bottom line in this scenario is that medical travel becomes very attractive.  The out-of-pocket expenses are cut to the bone (pardon the expression), easing the strain on one’s pocketbook.  This could become one of the most fertile areas for the industry.

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SPOTLIGHT: James Frederick and Lydia Gan, Medical Tourism Research Center

James R. Frederick, assistant professor of Economics, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Editor's Note: Based at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke, the recently founded Medical Tourism Research Center has an ambitious mission: "to facilitate research on medical tourism by highlighting current research on medical tourism and sources of information, and by encouraging collaboration among researchers in this field."

To learn more about how the Center aims to fulfill its mission, Medical Travel Today spoke with the founders Professor James Frederick and Lydia Gan.

Medical Travel Today (MTT): Let's begin with your background. How did you get interested in medical travel?
James Frederick (JF): There are two areas of economics that interests me. The first is international trade and finance. The second is health care. They're rather different areas, but I originally got into health economics through the back door. I worked for four years as a research statistician for the Michigan Cancer Foundation.  That gave me a good exposure to the different types of data that can be collected and what can be learned. A colleague then suggested doing a little work on medical tourism. My colleague had, in fact, been a medical tourism patient so she had first-hand knowledge on the different aspects that could be researched and measured.

Lydia Gan, research coordinator, University of North Carolina at Pembroke

MTT: How did the idea for a research center devoted to medical travel first develop?
JF: We wanted to have a way of getting people interested in the surveys we're doing and we wanted to formalize and legitimize the data collection.  The Center serves that purpose for us.

MTT: How many people currently work in the Center?
JF: We're just getting started so there's myself, my colleague, Dr. Lydia Gan, plus a few student workers.  We have other colleagues on campus who have expressed an interest in assisting.  Frankly, there's been more collaboration than we anticipated. Folks from the business department are very interested in medical travel -- not so much the quantifiable data but rather how the industry works. It's a unique type of off-shoring that the students can put their minds around and understand.  It really offers a great teaching opportunity.
Lydia Gan (LG): We're running the Center part-time now.  We're in the process of searching for grants that will allow us to hire more workers to help with the daily operation of the Center.

MTT: What is the purpose of your research?
JF:  There are lots of directions this could go.  One thing we're hoping to do is discover what the barriers to medical travel are and figure out what kind of policies might be put in place to facilitate it.

We certainly anticipate that cultural barriers exist.  But perhaps more intriguing are the perceptual barriers on the part of Americans. In addition, there are some institutional barriers to address.  These tend to be specific legal questions, such as what happens if something goes wrong?  Patients tend to ignore these questions but it's a big, big issue for employers and insurers.

MTT: For whom will that data be of most interest or use?
JF: Some of it will be of interest to facilitators, especially the information on consumer perceptions. What we learn could be extremely beneficial to facilitators.
The other interested group is policy makers. I think they'll be interested in the current impediments to medical travel. There's a lot of effort going on in policy circles to get more coverage for disadvantaged populations. I think they might find that care abroad could be a good option for these groups. The price differential is significant and the quality of care is there.

MTT:Are you intending to add classes related to medical travel to your curriculum?
JF: We do have a class in health economics in which we cover medical travel and tourism.  We also discuss it in our economics classes as it illustrates a number of important economic disciplines and principles. In one discussion we can cover international economics, supply-and-demand, the effects of substitutes, the effects of income and pricing, and so on.

What's interesting is that most students are surprised to hear of Americans going abroad for care.  They have a perception that third-world medical care is of very low quality.  But once we introduce the whole idea of JCI accreditation and ISQua, they come around and accept the idea.
LG: We also want to host a symposium that brings in practitioners and academics to highlight and discuss issues related to medical tourism.  We're hoping that one of the grants we are applying for will help with the costs of the symposium.

MTT: What research are you currently engaged in?
JF: We have two surveys currently underway. The first is a consumer survey geared toward those considering medical travel. The second is a survey aimed at medical travel facilitators and service providers.  Both surveys are available at our website and we'll provide participants with a summary of the final data.

It looks as if we will post another survey for medical travel professionals later this year, but we're not going to change the consumer survey for a while.

About James Frederick
James R. Frederick is an assistant professor of Economics in the School of Business at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke (UNCP). He teaches a variety of Economics courses, including Health Economics, International Economics, and Statistics. Before joining the faculty of the UNCP, Jim was a research statistician at the Michigan Cancer Foundation (now called the Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute) from 1984 to 1988.
Dr. Frederick received his bachelor's degree from the University of Michigan in 1970, his M.A. in Economics from Wayne State University in 1973, and his Ph.D. in Economics from Wayne State University in 1983.

About Lydia Gan
Dr. Lydia Gan is currently an associate professor of the Department of Economics, Finance, and Decision Sciences, School of Business, University of North Carolina at Pembroke.  Prior to that, she was an assistant professor in Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, from 1998-2007 and assistant research fellow at Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research in Taipei, Taiwan, from 1986-1988.   She received her Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas in 1997, and earned both her Masters of Science and Bachelor of Arts degrees in Economics from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale.  Her current research interests in medical tourism include the four modes of medical tourism, focusing on estimating its demand and cost comparisons across countries and regions, and consumers’ motivation and impediments to medical tourism.  She is also interested in the industrial organizational aspects and strategic partnership of key market players such as medical tourism facilitators, U.S. and foreign health care providers, and U.S. employers and insurance companies. 

INDUSTRY NEWS

Boobs and Balls: Medical Tourism Companies Cashing in on World Cup

By Fadela Slamdien

Football fans wanting to get their boobs - or other bits - enhanced while visiting sunny South Africa to enjoy a bit of World Cup action, are being offered a host of discounted medical tourism packages.
Packages include cosmetic surgery, spa treatments, plus accommodation while they recover - and guided tours also thrown in.

To read the rest of this story, click here.

Georgia Firm Adds Medical Travel to Cut Costs, Provide Options for Workers

Columbia, S.C. – IDMI Systems Inc., a developer of automation software for the insurance industry based in Warner Robins, Ga., has contracted with Companion Global Healthcare® Inc. of Columbia, S.C., to offer an international medical travel option in its employee health plan.

IDMI employees and dependents covered by the company’s self-funded health plan now are eligible for certain medical procedures at Companion Global Healthcare (www.CompanionGlobalHealthcare.com) network hospitals at prices up to 80 percent lower than those at U.S. facilities. Companion Global Healthcare’s international network includes 29 hospitals and four dental clinics located around the world. All network hospitals are accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), and most have U.S. board-certified physicians on staff.

“Adding medical tourism to our employee benefit plan through Companion Global Healthcare is a win-win for employees and IDMI,” says Bill Ford, IDMI’s director of Risk Management. “Companion provides a first-class international hospital network that our employees and dependents can access, yielding significant savings and value to IDMI and to the employee participants.”

Companion Global Healthcare is a full-service medical travel facilitator that works with individual patients as well as self-insured companies that offer medical tourism benefits in their employee health plans. Companion Global Healthcare provides patients who visit its network hospitals with round-trip customer care, serving as a single launch point for appointments, travel arrangements, case management, medical travel insurance, arrangements for follow-up care, and help with claims filing.

David Boucher, Companion Global Healthcare’s president, said an employer can save thousands of dollars in medical costs each time an employee chooses treatment at a Companion Global Healthcare network hospital. Employees save on out-of-pocket costs through preferred pricing, and employers often waive deductibles and co-payments. Some employers pay travel expenses.

“As medical costs rise in the United States, more employers are considering international medical tourism benefits and incentives for their workers,” Boucher says. “Traveling overseas for surgery is not right for everyone, and it is certainly not appropriate for all medical procedures. However, an international medical benefit provides many employees with a more affordable option for obtaining the care they need.”

Employer groups interested in adding Companion Global Healthcare’s network and services to their benefit plans should call 1-800-906-7065.

India to Welcome over One Million Medical Tourists by 2012

(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 15, 2010 ) New Delhi, India - The medical tourism industry in India is expected to welcome more than one million medical tourists by the end of 2012, according to the research report “Booming Medical Tourism in India.” The prospective growth in medical tourist arrivals signals a bright future for the industry despite the growing concerns of poor economic growth in 2009 due to the global financial downturn. We have found that the surge in medical tourist arrivals will be mainly driven by increasing availability of quality health care services and low health care cost. These two factors will encourage foreign visitors to go for medical treatments in India.

The report has also identified that the Indian government initiatives (like the introduction of M-visa, investment for setting up affordable hospitals and budget hotels for patients and their relatives) will play a critical role in attracting foreign patients. Developing health care infrastructure, growing number of private hospitals (such as Wockhardt, Apollo, and Escort), expert health care professionals and less waiting time are some of the other reasons that attract overseas patients to India.

The report reflects extensive research and prudent analysis of key industrial developments and trends. For instance, the forthcoming Commonwealth games and increasing popularity of Yoga and Ayurvedic treatment will contribute significantly to the development of medical tourism in India. The report also highlights the role of private players in the rapid growth of the Indian medical tourism market. Several other factors propelling growth in the medical tourism industry have also been thoroughly evaluated in the report.

“Booming Medical Tourism in India” provides qualitative information and quantitative statistical data of the Indian medical tourism market, with focus on past, present, and future scenarios. It discusses the key factors that are making India an attractive medical tourism destination. It evaluates each of the industry parameters like key market drivers, emerging segments, and market restraints. Most importantly, the report gives future outlook for all the important aspects of the industry considering the effects of the global economic crisis on base drivers, opportunities, and challenges faced by the medical tourism industry.

For a FREE SAMPLE of this report visit: http://www.rncos.com/Report/IM123.htm

UPCOMING EVENTS

European Medical Travel Conference 2010 Draws Global Participation

Europe’s largest medical travel conference to take place in Venice, Italy (Monastier di Treviso) May 5‐7, 2010

U.S. / Venice, Italy - December 31, 2009 - The European Medical Travel Conference 2010 (EMTC; www.emtc2010.com) will be hosted in Monastier di Treviso, a municipality of Venice, Italy, on May 5-7, 2010. The largest medical travel conference in Europe, the EMTC provides an exciting platform for networking, discussion, and cooperation among industry stakeholders and is expected to draw 350 to 450 participants from around the world.

“Besides attracting some of the leading authorities on medical travel, this event will draw physicians, hospitals, hotels, tourism agencies, patient services, IT services, associations, service providers, government representatives, patients, and anyone interested in learning more about the future of medical travel,” says Uwe Klein, M.D., chairman of the event.

Conference organizers expect that the EMTC will raise awareness and increased popularity of the medical travel option, which provides greater access to quality health care for patients and increased cost efficiency for employers.

“The effective collaboration between the tourism and health sectors will offer greater scope for tackling the increasing impact of patient mobility in and outside of Europe,” Dr. Klein adds. “The EMTC represents not only a platform of debate on medical tourism among Italian, European, and non-European colleagues, but also a potential solution for the needs of increasingly mobile patients traveling across the globe for better, more cost‐effective, and timely medical treatment.”

The diverse roster of speakers will address a wide range of medical travel topics and issues, including:

• Legal aspects and solutions of American insurance and intermediary companies
• Finding quality providers and services
• Patient security
• European Union directive on patient mobility and patient rights, patient safety
• Follow-up treatment back home
• Cost transparency and service orientation
• Sea-based health care

The two-day event includes a Welcome Reception, keynote lectures, workshops, panel discussions, B2B meetings, a Gala Dinner, and possible sight-seeing excursions. Service providers may book a booth within the framework of an industrial exhibition.

For more information visit: www.emtc2010.com

Health Care Tourism Congress 2010 Announces its 2010 Speakers – April 2010

The Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010 announces its 2010 speakers! Among the experts sharing their expertise is Joseph Woodman, the author of Patients Beyond Borders.

Online PR News – 20-January-2010 – The Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010 announces its 2010 speakers! Poised to be Malaysia’s largest and most dynamic health care tourism event, this congress will be held at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre April 12 – 13, 2010, providing the perfect corporate interface venue for technology and services in the health care tourism industry.

Given the economic crisis challenges that most companies and industries faced last year, medical tourism is more important than ever before, creating more economically viable health care solutions while providing profitable return-on-investment. Professionals working in the health care tourism industry believe that the next 12months will, again, see a large increase in the number of people traveling abroad for medical treatment.

We are excited to announce our confirmed speakers with many more to be announced in the upcoming months. Speakers include:

• Josef Woodman, president, Healthy Travel Media Company (U.S.) and author of Patients Beyond Borders
• Suresh Ponnudurai, founder and CEO, Malaysia Healthcare
• Amir Firdaus Abd, CEO, Gleneagles Hospital (KL) Sdn Bhd
• Dr. Umapathy Panyala, CEO, Apollo Hospitals
  Raymond Chong Chin Wah, M.D. and CEO, Samitivej Group of Hospitals
• Stuart D. Rowley, CEO and member of Board of Directors, Prince Court Medical Centre
• Paul Chang, M.D., Asia Pacific, Joint Commission International
• Joe Ledesma, president and CEO, St. Luke’s Medical Centre
• Milton Lum Siew Wah, M.D., director, Medical Defence Malaysia Berhad
• Ramli bin Abd Ghani, M.D., director of Traditional & Complementary Medicine Division, Ministry of Health Malaysia
• Talavane Krishna, M.D., founder and president, Indus Valley Ayurvedic Centre
• Catherine-Brillantes Turvill, founder and President, Spa Association of Philippines
• Jason Yap, marketing Director, Raffles Hospital

Healthcare Tourism Congress 2010 promises to provide even more networking opportunities and stream sessions. The newly launched Malaysian Health Tourism Council (MHTC) is also endorsing and supporting this inaugural congress.

With partners like the Malaysia Health Travel Council (MHTC), Malaysia Healthcare and Medical Defense Malaysia, the congress is simply heading towards success.

Knowledge Group is also in discussion with the Ministry of Health and Association of Private Hospitals Malaysia, which will further add value to this congress as a whole.

At present, 70 percent of the floor space has been reserved and booked out. This event stands to be the benchmark in Healthcare Tourism-related events in the region.
This congress will be driven by an integrated marketing campaign, with media advertisements forming the crux of the plan, attracting professionals with a passion for the industry.

For more information regarding the exhibition please visit www.htcongress.com or call +60321701588.

Destination Health – The Health & Medical Tourism Show London April, 17-18, 2010

Destination Health is the ultimate show for people planning to travel abroad for health and medical treatments.

Destination Health has been launched to help the increasing numbers of British medical tourists find out all they need to know about traveling 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.

Up to 100 exhibitors are expected to attend the event, covering practically every aspect of medical, dental, cosmetic, and health treatment abroad. Online visitor registration for free entry to the show is already exceeding expectations.

Easy access to top quality medical treatment, good prices, cheap flights, no waiting lists, and the opportunity to recuperate in the sun is appealing to more and more Brits each year -- with dentistry, cosmetic surgery, IVF and medical spas among the most popular treatments.

With a wide range of treatment options and countries offering competitively priced medical treatments and dentistry it can be difficult to make the right decision. The new Destination Health show www.destinationhealth.co.uk will give visitors the opportunity to get free advice, attend free seminars, discuss, and compare treatments and international options, helping potential patients make educated, informed choices when choosing health care providers, destinations and facilities.

Visitors to the show will be able to meet doctors and health care providers from destinations including Hungary, Poland, India, Cyprus, Spain, Croatia, Malta, Egypt, Czech Republic, Antigua, Germany, Turkey, the United States, Barbados, the West Indies, and Thailand.

Event director Nav Mann comments, “Interest in medical tourism is growing all the time and we are expecting a lot of visitors to this show. With over 100 providers exhibiting their health and medical services, we have made it easy for potential patients to easily find the type of medical specialists they are looking for. The event will be divided into different areas to include sections for dentistry and cosmetic surgery, fertility and conception, medical spa and wellness, and general treatments and procedures.”

To take advantage of the free entry, visitors must register in advance at www.destinationhealth.co.uk

Asia Medical Tourism & Wellness Congress
May 13-14, 2010, at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia will be hosting an international event next year in Berjaya Times Square. Medical Tourism & Wellness Congress (GLOW 2010) will be an international trade exhibition running concurrently with a multi-stream conference session.

GLOW 2010 will gather senior-level decision makers across the health care, wellness, and corporate executive sectors from around the world to brainstorm on issues concerning their industry.

The objectives of the Congress are:

• To bring together our clients who are senior decision makers in major organizations across the region (100 - 150)
• To provide an exciting neutral platform for vendors/solution/service providers to position themselves effectively
• To conduct marketing/ advertising and promote brand awareness
• To conduct business development activities to a targeted focused audience
• To network and benchmark with professionals as well as other vendors and solution/service providers

GLOW 2010 will bring together our clients who are key corporate professionals in the medical, spa, and wellness sectors across the Asia Pacific and Middle East region to provide an exciting platform for vendors and solution providers to position themselves effectively. We estimate in excess of 100 to 150 senior-level decision makers for the exclusive conference in addition to walk-in trade visitors of over 1,500 for the exhibition.

A wide variety of sponsorship opportunities are available. Visit http://www.glow2010.com/ to learn more.

Central and Eastern Europe Medical Tourism and Healthcare Summit
May 17-18, 2010, at the Aristos Hotel, Zagreb, Croatia

Medical Tourism in Central and Eastern Europe has been increasing rapidly. The region as a whole offers a variety of affordable treatments and procedures within easy reach of most travelers.

Global Engage, in partnership with Global Health Consulting of Croatia, is pleased to announce this international summit, which will bring together and showcase facilitators, providers, and medical organizations from across the region including Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Czech Republic, Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, and surrounding countries to meet and network with senior level delegates from all over the world.

The Central and Eastern Europe Medical Tourism and Healthcare Summit will include an exhibition area, workshops, and a two-day conference agenda featuring an international speaker panel focusing and sharing their experiences on current issues affecting medical tourism and health care in the region and the world in general.

A further dedicated conference stream will focus on dental medical tourism providing an educational platform for dentists in the Central and Eastern European region to develop their business internationally and attract foreign patients to their practices.

There will be adequate time provided for networking and forming collaborations with potential partners over business lunches, drinks reception, and a gala dinner and the opportunity to visit local medical facilities.

Attend as a delegate or if you prefer to gain increased exposure for your company or organization please enquire about our exclusive exhibition, sponsorship, and marketing options.

To view further details of the conference agenda, speakers, sponsorship, and registration details please visit - http://www.globalengage.co.uk/central_eastern_european_medical_tourism_summit.html

Or to discuss your participation in more detail contact Steve Hambrook (Conference Director). Tel +44 (0) 1865 811 189 or email steve@globalengage.co.uk

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