In the new era of medical tourism, the role of the medical tourism facilitator is now more important than ever. As more patients seek medical treatments abroad, the medical tourism facilitator is well positioned to support patients find quality options and get them from point A to point B safely and seamlessly. Therefore, understanding best practices in medical travel facilitation is essential to winning more health payers into a market.
With a target to add 5 million new medical tourists to the industry in 2028, the Medical Tourism Moonshot is integrating data-driven solutions with the best of resources and expertise in the medical tourism industry to facilitate a seamless network between patients, health payers (referral organizations) and high-quality treatments around the world.
In a recent webinar coordinated by Jonathan Edelheit, Chairman and co-Founder of Medical Tourism Association and Global Healthcare Resources, Tim Isenhower, Director of Benefits at HSM Solutions to talk about HSM’s medical tourism program and how it has thrived for the last decade, and how other self-funded employers can make the most of medical travel to reduce cost and improve employee healthcare outcomes.
The Medical Tourism Index is used by industry stakeholders, business leaders, employers, insurers, and healthcare organizations to assess a country’s medical travel capacity and, and also by health consumers and payers to make medical travel decisions.
In this post-pandemic era of medical travel, patient expectations have evolved and are driving the change. Gaps in medical travel are now more glaring, therefore, health consumers, plan sponsors, and health payers have stopped relying on anecdotes and Google reviews and are now looking for medical travel providers with the requisite skills and knowledge of the industry. This is where GHA’s medical tourism training, medical tourism certifications, and accreditations are integral in helping organizations achieve their true potential in medical travel.
The medical travel journey is complex and could be overwhelming for a medical tourist visiting a country for the first time. Patient advocates play an integral role in ensuring a seamless medical travel continuum by guiding medical tourists through the care journey and ensuring the receive the best care they can get. As patients become more intentional about their medical travel choices, patient advocacy is becoming a crucial point in medical travel, and one that has become a key differentiator in a highly competitive industry.
The medical tourism market is rapidly expanding, many regions across the world are boosting their healthcare systems to meet a wider range of healthcare needs and also provide first-rate care for medical tourists. Following the massive development of free trade zones and healthcare systems across the Middle East, Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries, and North Africa, the medical tourism market in these regions have been expanding rapidly.
The Certified Medical Travel Professional (CMTP) is your key to leaping forward and gaining new heights in the medical tourism industry. Developed by the Global Healthcare Accreditation, this medical tourism training helps medical providers and other medical tourism stakeholders to focus on the core levers of medical travel, including patient experience, effective marketing, and building the right business models.
With the Certified Medical Travel Professional program, become a highly valuable and recognized expert in the industry, providing relevant and exceptional solutions for medical tourists at each touchpoint of the medical travel patient care journey. To register for the CMTP certification, click here.
Over the last few decades, the need for affordable and top-line healthcare continues to drive medical travel as more health buyers look beyond borders to find solutions for their healthcare needs. While medical travel offers a unique opportunity for health payers to access high-quality healthcare with enormous cost savings, it also comes with some risks – both to the patient and the healthcare provider.
Patient experience is essential for every point of the care continuum, from departure to discharge; patients want a seamless medical journey as well as quality medical treatment and a relaxing post-treatment recovery period. Meeting patients at these touch points is a key to unlocking success in the medical tourism industry. GHA has a team of global experts and healthcare leaders to redirect organizations and businesses to meet patients’ needs effectively.
Patient care outcomes are heavily dependent on clear communication between health providers and patients. Accurate disease diagnosis depends on a clear and precise history taking, and treatment compliance is also strongly hinged on clear treatment instructions and follow-up details. Essentially, it is crucial to have a clear flow of information between health providers and clients; however, this may fall short of what’s expected and health providers may make certain mistakes in communication that could potentially affect healthcare outcomes.
Marketing is a crucial component of business growth, and if not implemented correctly, could mar organizational success. Medical tourism programs need to pay attention to the nuances of the medical travel market, and implement strategies to attract their target populations and drive more buy-ins.
The medical tourism industry is beginning to set a new path of recovery since the pandemic ceased. The major players are re-strategizing and previously small players are emerging as key stakeholders in the industry. In this webinar, Bill Cook and Jonathan Edelheit discuss the principles of success in the industry and strategies that are pivotal to long-term success.
Korea is reshaping the dynamics of the industry as advances in the country's healthcare system are attracting millions of medical tourists from around the world. With strategic partnerships and business models, these hospitals are redefining care standards and the patient experience.
Korean Tourism Organization and the Medical Tourism Association had a recent roundtable led by Jonathan Edelheit, Chairman and Co-founder of Global Healthcare Resources and President of Medical Tourism Association, in which more than 25 US medical travel stakeholders, insurance companies, employers, and insurance agents along with some leading Korean hospitals discuss the paradigm shifts in healthcare in the U.S. and the drive for medical travel toward outstanding medical travel destinations, particularly Korea
Medical travel facilitator companies play a critical role in ensuring a safe and successful medical travel patient experience. There are many great facilitator companies out there; however, unfortunately, patients have very few signposts to help them distinguish between a good facilitator and the not so good.
With more destinations competing for international patients around the world, Singapore is taking a unique position that focuses on driving quality healthcare through international best practices at reasonable costs to payers.
VitalLife, a subsidiary of Bumrungrad International Hospital in Thailand, offers an array of treatments that cut across pharmacologic treatments and wellness strategies to prevent and reverse chronic diseases. VitalLife offers a range of treatments that cut across personalized medicine and individualized lifestyle and behavioral changes.
As the world becomes smaller and people from different cultural backgrounds connect and transact, there Is a need for medical providers and medical travel businesses to recognize the cultural lines that distinguish people and ensure they remodel their operations to accommodate these differences and boost their patient experience, thereby.