In the continuous search for efficiency, Health Care and Tourism Sectors in Mexico are getting organized to offer innovating answers based on the national and international consumers needs.
In this sense, and in the globalization and competitiveness context, the Mexican Health Care Sector is an unavoidable subject in the Tourist Sector as well. It is necessary to understand how the Medical Tourism market aggregated values are generated, which are the factors that generate it and to understand what allows the development of an organized offer for this type of market.
The evidence offers a broad knowledge on how the health system, tourism sector and their entailed companies in our country impact their productivity and competitiveness. It also affects public policies and companies proposals about the way they make decisions and how the companies in general participate in the attainment of a more effective and efficient health system.
Although there are national and international challenges in addition to the opportunities that Mexico faces in an atmosphere of international competitiveness, Mexico also has demographic and epidemiolocal transitions that must be responded to as the demand for health services increases.
In this sense the country has focused its efforts towards a series of fundamental strategies to attract the Medical Tourism Market such as:
- A Health Care Reform with the participation of the Private and Public Sector.
- Transformation of the traditional entry barriers for this market and the result of this process is the integration and conformation of specialized Health Care attention Clusters (Nuevo Leon and Tijuana example)
- Hospitals availability and investment increase, clinics and modern laboratories totally equipped in the biggest urban and tourist centers In Mexico.
- An approach towards the improvement of the processes and patient safety systems, leading the most important institutions to develop and to expose themselves to national and international certification and accreditation processes.
- The improvement on information technology, mass media and support services for the health and care services consumer.
- A complete integration within the chain of value of consumable producers, technology, direct services, support services and alternatives for the Medical Tourism Market.
- A better preparation and certification of the professionals involved with the care of the Medical Tourism Patient.
Therefore it is possible to conclude, that the investment in these two sectors is being made in a proper way. There are competitive advantages for Mexico and the consumers within the emergent Market of Medical Tourism which are already implicit and that will have to be developed as the concept of Medical Tourism becomes relevant.
But, it should not only be this segment explored, rather, one should consider all the slopes that conform it: such as Assisted Living, wellness and all the different business possibilities that are open for us. Today in Mexico we have the possibility to offer a very high quality services and to place ourselves as a supply leader in the Health Tourism Market at a world-wide level.
Jaime Zozaya M.D./M.I.B.A./H.E.L. is CEO of IntelHealthGroup
www.intelhealthgroup.com, a Consulting Company specialized in Health and Biotechnology Systems