The Medical Tourism Association has announced it will take over management of MedicalTourism.com (www.medicaltourism.com), the top ranking website for medical tourism, as part of its 2011 Consumer Awareness Program. This program pioneers a massive educational platform for patients in emerging markets to learn about healthcare providers worldwide.
The MedicalTourism.com website will be phasing out existing advertising and no longer sell advertising, using it exclusively for the purpose of patient and consumer education and awareness. The site will provide great visibility and exposure for MTA members. All patient requests for services will be sent to MTA Members that are listed on the site as an included part of their 2011 Member Benefits.
With the tremendous growth of healthcare options around the globe, we are grateful to be offered this opportunity to effectuate our 2011 Consumer Awareness Program. This will provide the most exposure for our members in consumer markets, said Lisbeth Stein, Membership Coordinator for the MTA. In addition, the MTA will be having the site available in Arabic, Russian, Chinese, Japanese and Spanish plus the expansion of the information base to include more content on destinations and medical procedures.
The owners of MedicalTourism.com have moved into different healthcare development projects and, as a result, offered the management of the site to the MTA for several years. The Medical Tourism Association also hosts the world's largest medical tourism event: The 4th Annual Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress held this year October 25th – 28th 2011, Chicago USA. www.medicaltourismcongress.com.
The new website arrangement ties in exceptionally with the theme for this year's event: Patients in Emerging Markets, Market Research and Intelligence. In the last four years, the MTA developed platforms for business to business relationships between stakeholders internationally. This outgrowth into the consumer market is the next logical step for the MTA after its role in setting up networks of hospitals and facilitating the development of healthcare clusters, added Stein.
Recently the Medical Tourism Association published its 2011 innovative initiatives which include:
- Education and Collaboration with New and Emerging Patient/Buyer of Healthcare Markets ~ Developing New Relationships and Increasing Patient Access in Russia, CIS countries, China, Japan, Middle East and Gulf Coast Countries Comprehensive Medical Tourism Research , Market Intelligence and Trends
- Greater Expansion of Consumer Awareness Campaigns
- Comprehensive Web Campaign Targeting Prospective Patients through Education Portals
- Travel Industry and Travel Agents Partnerships and Educational Programs
- Continuum of Care Networks through Educational Programs and CME