Editorial

Jonathan Edelheit, Chairman and Co-founder of the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), has been at the forefront of transforming global healthcare access for over two decades. As a visionary leader, he has played a pivotal role in shaping the medical tourism industry, creating opportunities for international collaboration, and advocating for quality, transparency, and innovation in medical travel.

The most advanced technique used in cataract surgery is the femtosecond laser (a femtosecond is one billionth of a second [10-15]), which allows the procedure to be personalized to each patient's eye.

Trust is the new metric for the new normal of medical travel. If a health buyer or payer does not entrust their overall health - mental, physical, and emotional - to your hands during the entire care continuum, they will not be scheduling that flight to your destination.

To tap into the ever growing medical tourism market, destinations need to leverage key elements that are crucial for building a sustainable medical tourism destination, including government support, public-private partnerships, tourism planning, human resources training, accreditation and certification, and marketing and promotion.

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.

Medical tourism has grown substantially in recent years, with destinations and facilitators emerging to cater to the increasing demand for global healthcare services. However, navigating the complex landscape of medical tourism comes with its challenges, and many startups inadvertently make common mistakes that can hinder their success.

The Institute for Advanced Reconstruction (IFAR) is uniquely positioned as the ‘go to’ center for revolutionary nerve procedures, as well as world-class reconstructive treatments. Our surgeons have experience in cutting-edge procedures such as nerve transplantation that may restore a significant degree of function for those who have suffered from a stroke and other forms of paralysis.

The medical travel journey is a complex one and one that needs careful planning and thorough coordination. It is crucial to ask important questions about the care continuum, touching every phase of the care journey. Before booking that flight or appointment with the overseas medical program, ensure to ask these top 10 questions.

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.

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.

Healthcare costs are raging in America, and the average household can not keep up any longer. Currently, healthcare cost in the U.S. is growing 1.1% faster than the GDP, it's only a matter of time before this crisis begins to efface people’s access to healthcare.

For many cancer survivors, the hurdle does not stop at the last course of cancer treatment; hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt will leave survivors and even those receiving ongoing treatment living on the edge when all is said and done.

While scientists continue to investigate and seek a better understanding of ivermectin and its use in COVID-19, emerging results have been promising.

The medical tourism industry has been the hardest-hit by the global economic slump caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Stakeholders are now uncertain of what lies ahead.

Medical Tourism Association (MTA) partners with Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) as South Korea extends high complexity medical services to international patients at a pivotal COVID-19 transition point.

As the healthcare market broadens, the key players have a growing need to improve on the metrics that drive medical travel.

In what has been aptly described as “the shadow world of medicine,” transplant tourism poses great health and ethical burden, with attendant risks of severe infectious diseases and the dehumanizing nature of the act

Packing is a huge task and when you are traveling away from home for a medical procedure, it is recommended to pack with care. To avoid stress during immigration and security, remember to put every important thing in the baggage itself.

GDPR is due to take effect and there have been many concerns and uncertainties as how much the EU regulation will get affected. The GDPR is a regulation that was approved by the EU after four years of strong deliberation.

In this global medical tourism industry, to increase a country's stake in the market is the quality of healthcare infrastructure. The competition for international patients has heated on as governments, and private groups identifying essential markets.

The Medical Tourism Association is the global trade association for medical tourism and travel.The association works with governments, hospitals, insurers and medical tourism players in over 100 countries.

Jonathan Edelheit sat with Cigna International's Jai Verma to discuss Cigna's B2G initiative, role in expanding medical tourism. He explained how governments and insurance companies can collaborate to improve the healthcare received by medical travelers.

Jonathan Edelheit, Principal and Founder of Global healthcare Resources interviewed Cigna International's Jai Verma. They discussed Cigna's B2G initiatives, role in expanding medical tourism and how governments and insurance companies are collaborating.

Renée-Marie Stephano, CEO of Global Healthcare Resources sat down with Laurent Pochat Cottilloux, Global Head of Health for AXA. They talked about the global reinsurance market and how the market is changing, technology's role in developing future programs.

Travelers and tourists are using cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin as a form of payment for flights, hotel reservations, transportation. Cryptocurrencies are digital currencies that operate independently of a central financial institution and encryption method.

Miami is consistently a popular destination for tourists, and with its exciting nightlife, beautiful beaches and fantastic weather. The definition of birth tourism involves travel to another country for the express purpose of giving birth there.

MTA helps you build a professional network, improve skills and knowledge, meet new people, professional association. The Medical Tourism Association is offering both a Certified Medical Tourism Professional and membership to the MTA for only $479.

Europeans have a long history of traveling for health services both organically and through EU Cross Border Directive policies. While Americans traveling abroad for care is more recent owing to huge medical and surgery costs in the U.S.

Crafting an accurate narrative that makes sense of the nonsensical in the study of stem cells is one of medical's greatest goal. The understanding of the stem cell; their existence and their potential application is at the core of human desires.

By connecting our senses to sensors, wearable technology has made a quantum leap, unlocking opportunities across multiple industries. Wearable healthcare technology is gaining widespread popularity, primarily owing to its ease of use and flexibility.‍

The growth of the industry and mounting consumer demand for international healthcare solutions and medical tourism professionals. Many factors influence medical tourism at both a macro and micro level, it is difficult to work in the industry.

Patients come from a wide range of geographic regions, ethnicities, and socio-economic conditions and travel for various medications. By looking at the drivers of growth, as well as a snapshot of the industry, we can predict future trends for the industry.

Western Union Business Solutions allows medical facilities to provide patients with access to a simple, reliable solution. For medical facilities, this can also provide cost savings, streamlining of processes, transparency, and the ability to provide funds.

Turkish medical professionals to go abroad, gain new clinical experience at well-known hospitals mostly in the U.S. and Western Europe. These unique surgical methods enable a better healing process and improved outcomes and results, especially in children.

A sand bath is natural therapy, mainly used as an analgesic treatment for chronic rheumatism and neuromuscular pain. The history dates back to the Pharaohs and the ancient Greeks who used it to treat the pain of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.‍

Some people have a fear of flying and it's nothing to be ashamed of, all you need is to set your mind right before and during the flight. Know that this stress, fear and anxiety are all in your head, so you need to make your mind understand.

India is recognized in the medical world as a destination to obtain quality care at much lower rates and high success rate. The cure for hepatitis C can be obtained in India for a fraction of the cost elsewhere boosting India's medical travel.

Technological innovations and mobile advancements are bringing about a major change between healthcare professionals and patients. Patients want faster answers to their healthcare queries and greater control over wellness programmes.

Medical Tourism Magazine is packed with articles on industry trends and the latest news in the global healthcare industry. The magazine features the Medical Tourism Association's partner publication Corporate Wellness Magazine.

MTFs engage in relationships with a variety of parties and clients seeking medical treatment outside their home countries. These contractual arrangements should be memorialized in a written agreement signed by the parties.

Medical travel to Israel has seen significant growth and was recently ranked as the third most popular medical travel destination. the Tourism Minister is pleased by the vote and cites multiple reasons such as medical travel is a profitable export industry.

As per the MTA and the International Healthcare Research Center, the Philippines is ranked eighth among the top in the world. Philippines is seeing 80,000 to 250,000 medical tourists annually as patients come from Sri Lanka, East Asia, the Gulf States.

Before and after Brexit there has been much debate surrounding the impact on the economy healthcare and tourism. After the vote for Brexit the pound depreciated and continues to trade at a very weak level by historical standards according to the WTTC.

Healthcare just got a little more costly as the insurance costs to local residents may leave them searching for ways to stay afloat. The change in coverage does not affect every Emirate and Expat only the Emiratis with the Thiqa plans.

One of the biggest misnomers about Canadian healthcare is that it is free but this is definitely not the actual case. Canadians pay a huge amount for healthcare through the tax system, an average of $11320 per year for public healthcare insurance.

The Mesopotamians are the people who originally established medical tourism on the planet as it all started in the third millennium. These days, the term medical tourism is taking a new revolution where people are traveling to other countries for treatment.

The Medical Tourism Index is the standard-bearer for contemplating travel outside their country of origin for a medical procedure. Medical Tourism has increased significantly with the explosion of complex communication techniques and transportation technologies.

Chinese citizens are leaving their homes in search of the best care available or for the care that they desperately need. A market information company found that nearly 483000 people traveled from China for medical tourism in 2015.

The Organization for OECD estimates that nearly 50 million patients travel abroad for medical treatment every year. According to the OECD analysis, by 2019 the global medical tourism market could achieve a turnover of more than $60 billion.

Co-organized by the MTA in partnership with the Hainan government and Beijing Great-Idea Business Resource Company Ltd. International hospitals at the conference had the opportunity to meet with top Chinese Facilitators.

Ageism is symptomatic of a nation that is in the throes of its own historical adolescence, a transient society. Youth, at any age, appears to be a desirable social currency juvenilization, characterized by the loss of cultural memory and losing our place.

According to the NIH, there is limited evidence to support the effectiveness of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). When it comes to patients choosing TCM over Western medicine for life-threatening conditions there is less debate and more agreement.

GSD is proud to be a Diamond Sponsor of this year's World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress. GSD is the premier provider of health services at all levels of care in all specialties for the Italian National Health System for the last fifteen years.

Each year, an estimated 175,000–250,000 children worldwide are diagnosed with cancer, according to Childhood Cancer International. Cases of childhood cancer in developing countries may be substantially underreported, due to inadequate medical knowledge.

As Florida is struggling to contain the spread of Zika, a mosquito-borne virus that can cause deliberating is busy bickering. Democrats cited the reason for blocking the bill was because Republican members sabotaged the legislation with the agenda.

The term strategic planning has become so popular that many healthcare entities now talk about doing strategic planning. Strategic planning is generally considered to place a greater emphasis on strategies while long-term emphasizes on the vision.

A team of doctors and researchers led by UCLA professor used a new device that emits ultrasounds to wake a coma patient. The technique, called low-intensity focused ultrasound pulsation, was created by a UCLA professor is small in size.

While your smartphone screen keeps getting bigger, technology to fight cancer keeps getting smaller, the thing in the fight against cancer. The science, known as nanotechnology, uses organic nanoparticles with tiny robots can be deployed inside a cancer patient.

New Zealand resident was hospitalized in Kuala Lumpur, only to realize that her travel insurance won't pay the bill.

The health benefits of music have long been known to positively affect emotions, music as a medicine is closer than we think. Musical interventions can play a healthcare role in settings ranging from operating rooms to family clinics,” says Levitin.

The MTA endorses the Centre for Disease Control recommendations on Zika and urges all people to review this site regularly. We recognize this virus has an impact on medical travel in that travelers must be informed and take recommended Zika precautions.

After months of physician-failed diagnosis, a super computer steps in and saves a female patient suffering from leukemia. IBM Watson Health has committed to developing a partnership between humanity and technology with the goal of transforming global health.

Think back to 2014, and the peculiar trend of people dumping buckets of ice water over their heads to on social media. Participants had their choice of dumping a bucket of ice water over their heads or donating to the ALS Association.

Carlos Zavala Ruiz has more than 16 years of experience in the healthcare and in 2004 he became the Director of Hospital Angeles Tijuana. One of Mr. Zavala's main goals is to offer the services of Angeles Hospital to the healthcare carriers in the U.S.

Patients travel for care for various reasons like the availability of specialized treatments access to the long wait times. Making and reconciling payments in medical tourism - mostly large and crossing international borders can be challenging.

Along the cobblestone streets of Nogales, the Reed family follows in the same footsteps of early Spanish Conquistadors. Americans who live on fixed incomes and can’t afford supplemental medical insurance are looking long and hard.

Impingement is the pain associated with reaching, sleeping and other nagging activities found prominently in the age 30 and above.‍ Once the cuff is irritated, impingement is difficult to remedy without treatment, working through the pain makes matters worse.‍

As a third-party administrator, I first introduced medical tourism to fully insured and self-funded plans almost a decade ago. Despite gaining foreign patients, few hospital administrators, employers, insurance companies failed to interpret these advantages.

AHA and ADA recommended that disease treatment should begin with lifestyle changes such as diet and exercise before medications. The WHO predicts that by 2020, two-thirds of disease will stem from lifestyle choices.

When people use stereotypes, they make attributions about a person purely on the basis of the category to which they belong. stereotypes are “cognitive structures that store our beliefs and expectations”; images and ideas with specific meanings in our culture.

We have multiple systems in our body; however, adrenal function is neglected in conventional medicine and endocrinology. In functional medicine, the status of adrenal is addressed as it affects digestion, immune health, tissue healing, pain, neurotransmitters.

Ecuador has an old world charm that few Americans were familiar with – until now, what a little research can do? No wonder International Living Magazine has declared Ecuador No. 1 out of the 22 best countries on its Annual Retirement Index for five years.

Algarve’s health and wellness destination branding uses a multidisciplinary, cooperative, holistic and composite approach. Destination branding develops international knowledge about the tourist destination, like the climate, gastronomy, natural and cultural resources.

We can now go on vacation and come back rejuvenated – instead of the way we come back which is exhausted, broke and fat. Wellness tourism – also referred to as lifestyle tourism — involves nutrition, stress reduction, weight-loss and anti-aging.

Employers are in the business of keeping employees healthy, employers encourage employees to use the stairs instead of an elevator. Companies are developing attractive wellness programs, offering creative incentives to engage employees to participate in them.

Excellent healthcare is a matter of timeliness and expertise, patients with acute healthcare receive the specialized interventions. To optimize those outcomes for patients with an acute healthcare needs is a new helipad atop University of Miami Hospital.

All else had failed and most importantly, her kidney and plans for an organ transplant operation to begin a new life. Kenya has become a less-than-willing exporter of medical tourism to markets like India, South Africa, the U.S. and UK.

Critics contend that hospitals and medical centers should be in the business of providing care and not deporting patients. Medical repatriation may sometime seem without boundaries, for even those with jobs and health insurance.

Medical tourism facilitators for achieving quality treatments abroad are entering the healthcare travel industry at alarming rates. If not monitored through standards and best-practices, threaten to strangle the very lifeblood the profession provides.

Medical tourism to the Middle East increased by 13 percent when compared to the same period last year, according to the UN. Promoting the Middle East as an attractive travel destination is critical in the economic blueprint of many nations in the region.

Las Vegas is becoming a global medical tourism destination featuring specialty spinal and back surgery, brain, cancer, infertility. Seeking medical care away from home, even in a tourist Mecca like Las Vegas, can be a frightening and daunting process.

In the digital age, change is instant, development and improvement are lightning fast, and access to everything is readily on-tap. With vision and determination, the finest global resources are increasingly woven into world-class facilities across many fields.

The Commonwealth of the Bahamas is an archipelago of 700 islands, reefs and cays to the north in the Caribbean. The majority of the healthcare services are concentrated in the capital, tertiary services and medical personnel with specialized training.

The Caribbean is known for cruises and relaxing “beachy” getaways; the island provides all the fun –in- the- sun activities. This secluded getaway already attracts a large number of tourists each year, and now the government.

The growing international marketplace includes an element of facilitation to bring patients, experienced professionals. Medical tourism facilitators frequently play a key and necessary role in addressing the many details and arrangements that are critical.

Japan is a hidden gem for a medical tourism destination as it doesn't boast high-tech healthcare. Japan started to accept foreign patients in the last few years and now the several thousand patients from Russia and China are estimated to visit Japan.

In today’s world with busy schedules, it can be difficult to have an opportunity to go to the gym or even exercise. Our personal lives are consumed with our families and because of technology, now our work schedules are sometimes 24 hours a day.

Cruise ships are designed to pamper their guests with luxury, relaxation and fun alongside the medical tourism industry. Most cruise ships are currently equipped to handle medical emergencies and curative treatments.

Lithuania took a major step towards becoming a world leader in the global medical tourism industry. Lithuania is keeping pace in getting benefits from this emerging market and that the agreement gives a high potential to attract a larger audience.

A FAM tour is industry slang for Familiarization Tour, it is intended to familiarize the attendees with the host destination. Medical tourism industry FAM tours are currently made up of trips of six to 12 people to a particular destination.

The 10-year-old free independent city of Jeju is preparing for the groundbreaking of its new Jeju Healthcare Town. The idea is to harness the already booming medical tourism waves that flow through Korea and channel them.

In today's changing times, the careers of individuals and lifestyles of families have become increasingly global. When it comes to international work study or travel it's important to be protected around the clock and around the world.

Globalization was here to stay and the world-at-large could look forward to an increasing level of ‘integration of capital, technology. We have all seen, experienced and been impacted by intersections of globalization and life as a single community.

Governments, and their national ministries of health and trade, have been accused of sacrificing their public health sectors. Particularly in terms of access by rural/provincial and indigent populations, in favor of attracting foreign medical tourists.

The progress of the Medical Tourism phenomenon has had enormous impact not just for the patient alone but it has also influenced economic, social, environmental, business and medical sectors.

The health care industry faces huge challenges and changes, medical tourism is one of those changes happening in this field. People have traveled with the purpose of undergoing medical treatment since ancient times.

In last six decades, WATG has become the world’s leading design consultant for the hospitality, leisure and entertainment industries. WATG has designed more great hotels and resorts than any other firm on the planet.

HOK, one of the world’s most influential design firms has made a commitment to keep sustainable healthcare design as its core value. They work with international organizations to find opportunities which lead to creating solutions for success.

Lowe’s Companies, one of the larger companies in the US with 228,000 employees, recently implemented a domestic medical tourism benefit. Just as outbound medical tourism from the US is growing, so is domestic medical tourism.‍