Although the COVID-19 pandemic stretched healthcare beyond its limits and has significantly shrunken revenue for healthcare institutions, it has stirred new patient care models and approaches that improve healthcare delivery while keeping providers and patients safe

At the start of 2020, Medical Data Forecast released a report that predicted massive growth of medical tourism in Europe, however, the coronavirus pandemic has upended this trajectory this trajectory

As travel restrictions begin to lift; however, patients will begin to seek medical and dental care at destinations and organizations where they feel safe.

The coronavirus has upended every aspect of life and heightened mental health concerns for most people. Given this, many people now desire to take wellness trips to renew their mental, spiritual, and physical wellbeing when the crisis is over.

Destinations such as Cuba, Mexico, Costa Rica, and the Dominican Republic became the major players in the region’s medical travel business, attracting hundreds of thousands of medical tourists to the continent every year. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit, it dealt a strong blow to the burgeoning industry that might take years to recover from.

Millions of Americans keep traveling every year to access quality and timely healthcare at a fraction of a cost in the US. But as the pandemic dealt a blow to the travel industry, the number dwindled substantially, raising a lot of uncertainty about the future of health travel in the country.

As travel is slowly returning to normal, medical travelers have new expectations from a medical tourist destination - these patients now not only seek quality and affordability of medical care but also a medical travel destination that has put in place adequate measures to safeguard their health, given the COVID-19 pandemic.

The UAE government swiftly pivoted strategies to curb the further spread of the virus and promote an early recovery of the industry.

Stem cell therapy offers a promising treatment approach to COVID-19 due to their immunomodulatory and regenerative properties.

In one of the swiftest vaccine developments in history, global teams of drugmakers, researchers, and scientists laid the groundwork that spurred the production of vaccines to end the coronavirus pandemic.

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

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California, has been awarded Accreditation for a three-year term by the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for its Medical Travel Services Program.

N95 masks offer the highest level of respiratory protection by face coverings - filtering out up to 95% of the tiniest infectious particles. Global Healthcare Resources has found a way for everyone to access N95’s in small quantities and at affordable costs

These new travel restrictions may linger until scientists better understand how these variants behave and find effective therapeutic and preventive interventions against them

Even though the pandemic remains under control in most parts of Southeast Asia, the erratic nature of the infection has discouraged authorities from opening up their borders and also dissuaded patients from visiting medical travel destinations still battling with the pandemic

A COVID-19 vaccine is an important first step in making travel safe again, but it will not solve everything overnight. Nonetheless, it may open borders to vaccinated travelers and ease the fears of those seeking to travel for medical purposes. 

Scammers, racketeers, and criminal organizations have in so many ways sabotaged the global fight against the virus, by exploiting pandemic-related trade activities and profiting illegally from it. A case in point is Vietnam-based Mr. Hua Hong Hai who, posing as chairman of a medical product manufacturing company, has defrauded several companies of millions of dollars.

The last one-and-a-half years have forced many individuals to reexamine their health and lifestyle choices, and this shift will influence medical travel decisions in the post-COVID-19 era. Here are the top three pull factors that will drive medical tourism success in the new normal:

While vaccine passes may spur medical travel recovery, without addressing the myriad of problems associated with them, the move may prove to be counterintuitive, disrupting the medical tourism ecosystem

Although the coronavirus pandemic is almost over and international borders are nearly fully open, there’s still work to be done. Medical travel programs need to develop and upscale surge capacities, strategies, and resources to prepare for future pandemics.

Safety is the new watchword for any business looking to operate successfully in the new normal. Given its crucial position in the global scene, medical travel programs must remodel their operations to prioritize safety.