Medical travel: Second Opinion

Second Opinion is a regular IMTJ column written by Dr Constantine Constantinides who runs healthcare Cybernetics, a “think and do” tank that specializes in medical tourism (health travel) and healthcare consultancy and planning. He lives on the island of Samos in Greece.

Medical tourism destinations and survivorship biasDr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics proposes that when it comes to medical tourism destinations and their future, past prominence is no guarantee of future eminence.
Healthcare standards and certification with a regional flavor: do we need them?In his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics questions the need for and motivation behind the development of regional standards, certification, and accreditation and wants to see more evidence-based support for some areas of health tourism.
Is medical tourism on its own enough?In his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics suggests that destinations need to broaden their vision of health tourism if they want to create a sustainable business.
Going into the medical tourism business because...In his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics provides advice to potential medical tourism and entrepreneurs about entering and understanding the medical tourism market.
Exploring and understanding the health tourism marketIn his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics provides advice to students, researchers and entrepreneurs about exploring and understanding the health tourism market.
The role of government incentives for health tourism and medical travelIn his Second Opinion column, Dr Constantine Constantinides from healthcare Cybernetics gives his personal take on the role of the various incentives that governments are using to attract revenues from medical travel.
Why do medical tourism businesses fail?In his Second Opinion column for IMTJ, Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics looks at the reasons why some businesses attracted to the medical tourism sector by forecasts of explosive growth have missed out on success, and how they have failed to understand the realities of the...
Who should be handling Destination Marketing for Health Tourism?Constantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics questions the role of international associations and non-profits in destination marketing for health tourism, highlights the conflict of interest that they face and comes up with his recommendations on the best solution for country destinations...
Medical Tourism and the West's RevengeConstantine Constantinides from healthCare cybernetics looks at the West's Revenge - how healthcare services in Western countries are reacting to the potential impact of medical tourism on their domestic business. More competitive pricing and internal medical tourism may result in changes in...
Is there more noise from the industry than enthusiasm from the market?Constantine Constantinides from healthcare Cybernetics raises concerns about the state of the medical tourism market and suggests that the medical tourism industry is too busy blowing its own trumpet to spend time on cultivating a sustainable market. It's time for the industry to move on says Dr...
Health Tourism....in Brightest AfricaDr Constantine Constantinides looks at the development of health tourism in Africa, and whether Africa is in itself a destination for health tourism rather than an exporter of health tourists.
Medical tourism: The Resentment Factor and the Ripple EffectDr Constantine Constantinides suggest how health tourism development can act as a powerful agent of change and force for the general good, highlights the role of the Resentment Factor and the Ripple Effect in medical tourism.
The need for free and open debate in the health tourism industryAn article by Dr Constantine Constantinides that highlights the need for free and open debate within the health tourism industry. Dr Constantinides expresses concerns about the quality of opinion and the resulting debates within the industry, and suggests that is time for the establishment of an...
Medical tourism in denialDr Constantine Constantinides looks at supply and demand in the medical tourism industry and draws some lessons from the automotive industry. With the supply of medical tourism services exceeding patient demand, healthcare providers need to consider market segmentation, stratification and...