There is healthy competition among hospitals, countries and agencies for medical tourism business. Agencies range from those who have business experience and a business plan, through to people who went abroad for treatment, thought they should offer the opportunity to others, and muddle along. Some who started off as amateurs have survived by becoming professional. Others open, last a year or two and close due to lack of custom and profit. In essence, medical tourism agencies are like any of those businesses highlighted on television programmes-no two are the same. But like any other types of small business, prosperity is a tough ask, and like the thousands of people worldwide who open a hotel, shop or restaurant the basis of &8220; it seemed a nice thing to try &8220; only the best survive. Many small clinics are also new to medical tourism and need help to do well. RevaHealth offers some suggestions on how to turn leads into business- When contacted by a potential new patient do not take the easy way out and send an automatic email reply or personalised follow up email. To sell to these new customers you have to pick up the phone and call them. If you rely on email alone to convert your patient enquiries into paying customers you are cutting your new business by 80%. It can be difficult to do it promptly, and it is time consuming, but when you realise how much value it can unlock, there is no question but that it has to be done. When you get an online enquiry the natural inclination is the reply to it immediately. Do not do this. Take your time read the customers&8217; requirement and research the right and call them. The process should be:1. Send an automated response acknowledging receipt of the enquiry and letting the patient know when to expect a call.2. Research their enquiry &8211; potential treatment options, prices, length of treatment etc.3. Call Them. If you do not get through leave a message and call them back. Never rely on email alone unless the customer has specifically asked not to be called.4. Remember the time zones of where the patient is when you call them. Julie Munro of the Medical Travel and Health Tourism Quality Alliance (MTQUA) also has advice for agencies, &8220;Medical travel agencies can no longer get away with putting up a website, signing commission agreements with hospitals, maybe visiting a couple of them, and declaring themselves open for business. Medical tourism today has become a highly competitive, segmented and specialized industry. To create a new medical tourism business is more challenging than ever. What I advise newcomers to the industry is very different now compared with five years ago.&8221; Munro has some questions to help new and established medical tourism agencies to renew and reshape their business plans. Will you be a full-service medical travel agency, a health tourism agency, a broker or facilitator or an on-site international patient care management service? Will your market have a global reach? Regional? Will it be defined geographically or will it focus on special interests or needs of a specific clientele? How will you select the hospitals, clinics, treatment and spa facilities and other support service partners? Will you formally or informally partner with recovery resorts, travel agencies, clinics, hospitals, doctors, or other medical travel agencies? . Will you be a general service or specialize in one or more of orthopedics, spine, cardiac, cosmetic, dental, IVF, alternative treatments, anti-aging, sports wellness, pediatrics, women&8217;s health, oncology? Will you select a hospital or clinic based on location or facilities? Will you judge a hospital by the recommendation of friends or colleagues, independent research reports, magazine or newspaper articles, website review, certification or accreditation credentials? What credentials are most important to you as an agency? Do you know how these credentials differ, and what each is best for: JCI, Trent, Accreditation Canada, ISQua, ISO, MTQUA, TEMOS?http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=215542Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:22:04 GMT20100729122204Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:04:00 GMT20100729110400Thu, 29 Jul 2010 12:22:04 GMT20100729122204European health ministers met in June to finalise a political agreement on the draft directive on cross-border healthcare. Adopted by the European Parliament in April 2009, it was discussed by health ministers. MEPs in the European Parliament&8217;s public health committee will now vote on the information to patients proposal on 28 September with the full plenary voting on 18 October. The revised text was proposed by the Spanish presidency. Crucially, it addresses issues regarding reimbursement from affiliated countries, as well as providing the directive with a double legal base in Articles 168 and 114. The UK and Germany circulated an additional proposal to change the provisions concerning eHealth and interoperability (in Article 14 and Recital 38 respectively). The text was widely approved, with strong opposition coming only from Poland, which issued an alternative text for approval, and from Portugal. Romania chose to abstain after the failure of the Polish text. Sweden, Slovakia, Ireland, Lithuania, France, Austria, Slovenia, Cyprus, Finland, Hungary, Malta, The Netherlands, Bulgaria and Denmark lent their support to the compromise bill and welcomed progress on the dossier. The UK noted the importance of codifying the mass of European Court of Justice (ECJ) case law that has accumulated on this issue, so as to ensure legislators are setting the rules, rather than the courts. The Italian minister attacked the amendment offered by the UK and Germany, claiming it served only to water down the proposal and weaken its implication. Luxembourg and Estonia expressed their concern at the link between the directive and social services systems in member states, as much work would need to be done on the interoperability of these processes so as to retain compliance with social services provision, they said. Latvia felt that the previous Swedish approach to prior-authorisation was better as the current agreement may create a disproportionate administration burden. Greece highlighted the overarching need of all member states to reduce expenditure, and the pressure this puts upon healthcare systems. Emphasising the public nature of healthcare, the Greek minister highlighted the danger of turning it into a consumer product ruled by market forces. The Czech Republic noted the possibility to adjust the salient details through negotiations with the European Parliament, whilst the German minister pointed to several ethical issue amendments proposed by the Parliament, which the Council might be able to support. The Polish delegation said they could not support the compromise as it does not go far enough to guarantee equality of access to healthcare for Polish patients. Additionally, Poland asserted that EU law should delegate sovereign responsibility for healthcare systems to the member states, as in the Polish alternative text. The Portuguese minister concluded that their concerns regarding non-contractual private providers had not been met and they would therefore be supporting the Polish text, whilst submitting a separate written declaration to the Council. The compromise agreement gives member states more power to control the outflow of patients by allowing a system of prior authorisation for certain types of lengthy or costly healthcare. GPs will also be allowed to act as a gatekeeper as is the case in the UK health system. The agreement also specifically clarified the issue of who should reimburse the healthcare of pensioners who live in a second EU member state and wish to receive healthcare in a third member state. The British Medical Association (BMA) is an example of a medical group urging the European parliament to only accept the agreement if there are major amendments to make it workable. The agreement does not adequately address a number of the concerns that the BMA and other health stakeholders raised in previous lobbying (such as continuity of care, language issues and telemedicine regulation). The BMA will continue to push these issues in the coming months. MEPs are expected to adopt their second reading report in December with health ministers re-examining the issue at their December meeting as well. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) has published another ruling on the provision of cross-border healthcare. The ECJ ruled that hospital costs incurred while travelling in the EU will only be refunded if the patient would have received the same treatment free of charge in his country of residence. The ruling followed a complaint by a French national resident in Spain and insured with the Spanish social security system who received care in France.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=215437Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:43:15 GMT20100729114315Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:46:28 GMT20100729104628Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:43:15 GMT20100729114315Within the &8220;conventional&8221; wisdom of medical tourism is an assumption that the UK and USA are prime target markets. Almost every country, organisation and conference seems to suggest that these two countries are only consumers of medical tourism, and they are always high up on medical tourism target lists. The reality may be very different, as both are in the top ten international medical tourism destinations. According to a dental clinic in Sussex, patients in Sussex who are thinking of travelling overseas for dental treatments can save themselves not only the time, the effort and a lot of money, as most of their requirements can now be met locally and at a similar saving. The most favoured country for Britons travelling abroad for dental treatments is Hungary and especially Budapest. Dr Bruno Silva of Brighton&8217;s Implant Clinic in Hove, says,&8220;Our services are comparative in price if not cheaper than for patients travelling abroad. We have a great team of surgeons specialising in dental implants and advanced dentistry.&8221; Dr Silva also suggests that the big disadvantage of going abroad for treatment is that the cost of any follow up treatment and the cost of dealing with any complications must be considered, plus all the travel costs and accommodation. He argues that before people start thinking of making the journey they should look at all the options at home for dental implants and advanced dentistry. While you would expect the clinic to suggest treatment at home rather than overseas, that it attracts medical tourists from overseas may be a surprise. Brighton Implant Clinic has a chauffeur driven car for patients who require transport and in the past year has received patients for treatment from Scotland, Germany, Malta, France and many other parts of Europe. Dr Bessam Farjo and his wife Dr Nilofer Farjo head up the UK&8217;s leading hair transplant surgery. They carry out more than 300 operations each year at their Manchester clinic, The Farjo Medical Centre. More than 4,000 people have travelled from across the UK, Europe and as far as the Middle East, Australia and the United States, to the centre. The Farjo Medical Centre has an international reputation for not only using the latest hair transplantation techniques &8211; recognised throughout the surgical field &8211; but also for placing significant emphasis on developing pioneering ways to counter hair loss. The USA is also an often forgotten destination. David Goldstein of Health Options Worldwide (HOW) explains, &8220;The popular notion in medical tourism often defines it as Americans leaving the U.S. for inexpensive medical treatment and low cost surgery. However, the business model works both ways. In the world of medical tourism and medical travel, the United States is certainly a power player, offering high quality care and modern technology to attract international patients. Most people hear of medical tourism and they think of American patients seeking healthcare in Asia or Latin America where the services are much less expensive. But cost is not always a factor; quality is." Goldstein argues, &8220;Medical tourism is a huge business opportunity for American hospitals to bring in revenue. What is interesting about this trend is that international medical tourists do not come to the U.S. for healthcare because of economics. International patients are attracted by the quality of doctors and state-of-the-art medical technology for which the United States is renowned. American hospitals offer pioneer treatments that are not available anywhere else. Another factor impacting international patients is the fact that the wait for medical treatment in their home country is too long. But quite simply, many of these patients can afford the best and can find it in the U.S.Travelling to the U.S. for healthcare can be costly and complicated for international travellers. Usually, the patients are wealthy people who can afford high quality care. In this fast growing market the U.S. has a chance to be very competitive." HOW says figures for international patient numbers going to the USA have grown over the last 12 months, and the industry can expect more growth this year. Patients come from: Mexico (21%), Middle East (14%), South America (12%), Central America excluding Mexico (11%) and Europe (11%). The most sought-out treatment areas were oncology (32%), cardiovascular (14%) and neurological (12%).http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=215430Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:45:58 GMT20100729104558Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:22:46 GMT20100729102246Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:45:58 GMT20100729104558While local and international investors in Indian healthcare are primarily interested in local healthcare, there are companies identifying specific development opportunities based on medical and health tourism. The TAJ chain will have a spa in every hotel, while Park Hotels has launched one in Chennai, and Delhi will follow. Oberoi Hotels has spas at its premium leisure and business properties, and ITC-Welcomgroup has announced its first major spa in Agra, where the recently renovated Mughal Sheraton is adding a 25,000 sq ft spa, the largest in north India. The belief, at least from major chains that offer high quality hotels targeting overseas visitors, is that spas are now essential in such hotels. The target market is also business travellers who want de-stressing. Some hotels run their own spas, others contract them out to international spa groups. Narayana Hrudayalaya Dental Clinic (NHDC), a subsidiary of Narayana Hrudayala Hospitals, is setting up a chain of dental clinics across the country. NHDC has 18 in Bangalore and 2 in Kolkata. The company has given the go ahead to an expansion plan that will see it open 300 clinics by 2013 across India and abroad. Abroad, the first country is likely to be Malaysia where opportunities are similar to India. NHDC wants to be the largest player in dental care in the country. Over 80 % of the revenues generated for NHDC, since it began operations in 2008, is from cosmetic dentistry. Dental tourism is believed to account for 10 % of all Indian medical tourism, and estimated growth of dental tourism is said to be 30 % a year until by 2015. These figures are local estimates. Sagar Hospitals, a leading private healthcare group, is targeting UK medical tourists for its hospitals in Bangalore. The group is developing a new 1000-bed super-specialty hospital near the Bangalore International Airport to add to its 665-bed facility at two locations in south of Bangalore. Sagar also wants to set up healthcare centres overseas. Its first overseas facility will be a polyclinic and day-care surgical centre in Dubai next month, followed by a polyclinic in Muscat in three months time. One reason for the interest in building overseas, and even Europe is being considered, is that Sagar admits that medical tourism has not grown as quickly as expected in the country, A few years ago McKinsey projected $ 2 billion medical tourism revenue for India by 2012. But even at the time many felt this was an over-optimistic prediction, however much the estimate pleased the Indian authorities who paid for the report. And with recession, terrorist attacks, visa problems, increased competition in the sector, and recent reports from major hospital groups of relatively modest medical tourism incomes, some people in the industry think it is time to abandon these predictions. Dr.Saji Salam is likely to attract criticism for his recent suggestion that the $ 2 billion prediction should be downgraded to a more realistic $ 20 to 30 million .The problem with the original prediction and any downsizing is that there are still no reliable figures for Indian medical tourism, everything is based on estimates by those with a vested interest in an optimistic picture. There is general agreement that medical tourism in India will continue to grow, but the pace of growth is debatable, as unless you know where you started, you cannot tell how well you are doing. Another strand of the argument is that it is still left to individual hospital groups to drive promotion, as the government makes the right noises, but does not deliver help.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=215420Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:22:45 GMT20100729102245Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:56:04 GMT20100729095604Thu, 29 Jul 2010 10:22:45 GMT20100729102245Pakistan&8217;s Ministry of Tourism has finally admitted that the country&8217;s travel and hospitality sectors face an acute drop in business due to the combined adverse effects of terrorism, foreign governments advising their people of the risks of travelling and what the country regards as hostile media coverage all around the world. Looking to find other ways to keep the hotel and tourism industries afloat, officials have suddenly discovered medical tourism. But there are a few snags. Few local hotels, airlines or tour operators understand medical tourism, and lack knowledge of the hair transplant, open-heart surgery, dental surgery and cosmetic surgery sectors. The ministry puts this omission down to lack of information and motivation, so plans a national conference on how to turn Pakistan into the best destination in the region for quality medical treatment at low cost. The conference will be organized by the Tourism Ministry, Ministry of Health and Pakistan Medical Association. The invitees will be travel agents, tour operators, hoteliers, representatives of airlines, medical and tourism/travel associations and hospitals, doctors, marketing professionals, and relevant government officials. The Ministry of Tourism wants to help improve cooperation and coordination between local tourism and health sectors and begin the promotion of medical tourism in the country, which after the curtailment of the organ tourism trade three years ago, has dwindled to almost nothing. The ministry hopes that by working together for the promotion of medical tourism, health and tourism sectors will support each other and reap the benefits of an improvement in the economy. The tourism ministry wants travel agencies, hotels, resorts, hospitals, spas, airlines and other related businesses to fully understand their role in this market and how they can tap into these so far untouched opportunities. While Pakistan is definitely low cost, it has problems on quality as even the government admits a lack of quality health care and shortage of specialised hospitals of international standards in the country. Tourism officials are pushing the government, financial institutions and private groups to invest in healthcare and medical tourism by upgrading basic amenities and hospital infrastructure, building international quality hospitals, co-ordination between health care and tourism sectors, and the creation of a resource pool of skilled manpower. The industry accepts that standardisation of services and accreditation of hospitals are both necessary before the country can attract large numbers of foreigners for medical treatment. Pakistan has a number of modern hospitals in Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore while some doctors and surgeons in Pakistani hospitals are often foreign qualified. A number of patients from neighbouring Afghanistan and Iran do travel to Pakistan for treatment, but considering the problems with terrorism in both countries with links to groups in Pakistan, that these are the main existing markets may not be the best thing to promote. With the problems and solutions proposed, it is obvious that developing medical tourism will take several years, and is far from the quick fix to current economic and tourism problems that tourism officials originally hoped. Apart from a small handful of hospitals and clinics and entrepreneurs, business in the country has shown little enthusiasm for medical tourism. Until the major political and terrorism problems are solved, the debate is probably only academic, as Europeans will not visit in numbers while these problems remain.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=215416Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:55:04 GMT20100729095504Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:44:08 GMT20100729094408Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:55:04 GMT20100729095504The new CHKS international accreditation programme was recently launched. It is designed for any hospital or healthcare organisation in any country. Based on published international guidance and best practice, it helps to drive, assure and demonstrate quality of patient care. CHKS has worked with clients in 15 countries, so understand the cultural differences and complexities of various healthcare systems and economies. From ministries of health and national quality institutes to healthcare providers and hospitals, it has a breadth of experience in international healthcare. The new standards bring together international guidance and best practice to create a base to support quality improvement. Already being widely used by individual hospitals seeking external validation and recognition of the quality of care they provide, and private healthcare groups to ensure that all hospitals consistently apply corporate policies and procedures, the programme ensures that an organisation is working towards the best international standards. It now incorporates a simple online tool so the survey and assessment process is streamlined to let the hospital focus on what really matters:&8226; Quality improvement&8226; Risk management&8226; Clinical governance&8226; Patient safety Accreditation is an independent mark of quality for any healthcare organisation. Based on compliance against industry standards (regulations, legal requirements and best practice) and assessment by peers (experienced healthcare professionals), the process supports continuous quality improvement and innovation. How does it work?&8226; CHKS works with the hospital to assess the organisation against the standards.&8226; The hospital and CHKS identify areas for improvement.&8226; CHKS works with the hospital to support the change, providing advice support and access to other healthcare organisations that have done it before.&8226; A team of peers assesses compliance against the standards.&8226; CHKS recommends what must be improved and how to do it. Once successful, the hospital gains accreditation, international recognition that it is providing a world-class service for patients. CHKS has over 20 years experience working with countries from Macedonia to South Africa. It uses a resource of over 300 peer reviewers, all experienced healthcare professionals from leading organisations across the UK and beyond. CHKS is internationally recognised by ISQua (International Society for Quality in Health Care). CHKS is accredited to provide ISO9001: 2008 certification on service standards, and a these are not specific to healthcare or medical tourism, the organization has translated the standards into healthcare-specific terms, to ensure the hospital understands how the terms apply to them. The international accreditation-&8226; Provides a developmental framework to identify and target services where problems exist.&8226; Provides assurance for the management team.&8226; Formalises day-to-day procedures.&8226; Provides an evidence-based solution of best practice for new policy development and implementation.&8226; Improves communication and dissemination of information within the hospital and community partners.&8226; Formalises patient feedback.&8226; Promotes staff participation, engagement and satisfaction.&8226; Provides a network of similar organisations for sharing ideas, solutions and best practice.&8226; Formalises the audit and quality improvement process, Brian Martin of Shanakiel Hospital in Cork, Ireland comments, &8220;As CHKS works in the UK and across Europe, the standards were the best choice for us as a hospital in the Irish healthcare system especially where the standards reference compliance with EU directives or laws."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=215413Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:39:48 GMT20100729093948Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:26:41 GMT20100729092641Thu, 29 Jul 2010 09:39:48 GMT20100729093948Asian countries confident they are leading medical tourism destination should not get complacent. The darkest horse in medical tourism is not yet ready to take their place, but as manufacturing companies found, this country absorbs information on rivals and then offers a cheaper alternative. Co-operation agreements with Taiwan, and encouraging Korean cosmetic surgeries, Indian and Singapore hospitals and other medical experts to set up in their country, are just the tip of the iceberg. Rivals may question the standard of healthcare in China, but although health provision in rural areas and for the poor is inadequate, the standard and price for the emerging middle class and new rich, is different. Raffles Medical Group (RMG) has opened a new medical center in Shanghai. Raffles Medical &8211; Shanghai is mainly targeting expatriates, corporate customers and high net worth mainland Chinese, for health screening, general medical and dental treatment. Yong Yih Ming of Raffles Medical &8211; Shanghai, says,&8221; China&8217;s economic growth has cultivated a pool of Chinese who can afford high-quality medical care of international standards.&8221; Dr. Ang Peng Tiam, of Parkway Cancer Centre (PCC) has obtained a practising license with Shanghai's St Michael Hospital. PCC is setting up a satellite clinic within St Michael Hospital, Boai Medical Group, China's largest private medical organisation, has begun offering services to medical tourists in both modern medicine and traditional Chinese medicine. Dr. Carlos Che at Modern Hospital Guangzhou comments. " What we offer is a treatment programme that provides the best of both philosophies of care, as we have a wealth of clinical evidence that shows that TCM can enhance western medicine. We are very much looking forward to bringing the benefits of this approach to patients in the Gulf region." The hospital is only one of the group&8217;s 56 hospitals and clinics in China. It has bilingual translators to help patients from different countries. Boai Group has appointed medical tourism consultancy ExHealth, to assist it with improving international patient practices and to identify new opportunities, as well as providing support on ethical, cultural and legal issues. The group sees opportunities to attract Gulf residents, particularly from the UAE, and wants to take business away from Thailand and Malaysia, as treatment in China would cost a quarter of what it would cost in Dubai, or two-thirds of the cost in Thailand. But China&8217;s entry into medical tourism has another side. Despite official attempts to limit the organ transplant trade, Malaysians are still going to China for transplants. According to a report by the Malaysian Dialysis and Transplant Registry, some 60% of Malaysians have gone overseas for transplants in the past nine years (2000-2009), with 856 seeking treatment in China alone. World Health Organisation (WHO) adviser Dr Francis Delmonico, at a forum on organ trafficking and transplant tourism warned Malaysians not go to China, &8220;"We do not know where they get the organs. But in most cases, the organs are taken from executed prisoners. People need to know that those who went abroad for organ transplants have become ill on returning home. Some Malaysians who went abroad for organ transplants returned home with diseases including TB, hepatitis and HIV.&8221; The forum said that 60,000 transplants are taking place worldwide each year, and one in 10 are still done illegally-mainly in China, Pakistan, India, the Philippines and Egypt.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=214201Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:37:57 GMT20100722123757Thu, 22 Jul 2010 09:36:11 GMT20100722093611Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:37:57 GMT20100722123757A few years ago, the novelty of Americans going overseas for treatment led to national and local newspapers, television and radio stations, websites and magazines, to produce thousands of items on the new idea. Outbound US medical tourism is no longer a novelty, and has not reached the numbers once predicted, nor achieved widespread support of employers and insurers. Now, the same media have discovered domestic intra-state medical tourism. The domestic market is still mainly individual self-pay. Although a few employers and insurers are trying out the market, many are still wary. One reason for this is that even when companies and insurers agreed to outbound medical tourism, their employees and customers were less keen. They are also concerned that some of those organizations and individuals promoting the concept, originally promoted outbound medical tourism with the same fervour, and did not produce the numbers or cost savings promised. Another reason is explained by Rick Baker of North American Surgery, a Vancouver, Canada-based agency that negotiates discounted surgeries in the USA for individuals who do not have health insurance. He suggests that while uninsured people are willing to travel, workers with insurance are often unwilling to travel, not just abroad, but from state to state. The North American Surgery network of U.S. health care providers offers access to high-quality surgical procedures at prices that are often 50% below U.S. hospital averages. Employee resistance is a problem, as many do not see why they and their families should be inconvenienced just so their employer or insurer can save a few dollars. As yet, only a handful of the agencies and hospitals promoting domestic tourism have attempted to tackle incentivising the patient. Nobody really knows the size or potential of the domestic medical travel market. But by directing workers to US hospitals with high-quality care and lower prices, it could reduce employer costs by 20 to 40%, more than enough to cover travel expenses. Home improvement retailer Lowe&8217;s has negotiated flat-rate fees with the Cleveland Clinic for complex cardiac procedures. The retailer has a three-year deal with the Cleveland Clinic to send employees and their dependents there for open-heart surgery, valve repairs and pacemakers. Domestic medical travel may be slow to catch on because state based insurers are wary of offering travel incentives for people to travel to another state, as it could annoy local hospitals by sending patients elsewhere for care. Employees may resist travelling any significant distance for medical care. The biggest problem is the innate conservatism of American workers, employers and insurers; the huge arguments over Obama&8217;s health reforms proves that. Domestic medical travel will probably be driven by larger employers who are based in several states, and it could help drive down costs and improve the quality of care. Employers and insurers have sent patients to specialist hospitals for organ transplants and other complex procedures. Some companies are providing financial incentives to workers. Several employers are known to be in discussion with hospitals. Alpha Coal West has sent employees from Colorado to Wyoming, a five-hour drive; and has arrangements with hospitals in three other states. Alpha Coal&8217;s insurance programme reduces co-insurance payments from 20 percent down to 10 percent for workers willing to travel. It also covers hotel and travel costs for employees and their partners. To encourage workers to use the programme, Lowe's waives deductibles and covers their travel and hotel costs. Whether domestic medical tourism is a long term trend or as with the threat of overseas medical tourism, it will just persuade hospitals locally to improve standards and offer better price deals, remains to be seen.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=214220Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:36:44 GMT20100722123644Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:27:36 GMT20100722112736Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:36:44 GMT20100722123644Ten years ago, Dr Steve Tomlinson opened the Chrissie Tomlinson Memorial Hospital in Grand Cayman. The surgeon and politician has been a leading critic of a proposed new medical tourism hospital. The proposed Shetty Hospital, Narayana Cayman University Medical Centre, is supported by the local government but with all development paid for privately. Recently, the terms of the agreement signed by the government for this project have been revealed. Critics argue that these terms could operate to prevent Caymanian entrepreneurs in the health care field such as Dr Tomlinson, from competing on a level playing field with foreign investors and promoters. The agreement signed by the Cayman Islands government with Dr Devi Shetty&8217;s company for the construction and operation of the Narayana Cayman University Medical Centre contains an exclusivity clause that seems to prevent the establishment of any other large-scale medical tourism facility in the islands. Specifically, from April 7, 2010, until a period of five years from the time the Shetty hospital commences operations, &8220;no other non-Caymanian will be permitted to come to the Cayman Islands to compete in the field of large-scale medical tourism.&8221; To back this exclusivity commitment, the government has undertaken to take &8220;Such action as may be necessary to prevent a non-Caymanian from operating a health care facility involving the conduct of large scale medical tourism facilities&8221; during the same specified time period. That period is likely to be at least 8 years and could be as long as ten years. Also, until April 7, 2015, the government has undertaken not to grant &8220;to any other entity in connection with large scale medical tourism facilities,&8221; the same, up to 100-year concessions on various taxes, fees and import duties that it has extended to Dr Shetty&8217;s company. This exclusivity applies to foreign individual or company investors. But in a curious restriction to the exclusion, it does not apply to any non-Caymanian company that currently offers medical services in the Cayman Islands; or any Caymanian who intends to establish health-care facilities of any kind in the Cayman Islands. Caymanian means an individual who has Caymanian status within the meaning of section 20 of the Immigration Law (2009 Revision); and includes an entity that is wholly owned by one or more such individuals but does not include an entity that is not so wholly owned. So a local company with majority Caymanian ownership will be prevented from competing with the Shetty hospital for period of time provided by the agreement and no one, Caymanian or not, could expect to get the same fees and taxes concessions until 2015. These restrictions were not made public by the government when it announced the deal with Shetty, and only local media investigation has revealed the clauses in the agreement. The government may come to regret the exclusivity deals and will probably have to either renege on the Shetty deal or defend them in court. A group of local doctors and investors intend to develop a 120-bed hospital in Grand Cayman over the next four to five years at a cost of US$560 million. They aim the hospital at locals and medical tourists and with local knowledge and contacts expect to be able to build and open the hospital several years before the Shetty one, that still has no planning permission, is open. Dr Shetty and his partner investors have personally inspected several potential sites, but the final location of the proposed facility has not yet been decided. The competing group argues that the government has no right to restrict their business and the Shetty exclusivity deal is legally void as it would prevent them offering medical services to Cayman Islanders.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=214225Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:29:52 GMT20100722122952Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:36:04 GMT20100722113604Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:29:52 GMT20100722122952Many Americans and Canadians are going to Mexico for medical and dental treatment for substantial savings. Agencies, hospital and dental groups are making it easier to find high quality safe care. Medical Traveler Yucatan (MTY) is a new American-Canadian managed medical tourism agency service based near Cancun in Merida, Yucatan. The company meets patients at the airport and accompanies them throughout their medical stay. Founder Alan Graham says, &8220;It just doesn&8217;t make good sense, health-wise and money-wise for patients to be deprived of a new heart valve or shoulder surgery. Or pay two to four times what they should for gastric bypass surgery or a face-lift or dental veneers, when Merida is less than a 2-hour non-stop flight from Houston or Miami.&8221; MTY matches medical travelers with board certified, English-speaking surgeons who have had training, continuing education, or affiliations in the United States. And MTY conducts consumer evaluations of the selected hospital. Patients traveling to Merida can expect substantial savings of 35% - 75% on US prices. The agency mainly uses Merida&8217;s Star Medica Hospital, a new state of the art, and high-tech facility. Angeles Health International, the medical travel division for the largest private hospital network in Mexico, has a new Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation programme, working with the Phoenix Consulting Group. Hospital Angeles Tijuana is the first hospital in the Angeles network scheduled to receive its JCI Accreditation. Next, in order, will be Hospital Angeles Guadalajara, Hospital Angeles Lomas and Hospital Angeles Perdregal (both in Mexico City) and Hospital Angeles Puebla. Paulo Yberri of Hospital Angeles Tijuana says, &8220;JCI accreditation of Hospital Angeles network of hospitals is an important step for our Angeles Health International Medical Travel programme. In the past three and a half years, we have had 6000 medical travelers from the US, Canada, and Europe. JCI Accreditation will add to the reassurance factor so important to the medical travel process. The JCI Accreditation program will prioritize the Angeles hospitals most often selected by medical travel patients because of their convenient locations.&8221; DentiCenter, a small but growing chain of full-service dental centres on the U.S/Mexican border along California, Arizona and Texas, opened in 1991 and now faces record demand for its services. Numbers of patients have doubled since 2007. Last year, revenue topped $2 million. For 2010, it projects $3 million. All six centres are in Mexico but 97% of patients come from the USA. The company is preparing to open new clinics later this year; one near El Paso, Texas, and the other near Nogales, Arizona. Current plans are to have 14 dental centres Founded by Juan Eng to attract American clients, it sets out to offer services as in the USA.So, unlike many small Mexican dental clinics, all clinics are modern and immaculately clean, with bright comfortable exam rooms. It looks and feels like a typical US dental surgery, except that the staff is Mexican and bilingual. To comfort Americans concerned about Mexico's reputation for crime, Eng locates his clinics right at the U.S. border, often within sight of the crossing. All six DentiCenter locations are within minutes of the U.S. and Mexican border. DentiCenter's services cost about one-third of what they would in the USA, comprehensive orthodontic treatment costs $5600 in the U.S. At DentiCenter, the price is $1500. The low prices are partly explained by the salaries, dentists earn about one-third of what they would be paid in the USA. DentiCenter is the only Mexico-based dental company that complies with the strictest U.S. health guidelines to provide affordable, high quality dental care. It is an in-network provider of two of the largest U.S. dental insurance providers, Delta Dental and Aetna.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=214228Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:24:24 GMT20100722122424Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:44:33 GMT20100722114433Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:24:24 GMT20100722122424The Medical Travel and Health Tourism Quality Alliance (MTQUA) is offering online courses for individual medical tourism agents and patient managers in July and August. In the competitive world of medical tourism, agent professionalism is of increasing importance. While there are several competing medical and non-medical accreditors for hospitals, clinics and agencies, there are few courses or accreditations available to individuals working as medical tourism agents. They may call themselves lots of different names, but legally anyone who is not a supplier of goods or services, is an agent. There can be confusion as to whether the firm or individual is an agent of the hospital/clinic or of the medical tourist or both; and this can depend on who they mainly act for. While the responsibility of travel agents for selling dangerous or substandard holidays is well-established, the legal responsibilities of medical tourism agents is not tested. Much may depend on which country the agent is based in, which country the medical tourist comes from, and in which country the treatment takes place. With new agencies opening every month, and existing businesses competing for survival and growth, only those individuals and companies that are professional in all aspects of their service and marketing will survive. Just offering cut price treatment in a far away country, and leaving the hospital and patient to sort out most things between themselves, may have been acceptable in the early years of medical tourism, but it is no longer suatinable. Customers expect travel agents to be professional and have qualifications; and they will gradually expect this of medical tourism agents too. Few national or international qualifications exist. MTQAA is one of the first to offer qualifications to individuals. Certified professionals know they are putting their clients' safety first, whether in medical planning and treatment, or in aftercare planning and supervision. The MTQUA Certification Program trains and certifies individuals involved in the care, management, and support of the medical traveller. The online programmes are intended to provide a deeper understanding and appreciation of the complexity found within medical travel and health tourism. It is intended that those who successfully complete the programme will participate in the treatment and care of the travelling international patient with confidence and assurance that best practices are being applied and that the patient is receiving safe and quality care that is as good or better than that he or she would have received at home and managed appropriately for the patient&8217;s cultural, social, medical, emotional and physical needs. It offers comfort to hospitals and employers that a certain common standard of patient care management is being practiced, and that the standard of patient care management follows best practices of the medical travel and health tourism industry. Professional certification is a designation earned by a person to assure qualification to perform a job or task. Certifications are portable, since they do not depend on one company's definition of a certain job. Certification is not licensing; licensing is a mandatory inspection process that focuses on enforcement of minimum expectations for programme/ hospital operations, is usually controlled by a government body or agency, and is country based. MTQUA offers professional certification, not licensing, for individuals, globally. It intends that those who are certified medical tourism professionals, either Certified Medical Concierges (C.M.C.) or Certified International Patient Managers (C.I.P.M.), have the confidence and assurance that they are managing medical travelers using industry best practice standards. This certification has been created to meet the needs expressed by providers, patients and agents for standards and best practices in the medical travel and health tourism industry. The online courses begin on July 21, July 22, and August 4.The course, Essentials of Medical Travel and Health Tourism for Patient Care (known as the Essentials course) is now being offered online. Previously only available as a classroom seminar, the online format lets medical tourism professionals around the globe obtain qualifications without having to leave their family or job at home. Individuals can become certified in just 6 weeks, or up to six months if they want to take it more slowly. The online Essentials course is offered in 3 formats, all of which cover the 12 hours of content completely and thoroughly. The 6-week accelerated schedule is an intensive, once-a-week seminar with discussion forums, readings and other course work. The standard schedule for the course covers the same course content in 6 months with a mix of live events, seminars, forums, special guest interviews and more. A special mentoring version of the Essentials course, completed in 4 months, provides special mentoring and personal guidance for medical professionals and entrepreneurs. The Essentials course; &8226; Understanding today's global health care consumer&8226; Sourcing patients and clients&8226; Comparing medical destinations&8226; Working with medical travel agents &8226; Working with providers&8226; Finding medical and health resources for medical tourists&8226; Introduction to continuity of care in medical travel&8226; Understanding the needs of medical travellers&8226; The medical traveller's rights and responsibilities&8226; Expectations in the new international medical environment&8226; Case studieshttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=214230Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:07:43 GMT20100722120743Thu, 22 Jul 2010 11:55:12 GMT20100722115512Thu, 22 Jul 2010 12:07:43 GMT20100722120743Seattle based The Icon Group has added to its domestic U.S. board certified physicians and surgeons recruiting business, to include sending them to medical tourism countries. This new business activity is branded &8220;Escape from America.&8221; Philip Slaton of Icon suggests that many doctors are, for various reasons, dissatisfied with the U.S. healthcare system. From his experience in producing business-to-consumer medical tourism exhibitions in the United States, he believes that medical tourism hospitals and hospital development companies can reduce their doctor shortfall by recruiting American doctors. This in turn will help them attract greater numbers of American medical touristswho feel more comfortable with U.S. board certified doctors from America. He suggests that despite many hospital claims to having US trained doctors, the reality is that American born and trained doctors are not currently working in large numbers in the international medical tourism industry. Slaton suggests they could bring their own American patients with them. So far the two models or options that have emerged for the deployment of these doctors in medical tourism destinations are:&8226; Starting their own parallel practice in a foreign country and bringing in their U.S. patients for surgical procedures, as well as developing new medical tourism patients.&8226; Joining a practice, clinic or hospital and bringing their own patients, as well as developing new medical tourism patients.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=214208Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:50:12 GMT20100722105012Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:18:43 GMT20100722101843Thu, 22 Jul 2010 10:50:12 GMT20100722105012Fortis Healthcare, India&8217;s second largest healthcare chain, has offered US $2.3 billion, for the three-quarters of the Asian hospital operator Parkway Holdings that it does not already own. The offer from Fortis follows an attempt by Khazanah Nasional, the state investment fund of Malaysia and a major shareholder in Singapore-based Parkway, to take control from Fortis by raising its stake from 23% to 51%. Khazanah offered $835 million in May to gain the controlling stake in Parkway. Fortis&8217;s bid is likely to prompt a counterbid. Fortis sees Parkway as being the centre in Singapore of an international medical empire and a step toward building a pan-Asian presence. Fortis with Parkway would have 12,200 beds and generate $1 billion in annual revenue. The margins with Parkway are much higher than current margins in India as health care costs in India have traditionally been low. The long-term goal of hospital chains like Fortis is medical tourism. Parkway operates hospitals in Singapore, Malaysia, India, China, Brunei and the United Arab Emirates. In India, Fortis expects a 30% in medical tourism patient numbers. In 2009 Fortis had 4000 medical tourists that contributed 10 per cent to the company&8217;s total revenue, with the number for 2010 is expected to be over 5000. Parkway&8217;s hospitals attract patients from Indonesia and the Middle East. Brothers Malvinder and Shivinder Singh, who run Fortis, are moving to block Khazanah from gaining control of Parkway&8217;s 16 hospitals in Asian countries, where health-care spending is increasing annually. Khazanah owns a stake in Apollo Hospitals, Fortis&8217; main competitor in the Indian healthcare market. Malvinder Singh plans to integrate Fortis with Parkway and operate the combined group of 68 hospitals in eight nations, from Singapore. The bid for Parkway is a bold one but local markets are not sure how the Singh brothers will pay for this bid and worry that they could be paying too much. Once Fortis is folded into the Parkway umbrella, the synergies of scale from collapsing the two entities into one will be significant. The Singhs are believed to be negotiating with banks for short term funding to support the bid. Fortis may have control now but the crunch may come if a bidding war escalates. While the Singhs are dependent on private finance, the Malaysia government has funds from various sources available. State-owned oil company Petronas, owns a luxury 300-bed hospital in the country's capital, Kuala Lumpur, built two years ago in part to promote medical tourism, and has been looking for other investment opportunities in the sector. The two offers share a common belief that rapidly growing demand for quality health services in Asia represents a unique business opportunity and that whoever controls Parkway will be in the best position to grow within Asia and beyond, and benefit from the rise in both medical tourism and health insurance in Asia. Malaysia&8217;s state interest in Parkway is that it holds 24.1% of Parkway outright through Khazanah Nasional, the state-owned investment fund, and owns 60% of a Malaysian Parkway affiliate. Parkway also generates 26% of its revenue in Malaysia, while Parkway offers the opportunity to grab a leading position in high-end health care, an industry the government has singled out for strategic growth. For Fortis, Parkway offers a chance to expand from its base in India across the region, with both China and India representing big opportunities.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213069Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:20:36 GMT20100720092036Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:55:04 GMT20100715025504Tue, 20 Jul 2010 09:20:36 GMT20100720092036Frankfurt/Hamburg &8211; Germany - Travelling to Germany for medical reasons has just become as easy as visiting your local doctor. High quality medical treatment is no longer an issue of location. With Premier Healthcare Germany and Lufthansa, a Star Alliance member, patients will encounter perfect conditions in medical service and travel logistics. The international patient consultant Premier Healthcare Germany, based in Hamburg, assists patients from around the world in selecting and obtaining high quality medical treatment in Germany. Germany is internationally renowned for its focus on quality, scientific research, and evidence based medicine while still maintaining an affordable cost for treatment. It is not surprising that hundreds of thousands of patients travel to Germany annually to seek a variety of medical treatments. With the new agreement between Lufthansa and Premier Healthcare Germany, this type of medical travel has now become much easier. It will benefit the travelling patient as well as accompanying family in many ways: &8226; Reduced fares in economy, business, and first class due to the cooperation with Premier Healthcare Germany&8226; Access to Lufthansa&8217;s unsurpassed global network connecting more than 200 cities in 85 countries &8226; Mixed cabin class option: fly to Germany in economy class and return in business class, e.g. after a hip replacement&8226; Free itinerary changes offer patients flexibility in case of changes in their medical condition &8226; Hassle-free medical trip planning due to combined medical and travel expertise of Lufthansa and Premier Healthcare Germany&8226; An opportunity to earn miles in Lufthansa&8217;s award-winning Miles and More frequent flyer program &8220;This cooperation is easy for Lufthansa to implement and it means so much for us, an emerging company that strives to make medical treatment in Germany accessible for everyone,&8221; said Olaf Haase, Director of Clinical Affairs and one of the founders of Premier Healthcare Germany. &8220;Being mobile and having easy access to Germany is the fundamental key to any medical travel. With this cooperation, we can offer transportation that goes far beyond the simple booking of a seat.&8221; Lufthansa is a truly competent partner in transporting patients in need of medical care. From attentive wheel chair service to complete intensive care units onboard its aircraft, Lufthansa has become a leading provider in medical mobility. This well-organized and highly tuned service-offer allows for transportation of even the severely ill, which brings treatment in Germany so much closer to the patients and their families. &8220;We are in the unique position to cooperate with key partners that define the medical travel field in Germany,&8221; said Michael Meurs, Director of Business Development at Premier Healthcare Germany. &8220;Lufthansa takes care of transportation, hospitals with international acclaim provide medical treatment, and Premier Healthcare Germany ensures that all needs are met.&8221; Medical travel needs to be well planned and organized. It is for this reason that patients sometimes shy away from it. The task of travelling to another country for treatment often seems daunting. This is often due to the logistic efforts involved. Only the very few internet savvy and travel experienced individuals find it easy to plan and execute a medical trip. For others, it can be a project with unpredictable complexity. Premier Healthcare Germany offers professional services specifically designed to tackle this complexity. For example, if a diagnosis has not already been established, Premier Healthcare Germany can provide a diagnosis upon arrival and then tailor the appropriate treatment to the individual patient. If the patient provides a diagnosis, medical reports, and other diagnostic data, Premier Healthcare Germany seeks and finds the right experts in Germany, organizes travel, manages local case agent support, talks to embassies about medical visas, tries to get health insurance reimbursement where possible, and follows up during treatment at home. Providing comprehensive medical travel service is Premier Healthcare Germany&8217;s key strength. As such, it believes that everyone should be able to &8220;visit a local doctor in Germany&8230;&8221; More information: www.premier-healthcare.eu If you have any further questions, please contact: Olaf HaaseDirector of Marketing and Clinical AffairsMember of the BoardPhone: 49 163 286 9344Mail: Olaf@premier-healthcare.eu or Michael G. MeursDirector Business DevelopmentMember of the BoardPhone: 31 651 26 9282Mail: michael@premier-healthcare.euhttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213237Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:08:31 GMT20100716030831Fri, 16 Jul 2010 13:50:41 GMT20100716015041Fri, 16 Jul 2010 15:08:31 GMT20100716030831Bronislaw Komorowski has been declared the winner of the presidential election in Poland. The centre-right candidate narrowly beat Jaroslaw Kaczynski, twin brother of former president Lech Kaczynski, who died in the Smolensk plane crash three months ago. The outcome of the vote has consequences for the country's healthcare system and knock-on effects for medical tourism, as Komorowski plans to commercialise hospitals. Dr Peggy Watson of the University of Cambridge, writing in the British Medical Journal, argues that the result could represent the final nail in the coffin of public health services in Poland, where hundreds of thousands of people cannot afford private medical care. The country's hospitals, described as the last bastion of a publicly funded health service, have been the subject of a 10-year privatisation battle. In 2007, the last time the government tried to launch a commercialisation programme, Kaczynski vetoed the attempt. The policy will give Poland's hospitals full market status and open the door to privatisation. Dr Watson says, "A system is emerging in Poland where better care is being offered to people who are better able to pay. Much has been said about the country's growth, but levels of poverty are high. The hospitals are the last bastion of an even health service. There is a real danger that private companies would bring that to an end." Even the previous government set contributions to healthcare deliberately low, in the expectation that it would lead people to seek more private care and that private health insurance would develop to fill the gap. Several health insurance companies had started activities in Poland, including PZU, Allianz, Generali, Inter Risk and Axa. In 2009 the Polish private healthcare market was worth &8364;6.4bn, according to a report by PMR, a research and consulting company, entitled &8220;Private healthcare market in Poland 2010.&8221; Private healthcare includes payments for drugs and medical equipment directly from patients&8217; pockets, cost of rehabilitation, diagnostic tests and doctor&8217;s appointments covered directly from patients&8217; pockets, subscriptions offered by medical companies together with occupational healthcare services, and health insurance offered by insurance companies. Despite the economic crisis, the leading private medical companies developed their outpatient and inpatient medical services rapidly in 2009. In the past, private medical companies competed with public bodies mostly over the delivery of outpatient services. As a result of the increase in interest in private healthcare services and the ensuing intensification of competition, combined with an increase in customer demand, private companies have been forced to focus on the development of their outpatient clinics and to build their own hospitals. Lux Med Group opened 11 clinics in 2009. The two private healthcare companies in Poland with the largest hospital chains are Grupa Nowy Szpital and EMC Instytut Medyczny. Grupa Nowy Szpital runs a chain of 12 hospitals, including Nowy Szpital in Olkusz, Nowy Szpital in Krosno Odrzanskie and Nowy Szpital in Szprotawa. EMC Instytut Medyczny operates eight hospitals in the Dolnoslaskie, Mazowieckie, Opolskie, Slaskie and Zachodniopomorskie regions. The Polish market has recently seen the emergence of non-public hospitals that focus primarily on the provision of services paid for directly by patients, not covered by medical subscriptions or additional medical insurance policies. These hospitals include not only small establishments, which specialise in one-day surgical procedures but also larger, multipurpose hospitals. One example of such a project is the 150-bed St. Raphael&8217;s Hospital in Krakow opened by Scanmed. The hospital now offers orthopedics, general surgery and cosmetic surgery, with plans to add cardio surgery. Luxembourg based health group Medicover opened the country&8217;s first privately financed hospital in July 2009. Warsaw&8217;s Medicover Hospital contains 180 beds, although the number will eventually rise to 270, and offers gynaecology, obstetrics, pediatrics, internal medicine, angiology and cardiology, in addition to surgery. At the beginning of 2010, Carolina Medical Center, in which Medicover holds a stake, opened a 34-bed clinic in Warsaw, which specialises in the treatment of orthopedic injuries associated primarily with sports. The Lux Med Group plans to open a hospital in Warsaw in mid-2010. It will be a small one specialising in one-day surgical procedures. In the long-term, the company intends to open a multipurpose, 50-bed hospital in Warsaw in 2012 or 2013. Medicover intends to open a Radiotherapy Centre in Warsaw and is planning to launch a chain of several small hospitals, which will provide one-day surgical procedures and diagnostic tests in Poland&8217;s major cities. Swissmed, which already has a hospital in Gdansk, began to build a 44- hospital in Warsaw in the spring of 2010. The combination of the new government&8217;s policy on healthcare, the expansion of private healthcare, and the opening of a number of new hospitals and clinics not dependent on either government finance or insurance companies, will make Poland an even stronger medical tourism competitor in Europe. Private medical and dental care is now available at prices far lower than in Western Europe. It will also be well placed to take Russia and other Eastern European business, where medical tourists currently go to Asia.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213060Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:39:35 GMT20100715033935Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:04:40 GMT20100715020440Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:39:35 GMT20100715033935Jordan&8217;s Ministry of Health is setting up a new directorate to monitor the Kingdom's medical tourism sector. The directorate aims to address any complaints by Arab and foreign patients receiving treatment in the Kingdom and regulate the sector. The ministry is working with private hospitals to ensure that they abide by set treatment prices. One project aims to find ways of regulating and monitoring the quality of treatment provided to medical tourists to maintain the reputation of the country's health sector. As part of the new measures, the ministry will establish a liaison office at the airport to receive patients seeking treatment in the Kingdom's hospitals and provide them with the information they need. It will also coordinate with embassies of countries that send patients seeking medical care in Jordan and follow up with the patients themselves from the moment they arrive and until they leave. Considered one of the main contributors to the national economy, medical tourism brings in revenues of $1 billion annually. According to Private Hospitals Association figures, 220,000 patients from across the world received treatment in the Kingdom's private hospitals last year, up from 200,000 in 2008 and 190,000 in 2007. In cooperation with the Private Hospitals Association (PHA), USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) held a workshop for PHA member hospitals on guidelines for creating a customer service culture in hospitals. In line with its continued support for PHA member hospitals to become internationally accredited to promote medical tourism in Jordan, SABEQ Program's support has been given to raise standards of members' level of service through various training programs. SABEQ's ultimate goal is to increase member hospitals' revenues from medical tourism. Customer Service at hospitals is one of the pillars for medical tourism sector growth sustainability, as it reflects the standards of medical care in these hospitals and building a culture of customer service starts with top management leadership and direction. The workshop promoted the notion that each hospital employee, whether medical or non-medical, must offer excellent customer service. Mark McCord of USAID SABEQ comments, &8220;SABEQ had previously trained a group of employees at five PHA-member hospitals to become trainers in customer service. This workshop will enable hospitals to conduct continuous training for all their employees. To grow medical tourism in Jordan, hospitals must offer world-class customer service. The competition for foreign patients is significant, which makes excellence in customer services a prerequisite for success in medical tourism." Kuwait&8217;s Ministry of Health has announced plans to sign contracts with foreign medical experts to run medical facilities in the country. The move is part of a strategy to upgrade the quality of medical services on offer. The ministry is also adding new buildings at a number of general and specialist hospitals, to increase capacity from 1000 to 2000 beds.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213063Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:30:52 GMT20100715033052Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:32:52 GMT20100715023252Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:30:52 GMT20100715033052The Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry of Japan plans to launch a new organization in 2011 with the sole aim of increasing medical tourism to Japan. The government has identified the provision of advanced medical services to foreign visitors at domestic hospitals as a potential growth area for the nation's medical industry. A plan to increase the number of medical tourists was included in a recent government growth strategy plan. The new organisation, to be jointly funded by the public and private sectors, is expected to be fully operational by 2012. The ministry expects it to promote medical tourism by partnering with overseas medical institutions and serving as a mediator between them and institutions in Japan. China, Russia and Middle East nations are among the likely target markets. The ministry will have to seek money from government-affiliated bodies for funds. It has not even begun to ask private medical institutions, travel agencies and other private sector entities to invest in the organization, and at present there are few in Japan in any of those three sectors looking to promote medical tourism. A small amount has been allocated by the ministry to cover start-up expenses, but it will need considerable external funding to pay for ongoing expenses, marketing and advertising; as it will have to promote Japan as a destination from an almost non-existent base. The ministry plans to start recruiting interpreters specializing in the medical field and other personnel from July. After that it will conduct a survey to determine which institutions in the nation would like to attract foreign patients, and the level of interest may well depend on how much the new organization expects hospitals and others to contribute to it. The Japanese government wants to emulate successful medical tourism destinations Singapore and Thailand, but may not fully appreciate the amount of time, effort and expense it will take to persuade people to go to Japan when prices are higher than most Asian competitors. The ministry has been exploring specific ways to expand medical tourism since last autumn, when it set up an expert panel to research the matter. Japan&8217;s sudden official interest in medical tourism is partly explained by its economic problems where it has been overtaken globally by China. A new ten-year economic growth strategy to revive its economy, pledges to create five million jobs by focusing on green technology, healthcare, tourism and closer links with Asia. It hopes to create 1.5 million new health care jobs. Growing tourism from less than 10 million annual visitors now to 25 million by 2020, in part by easing visa regulations for Chinese and by increasing medical tourism, is a very ambitious target that few analysts think is achievable. Competing successfully with over 200 other countries on medical tourism from a nil base is a tough ask. The latest in the consumer reference guides for medical tourism, from Patients Beyond Borders, is Focus On: Kameda Medical Center (KMC), profiling one of Japan&8217;s leading private health hospitals. Japan&8217;s first and only JCI-accredited 925-bed hospital, had just over 200 international patients in 2009. Healthy Travel Media's Focus On series features 32-page, full-colour digital brochures and eBooks highlighting international hospitals in a fully searchable, consumer-friendly format. Published under the Patients Beyond Borders brand, the series offers health care consumers detailed information on specialties, procedures, costs, and travel planning. John Wocher of KMC says, "This will allow us to proactively promote to the international traveller with up-to-date, interactive information on our medical specialties, pricing, and the quality and safety of our medical services."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213068Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:22:09 GMT20100715032209Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:48:49 GMT20100715024849Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:22:09 GMT20100715032209Jeju, South Korea's biggest island, is transforming itself into a medical destination for foreign patients who are looking for treatment as well as tourism. Jeju Healthcare Town will begin construction later this year with the first part due to be completed early next year. Jeju Healthcare Town will consist of three parks, one for wellness, one for medical treatment, and one for medical science and research. One of the main themes of Jeju Healthcare Town is medical treatment and research for a long life. Jeju seeks to attract foreign patients who want to have a check-up in the wellness park or medical treatment in the medical park. The main target will be Asian countries. The local government has provided a site of 1.48 million square meters in Seogwipo for the healthcare complex. There are positive factors that can help Jeju Healthcare Town. Jeju Island is off the south coast of South Korea, between China and Japan. Eighteen cities with populations of more than 5 million are within 2 hours' flight of Jeju Island. Jeju offers an unspoiled natural environment that other competitive medical destinations do not have. Jeju Island is traditionally well-known as a tourism destination. Korea offers state-of-the-art technology in medical treatment including surgery, diagnostics and cancer treatment. According to the Korea Tourism Organization, the number of visitors to Korea for medical treatment has increased significantly. It aims to attract 850,000 overseas patients by 2015. Stackpole and Associates has created an innovative sweepstakes program to attract medical tourists to South Korea on behalf of its client, the Korean Health Industry Development Institute. The "Body and Seoul Sweepstakes" has launched with a three-week promotion of Asian hospitality and health care. The target is residents of the US who want to experience the travel and health benefits of medical tourism. It offers a package of health and wellness services for two as well as business class plane tickets and a five-night stay at the JW Marriott Seoul. A lucky winner and travel companion will be pampered with a VIP health check up, a dental exam and teeth whitening, traditional Korean medicine treatments, skincare services, and spa treatments as well as sightseeing in Seoul. The health and wellness services are offered by Seoul's medical tourism destinations including East West Medical Center and the Aramdaun Spa. The sweepstakes runs from June 26th to July 19th. The medical tourism market in South Korea is anticipated to grow at 30% a year during 2010-2012, says a new research report by RNCOS, &8220;Emerging Medical Tourism in South Korea&8221;. The growth in the South Korean medical tourism industry has been well supported by the government efforts and initiatives. In February 2009, the government reserved 5% of the total hospital beds for foreign patients. Most international patients come from China, Japan, the USA and the Southeast Asian countries, claims the report.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213065Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:47:53 GMT20100715024753Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:40:22 GMT20100715024022Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:47:53 GMT20100715024753The Taiwan cabinet has approved a proposal to establish a medical zone as part of its plan to turn Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport in Northern Taiwan into an &8220;aerotropolis&8221;, aiming to attract about 45,000 medical tourists annually in a new international medical district. The government will invest US$127.6 million over four years. The plan, set to be completed in 2020, will involve the expansion of existing airport terminals and the establishment of an aerospace industrial park and special zones for cargo, passengers and legislative services. To develop the country&8217;s medical tourism, Premier Wu Den-yih has also instructed the Department of Health to formulate plans to establish other medical zones targeting foreign tourists in central and southern Taiwan. His argument is that by offering international medical services, Taiwan can improve its global image and upgrade the country's medical industry. The premier said similar international medical districts could be established near the international airports in central and southern Taiwan when conditions allow. Plans for the development of the international medical district include the construction of several clinics geared toward providing high quality services, treatment and care for what is hoped to be increasing numbers of foreigners coming to Taiwan on medical tourism visits. It will also offer fast-track physical checkups and treatment, including various types of minor cosmetic surgery for passengers flying through the airport. Taiwan's first international medical district is planned to be developed in Taoyuan to take advantage of the main international gateway, Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the convenient transport network, a well-founded network for medical care, and booming business and industry with more than 10,000 factories, including some 40 in the biotech sector. Cyrus C.Y. Chu of Taiwan research institute Academia Sinica is encouraging the government to promote medical tourism, "According to a 2000 survey, Taiwan's health standard is second in the world. Taiwan ranks only behind Sweden, proving that the country has a strong foundation upon which to expand its health market. The revenue from foreign patients now accounts for less than 1 percent of total revenue at most hospitals in Taiwan. In comparison with Singapore and Thailand, progress is slow in Taiwan, mainly because hospital management does not treat medical tourism as an industry, but as a service. The government could divide the existing medical system into two parts in order to manage the local insurance medical service and the foreign medical industry. Other improvements, such as processing visas more efficiently for foreign patients, could also help the development of the industry. Developing medical tourism could attract foreign patients to Taiwan to accept treatment. Otherwise good doctors and hospitals will move to China, so, developing medical tourism is the better choice for Taiwan."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=213061Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:32:52 GMT20100715023252Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:21:19 GMT20100715022119Thu, 15 Jul 2010 14:32:52 GMT20100715023252For 2011, the German National Tourist Board&8217;s tourism campaign will focus on health and medical tourism. This includes health and fitness, spas, health resorts, wellness and beauty hotels, hospitals and clinics. This 2011 campaign will showcase Germany&8217;s modern and cutting-edge facilities, luxury hotels, spas and spa-towns. This is intended to appeal to travellers who value active and affordable holidays linked with culture and indulgence. The campaign will highlight the top German medical clinics for international patients as well as the tourist attractions of the nearby towns and cities. Currently about 400,000 tourists visit Germany annually for health related holidays, and this number is growing. This is in addition to the estimated 70,000 medical tourists using German clinics and hospitals that are renowned for their excellent quality and reasonable prices. Germany's healthy climate, healing waters, natural therapies and countless hotels, spas and health resorts offer programmes to refresh the mind and reinvigorate the body. The offerings include health and beauty care involving fun and physical and mental relaxation using a wide variety of therapies, massages and treatment methods. Around 300 mineral and mud spas, hydrotherapy resorts, climatic health resorts and seaside resorts in Germany offer a wide choice of preventive and therapeutic well-being treatments. Germany is a land of spas and thermal baths promoting health, beauty and well-being.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211736Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:34:01 GMT20100709113401Wed, 07 Jul 2010 15:59:46 GMT20100707035946Fri, 09 Jul 2010 11:34:01 GMT20100709113401Although most organ transplant tourism has been illegal in The Philippines since 2008, the country is struggling to eradicate the problem. The Department of Health (DOH) has issued two administrative orders to fight organ trafficking, in particular the selling of kidneys to foreign patients. It has issued tighter revised rules on donating and transplanting organs from living persons through Administrative Order 2010-0018, which seeks to ensure that organ donations are &8220;voluntary and truly altruistic.&8221; The new administrative order reiterates the ban imposed on foreigners from receiving organs from living Filipino non-related donors, and categorically prohibits health professionals from engaging in the kidney trade. Health Secretary Esperanza Cabral says,&8221;We issued the order because we wanted to make sure that nobody is exploited during the transplantation, and that organs are donated only for altruistic purposes. We want to make sure that illegal traffic of organs that has victimized many of our countrymen for many years will not be repeated. Hopefully the international medical community will recognize that our country is indeed serious in curtailing illegal organ donation." The DOH orders confirm that kidney transplantation is not a legal part of medical tourism in the country. In 2005, The World Health Organization identified the Philippines as one of the global hotspots for organ trafficking, along with China, Pakistan, Egypt and Colombia. In the last decade the Philippines gained an international reputation as a hub for the illegal traffic in human organs from living donors, with some hospitals catering for wealthy foreign patients requiring kidney transplants. Following criticisms that her administration was promoting transplant tourism, in 2008 president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered a total ban on all kidney transplant to foreigners. Prior to the 2008 ban, 800 foreigners each year had illegal kidney transplants. In 2008 the country also signed an international declaration on organ trafficking and transplant tourism, but it seems that a handful of doctors still participate in organ transplant tourism, which is more lucrative than ever after many countries successfully killed the business. The new order sets up a system for the allocation, harvesting and transplantation of organs from deceased donors to Filipinos to provide people who need kidneys with the kidneys they need as 9000 Filipinos develop permanent kidney failure each year. Each region must set up a designated organ procurement organization, which will become part of the Philippine Network for Organ Sharing (PHILNOS). The existing voluntary donation system is not effective. Jerry Chapman of The Transplantation Society (TTS), an international association of transplant experts, believes that these guidelines are important for organ transplantation in the Philippines and offers to assist in training and development to allow the rapid and effective implementation.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211744Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:25:26 GMT20100707052526Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:33:57 GMT20100707043357Wed, 07 Jul 2010 17:25:26 GMT20100707052526DNV healthcare in the US is a division of DNV of Oslo, Norway, an independent foundation with 300 offices in 100 different countries. The group aims to target other countries including Brazil, India, Thailand, and the Czech Republic. DNV Healthcare offers an approach to accreditation that focuses on quality, innovation and continual improvement, embracing multi-hospital systems, community hospitals, major teaching institutions and regional medical centers. DNV Accreditation requires an annual survey and the organization&8217;s continual compliance with the DNV accreditation process. DNV Healthcare offers the only Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) approved accreditation program that integrates the ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System. IASIS Healthcare has received DNV accreditation for all sixteen of its hospitals. Patty Scott of IASIS says,"DNV accreditation is strategically aligned with our goals for patient safety and medical outcomes. In addition to taking a best practices approach to hospital surveys, DNV's accreditation framework fits well with the Hospital Medical Management and Quality Program (HMMQP) already in place at IASIS hospitals." A key factor in the DNV process is a successful partnership between the accrediting body and the hospital. Instead of merely dictating standard policies and templates that may not be the best measurement and reporting tools for all hospitals, DNV guides its hospitals through an improvement process that enables hospitals to customize programmes that work best for them. In 2008, DNV Healthcare became the first organization in more than 40 years to be approved by the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to accredit hospitals.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211738Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:50:35 GMT20100707045035Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:17:58 GMT20100707041758Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:50:35 GMT20100707045035The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) task force on reproduction and society has reviewed the economics of Medically Assisted Reproduction (MAR). Dr. Mark Connolly and colleagues have published a review paper in the journal Human Reproduction Update, based on their findings from key epidemiological and economic studies. 3.5 million MAR children have been born worldwide since 1978. These children make up a substantial proportion of national births with up to 4.1% in Denmark and 3.3% in Belgium. Affordability of IVF is one of the main drivers of treatment utilisation, choice of treatment, and embryo transfer practices, which ultimately influence the multiple birth rate and infant outcomes. Lack of affordable treatment can force patients and doctors to opt for cheaper fertility treatments such as stimulated intrauterine insemination and ovulation stimulation, which have less controllable means of minimising multiple births. Restricted local treatment and limited financial access makes some patients seek cross border reproductive treatment in countries where cheaper or less restrictive treatments are offered. The ESHRE Task Force says that in a recent survey, of those patients that sought cross border reproductive care, only 13% received partial reimbursement and 4% total reimbursement in their own country. Different standards of care and less responsible embryo transfer practices are amongst the risks patients&8217; face when going abroad. Considering an average treatment cost of approximately &8364;15,000 to conceive an IVF-child, the costs of MAR treatment represent a substantial proportion of a patient&8217;s annual disposable income, MAR typically represents less than 0.25% of total national healthcare expenditure. By comparison, obesity accounts for 10% and 2-4% of total health care spending in the US and Europe respectively. 46 clinics in Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Switzerland, Spain and Slovenia helped with the research. Patients came from 49 countries, with high numbers from Italy (31.8%), Germany (14.8%), the Netherlands (12.1%) and France (8.7%). The next most numerous patient countries were Norway (5.5%), UK (4.3%) and Sweden (4.3%). The majority of Italians go to Switzerland and Spain, the majority of Germans to the Czech Republic; most Dutch and French patients to Belgium with a smaller proportion choosing to go to Spain, and most Norwegians and Swedes go to Denmark. Reasons for going from one country to another for IVF treatment vary by country. Legal reasons are predominant for patients from Italy (70.6%), Germany (80.2%), France (64.5%) and Norway (71.6%). Difficulties accessing treatment were more often noted by UK patients (34.0%) than by patients from other countries, and expected quality was an important factor for most patients The ESHRE Task Force study is the first to provide data on patients crossing borders between different European countries in order to undergo assisted reproductive treatments. The study showed that 1,230 couples underwent ART treatment during the observed period of one month and estimates that 11,000 to 14,000 patients cross borders every year in these six countries alone. The Danish government has provided reimbursement for assisted reproduction treatments with up to three treatment trials for married and unmarried couples, singles and homosexuals. To save money, a new law means that in future ART will no longer be part of the free public health services.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211746Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:46:18 GMT20100707044618Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:37:11 GMT20100707043711Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:46:18 GMT20100707044618Israel&8217;s tourism is booming and on course for a record 3.5 million tourists this year. There are many reasons for Israel&8217;s current success in tourism, but the main factor is that it has shifted from positioning itself as a sun and sea destination competing with countries such as Cyprus, Egypt and Malta. Israel now seeks tourists looking for added value: the Holy Land, the life of Jesus, history, culture, and religion. Israel&8217;s tourism marketing has become more aggressive with a hard-sell strategy to sell Israel as a venue. The health and tourism industries are discussing promoting Israel as a destination for medical tourism from developed countries. At present there is sporadic and not very effective marketing by individual agencies and hospitals that effectively compete with each other rather than promoting Israel generally. The consensus is that they need to join forces under a single brand for the country's entire medical system, rather than marketing separately. Israeli hospitals have a hunger for medical tourism, as most need the money. Those already involved in medical tourism are the country&8217;s largest hospitals: Sheba Medical Center, Ichilov Hospital; Rambam Medical Center; Hadassah University Hospital, and Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva. Two smaller private hospitals, Assouta Medical Center and the Herzliya Medical Center, are also active. Israel has specialist expertise in oncology, fertility treatment, bone marrow transplants and orthopedics. Israeli health care prices are also lower than in many Western countries, but more expensive than Asia or Eastern Europe. What could be a problem is that hospitals charge 50% more for treating foreigners than they receive for treating Israelis. Israel would also have to compete with locally active competitors in Turkey. Hadassah Medical Organization reports that revenue from medical tourism in 2009 was NIS 60 million, compared to a starting point in 2003 of NIS 3.5 million. Hadassah actively seeks patients abroad for its two hospitals in Jerusalem. Assouta Medical Center reports four-fold growth over the past four years and now gets NIS 50 million a year. Sheba Medical Center reports NIS 60 million in 2009, a 50% increase on 2008. Most medical tourists in Israel come from Eastern Europe. Russians and Ukranians can find doctors in Israel who speak their language and understand their culture. A recent conference suggested that Israel would prosper by targeting the USA and Western Europe. But there are problems with that scenario; Israel has yet to penetrate either market, and public opinion in many European countries is, after the commando raid on peace ships in international waters, very anti-Israel. Israel currently gets virtually no medical tourism business from the USA, UK or Canada; and after several recent political incidents, Israel is far from popular in the UK.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211743Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:33:57 GMT20100707043357Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:30:22 GMT20100707043022Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:33:57 GMT20100707043357A new Commonwealth Fund report has assessed seven industrialized countries on the performance of their health system in five areas: quality, efficiency, access to care, equity and the ability to lead long, healthy, productive lives. The Commonwealth Fund is a private foundation supporting independent research on health policy. 27,000 patients and primary care doctors were surveyed across all seven countries as part of the study. The Netherlands ranked first overall, closely followed by the UK and Australia. The UK performed well when it came to quality of care and access to care. In relation to access, the study says: "The UK has short waiting times for basic medical care and non-emergency access to services after hours, but has longer waiting times for specialist care and elective, non-emergency surgery." The Netherlands ranked very highly on all waiting times measurements. When it came to efficiency, the UK and Australia ranked first and second. Despite having the most expensive health care system, the United States ranks last overall. While there is room for improvement in every country, the U.S. stands out for getting poor value for its health care dollars, ranking last despite spending $7,290 per person on health care in 2007 compared to the $3,837 spent per in the Netherlands, which ranked first overall. Report author Karen Davis comments, "It is disappointing, but not surprising that, despite significant investment in health care, the U.S. continues to lag behind other countries. With enactment of the Affordable Care Act, we have entered a new era in American health care. We will begin strengthening primary care and investing in health information technology and quality improvement, ensuring that all Americans can obtain access to high quality, efficient health care." On measures of quality the United States ranked sixth out of the seven countries. On two of four measures of quality &8212; effective care and patient-centred care &8212; the U.S. ranks in the middle. However, the U.S. ranks last when it comes to providing safe care, and next to last on coordinated care. On measures of efficiency, the U.S ranked last due to low marks when it comes to spending on administrative costs, use of information technology, re-hospitalization, and duplicative medical testing. On measures of access to care, people in the U.S. have the hardest time affording the health care they need, with the U.S. ranking last on every measure of cost-related access problems. Overall rankings - 1. The Netherlands 2. United Kingdom 3. Australia 4. Germany 5. New Zealand 6. Canada 7. United Stateshttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211742Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:30:22 GMT20100707043022Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:27:38 GMT20100707042738Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:30:22 GMT20100707043022New Jersey based chiropractor Dr. Peter Ferraro, nationally recognized for his work in spinal decompression therapy, is exploring the possibility of bringing medical tourism resort centres to Panama, beginning with a five-star health care facility for people from around the world. Dr. Ferraro believes Panama is the perfect setting for people to incorporate a vacation with alternative, non-invasive treatments for a lengthy list of ailments, diseases and injuries. Advanced treatment in non-surgical spinal decompression therapy means the avoidance of going under the knife for many suffering from debilitating spinal injuries. When the therapy is performed at a medical tourism resort, a patient&8217;s family can be by their side while enjoying a vacation at the same time. An added benefit of medical tourism resorts is the ability of the physicians to control the lifestyle of the patient being treated, enabling a healthy, speedy recovery. Dr. Ferraro explains, &8220;A medical resort can create a path to recovery that encompasses the entire mind and body. As opposed to just prescribing a drug and sending a patient home, when they are at the resort their recovery may incorporate meditation, a special diet, detoxification programs and more.&8221; The Panama-based medical resort would bring together physicians from around the world and offer alternative, non-invasive treatments for cancer, spinal injuries and anti-viral treatment. According to Mike Cobb of ECI Development 500,000 American retirees pick up their monthly social security cheques at an embassy or other location outside of the United States, and what stops up to 4.5 million others from following them is concerns about healthcare. Cobb says that the standard of healthcare in many South American countries has improved greatly and the cost is low too. Many countries have at least one or two top-notch hospitals with U.S.-trained English-speaking doctors and state-of-the-art equipment, often with new technology such as 3D scans, not used widely in the USA. ECI Development is in discussion stages with some doctors on partnerships to add assisted living care and medical centres to real estate developments in Belize, Costa Rica and Nicaragua. In an assisted living pilot exercise for a woman with M.S., her costs in the United States were $10,000-$12,000 per month for round-the-clock care; her costs at Gran Pacifica in Nicaragua were 25% of that for a quality of her care better than she was receiving in the U.S.Cobb feels that businesses in medical tourism are missing an opportunity by ignoring assisted living, perhaps because it lacks the glamour of surgery or cosmetic treatment, as the old and the sick need help too. Pegasus Star, the developers of Hacienda Matapalo, a gated community on Costa Rica&8217;s South Pacific coast, will partner with New York based Patients Medical to establish a holistic wellness centre to help residents discover health and rediscover vitality. Dr. Rashmi Gulati of Patients Medical says, &8220;Our physicians will bring their multidisciplinary perspective of health and healing. Educated in conventional medicine, our doctors discovered the power of holistic medicine and now balance the two approaches. David Matluck of Pegasus Star adds, &8220;Unlike the traditional medical clinic that we have planned for our commercial centre, the new holistic wellness center will actually be part of our gated community.&8221; Deepak Chopra, founder of the Chopra Center for Wellbeing in Carlsbad, California, is looking at Costa Rica as a potential location for a future centre.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=211741Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:27:38 GMT20100707042738Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:24:31 GMT20100707042431Wed, 07 Jul 2010 16:27:38 GMT20100707042738Recent research from Post Office Travel Insurance suggests that nearly a third of UK holidaymakers have been on a health and wellbeing holiday in the last three years, with travelers venturing on health and wellness holidays for holistic treatments, alternative therapies and beauty treatments. Spa breaks, are the most popular type of wellness holiday, with 22 % of UK travellers opting for this type of break, with others choosing holidays which include low impact physical activities to help improve fitness. While it may initially be disappointing that the survey cannot identify how many went abroad for health tourism abroad, it helps remind us that medical and health tourism can be within a country as well as from country to country. Operations Abroad, one of the UK&8217;s first medical tourism agencies when launched in 2001, has been relaunched by the daughter of the original founder. Ruth Taylor has taken over the business originally set up by her late father Kenneth, a Manchester accountant who had noticed the variations in medical costs between different countries while advising a travel business. Based in Manchester, it attracted media attention when sending a patient overseas for a knee replacement and when TV crews followed one of its patients going for an operation in Greece. Kenneth Taylor&8217;s sudden death in 2003 left it in business but with little direction. Ruth Taylor has re-established the business, and has spent the past 12 months travelling in Europe and beyond, seeking out leading specialists and expanding the portfolio of clinics and hospitals to 35 hospitals in 22 countries. Low cost, high quality European dentistry has arrived in the UK with savings of up to 70%. In an innovative and groundbreaking move, Perfect Profiles UK has brought low cost European dentistry to the UK by opening the first UK based clinic to offer high quality dental treatment at European prices saving patients up to 70% on private dental costs. Working with its Budapest dental partner, the Vital Center, it is the first of its kind to offer patients the same high standards of dental care available abroad by bringing highly qualified teams of Hungarian dentists to the UK to its brand new clinic. Dental patients no longer need to leave the country, not only saving on treatment costs but travel costs and time too. Perfect Profiles has been sending patients to Hungary for dental treatment for over eight years. Mike Silford of Perfect Profiles UK says: &8220;we opened in the UK because after 8 years experience of sending patients overseas for dental treatment, we wanted to demonstrate that it is possible for dentists in the UK to provide low cost, high quality treatment for domestic patients. We are proud to be in the forefront of this radical change of offering dental treatments in the UK, at prices patients can afford and remaining competitive with costs found overseas.&8221; Hungarian dentists have a well-deserved reputation for being among the best-trained and highly skilled dentists in the world. All dentists in the UK clinic in Houghton Regis, Bedfordshire, are General Dental Council registered. There is a roster of 6 dentists flying in from Hungary and one permanently living in the UK.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=210666Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:57:16 GMT20100702035716Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:48:31 GMT20100701104831Fri, 02 Jul 2010 15:57:16 GMT20100702035716Extensive media coverage of outbound medical tourism focuses on US residents leaving the country for medical care. Stackpole & Associates, an independent research company, has completed a survey of US international patient departments to learn about patients coming to the US for health care services. Stackpole & Associates surveyed leading US hospitals with international patient departments to examine the impact of inbound medical tourism on those health care providers. According to Irving Stackpole, &8220;Much is written in the media about outbound medical tourism, travel for medical care to destinations outside the United States. What about international health travelers coming to the US for healthcare services? Who are they and how are US hospitals able to meet their needs? Our survey was designed to answer these and other questions&8221;. The survey was conducted on-line in March 2010. 87 managers of international patient departments throughout the United States were invited to participate from 48 hospitals, and 46% replied while 26% of individuals completed the survey. This independent survey of the top international patient departments in the United States creates a snapshot of the features of these departments as well as the patients they serve and roles they play within their institutions. The survey results reveal a compelling picture of small but influential departments that meet a variety of challenges with modest staffing and budgets. Inbound medical tourists from every corner of the globe travel to the US for a wide variety of health care services with a focus on cardiology, oncology, and neurological services. The survey covered various topics relating to medical tourism and international patient departments including: staffing and financial resources; international relationships including referral sources; international patient volume and medical services utilized; current and projected flow of international patients; international patients served by country or region; support services provided directly or by third parties; training for international patient department staff; and obstacles to attracting international patients. The general view was that international patient departments bring prestige to a hospital. On total international patient volume, the highest percentages within the international patient sector were oncology (32%), cardiovascular (14%) and neurological (12%). International patients on average represent 1.5% of total patient numbers, although numbers have increased over the past 12 months, and most expect further growth this year. Patients come from many countries and noticeable are Mexico (21%), the Middle East (14%), South America (12%), Central America excluding Mexico (11%) and Europe (11%). Most international patient departments offer additional services such as interpreter / translator, pre arrival medical assessment, assistance with hotel reservations or housing options, special dietary needs and coordination of aftercare services. Less than half provide assistance with transport and / or tourism related services. The emphasis is on medical, not tourism. The price of US healthcare is rated as the greatest obstacle to international patients and obtaining a visa was the second most difficult problem. Marketing is mostly word of mouth from patients and families, followed by referrals from doctors. Staff coordinate with outside services to provide support for international patients but these staff members receive little training to meet the needs of global health travellers.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=210673Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:13:03 GMT20100701111303Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:10:44 GMT20100701111044Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:13:03 GMT20100701111303Improved trading standards are being developed for the cosmetic surgery industry across Europe by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN), a cross-border organization. CEN is a major provider of European standards and technical specifications. It is the only recognized European organization for the planning, drafting and adoption of European Standards in all areas of economic activity. These standards have a unique status since they also are national standards in each of its 31 member countries of 480 million people. It all began when the Austrian Standards Institute (ASI) lobbied CEN to develop European standards for cosmetic surgery services. A group of cosmetic surgery practitioners will provide guidance to help Project Committee, CEN/TC 403 'Project Committee - Aesthetic surgery services' develop regulations to ensure the sector is monitored and accountable for its practice. The British Association of Aesthetic Plastic Surgeons (BAAPS) has continuously campaigned for increased legislation for the industry. Nigel Mercer of BAAPS will be helping the project committee in Brussels design a framework of regulations to ensure patients will receive safe treatment and a high standard of facilities. He believes this move to monitor the cosmetic surgery industry is overdue, &8216;&8217;The UK, as many other countries, has so far failed to put in place adequate regulations or standards to protect the public from unscrupulous providers who are mainly preoccupied with profit. I welcome a solid Europe-wide framework which will ensure patients can rely on safe treatment and facilities wherever they might be.&8221; The market for cosmetic surgery has increased dramatically in recent years. The growing availability of travel also means that cosmetic surgery tourism has become a reality. Few EU countries have adequate regulations or standards on how to provide these surgery services in a safe environment and consumers are not always fully aware of the risks. So there is a need from a patient safety perspective to ensure that patients can rely on safe cosmetic surgery interventions, whether it is at home or abroad. There is no date for the launch of the new standards. The first meeting of this new project committee is expected to be held in September 2010. European Standards are, from a legal point of view, voluntary, but their impact is significant and cosmetic surgery standards could become law as the European Commission develops patient safety services. The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ISAPS) has published guidelines for patients considering travelling for their surgery. ISAPS says,&8221; Patients will travel for their surgery to find lower costs, and to combine surgery with a vacation, because the travel industry and economic development ministries in many countries encourage it.&8221; In partnership with a major but not yet named insurance company, ISAPS has developed an insurance that offers patients cover if they encounter complications within a year after their return from surgery outside their own country. Cover only applies if both the surgeon performing the surgery and the surgeon managing the complication are ISAPS members; this may restrict the number of people able to buy the cover. To test the concept, and if people are willing to buy extra insurance, ISAPS will launch a pilot in the UK in September. What may be a problem for the pilot is that ISAPS says screening of patients is vital so it recommends a visit to a home country surgeon first, with the possibility of dissuading the travel altogether. Communication between the home country surgeon and the foreign surgeon, both ISAPS members, is key to the management of any subsequent complications. It is not available to anyone as it only applies to patients choosing surgeons from a list of screened ISAPS surgeons both abroad and in the home. The insurance is subject to more restrictions, as the patient must adhere to the requirements of the attending surgeon, such as proper recuperation time in the country where the surgery is performed. A number of UK surgeons have agreed to participate in the pilot. The ISAPS scheme will not promote any specific location or any one surgeon. The pilot faces several problems; people going overseas may not see why they should pay for a home country surgeon before or after travel as well; the insurance is complicated and restrictive; of ISAPS 1700 members only 33 work in the UK; and previous attempts to offer cosmetic surgery insurance in the UK have failed.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=210670Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:09:51 GMT20100701110951Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:58:01 GMT20100701105801Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:09:51 GMT20100701110951The Australian Medical Association (AMA) has urged caution after an Australian medical tourism agency was launched to offer cosmetic surgery and dental packages in Phuket and elsewhere in Thailand. Steve Hambleton of AMA argues that holidays and surgery should not mix, while the cost savings should be weighed up against increased risk and a lack of recourse should something go wrong, "If you go overseas, you do not have the sort of doctor registration systems that we have in Australia and we know that our training is excellent and our doctors' standards are excellent. We would urge caution and we say to those people you are taking extra risks and do you want to take those risks with your most precious asset?" Dr Hambleton then argues that while some Australians do have hassle-free surgery overseas there have been recent cases of problematic joint replacements, followed by the prospect of costly corrective surgeries. CosMediTour offers packages that include return flights, surgery, recuperation in a five star hotel and the potential to take a friend along for support. Run by Christyna Kruczaj and Greg Lemon, the agency takes groups from the Australian state of Queensland direct to the hospital or clinic where the surgery or dental work is done. Christyna Kruczaj says while prices vary depending on surgery type and by person, packages cost 20 to 40 per cent less than having the equivalent procedure in Australia. A breast enlargement package would cost $6,500 in Thailand while the procedure alone costs more than $10,000 in Australia,&8221; All of our surgeons are accredited plastic surgeons and the Thai accreditation is based on the US system of plastic and reconstructive surgery. We have been researching and developing this for 16 months. The AMA's response is predictable and a bit disappointing really. Patients only pay for an initial consult; flights and accommodation before leaving Australia and can opt out of their surgery in Thailand without financial penalty. The response we have had is immense. Many friends have gone over for surgery and they are all happy.&8221; But Australia too has had problems with cosmetic surgeons undertaking surgery that did not work and had problems. This is why from July 2010 all Australian doctors will be required to hold indemnity insurance under a new national registration regime. This is to ensure that patients entitled to compensation after a medical malpractice case will receive their payment. There is no similar requirement in Thailand. The extra insurance costs mean that Australian cosmetic surgeons have to chose between raising prices to pay for the insurance, and cutting into their profits; this helps explain the timing of the latest in a series of criticisms of cosmetic surgery tourism. 1 July 2010 sees the launch of the new national registration regime. The new national law has been passed in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria. Adoption bills have been introduced into most other States and Territories and await debate. From 1 July 2010 medical practitioners across Australia will need to be registered with the Medical Board of Australia. All registered medical practitioners must have professional indemnity insurance for all aspects of their medical practice. Australian medical professionals have been consistent in complaining about medical tourism. Their main complaint is that at a time when fewer people are paying for cosmetic surgery, and that many of those that do seek the most price-effective option; they are losing business to overseas surgeons. The Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery has serious misgivings about the rising practice of medical tourism, but apart from vague warnings on the risks of a problem when the clinic is ten hours away by plane, can provide little hard evidence to support their expected antagonism to overseas competition. Dentists and dental organizations are also regular complainers about competition, based on prejudice and fear of loss of business rather than any evidence that Thai standards are not equal to Australian ones. Two of Phuket's best hospitals, Phuket International Hospital and Bangkok Hospital Phuket, are less than pleased about Australian slurs on their professionalism and counter that standards of surgery on Phuket are equal to or perhaps even better than those in Australia. A growing number of people who normally can only expect or afford care at day clinics in Australia are going to Phuket for hospital treatment. Doctors on Phuket acknowledge that after-care is more difficult once a patient has returned home, but they say this is always taken into consideration and several agencies do offer after-care services.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=210671Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:09:37 GMT20100701110937Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:01:12 GMT20100701110112Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:09:37 GMT20100701110937The new American Heart Institute (AHI) currently under construction in Nicosia, Cyprus, is due to open in September 2010. It is the first private hospital on the island to specialize in non-invasive and invasive cardiac interventions and the entire spectrum of adult cardiology and cardiothoracic surgery. The hospital also has the distinction of being the first environmentally friendly hospital in Cyprus, Europe and the Middle East. Up to 80% of the energy needs of the building will be covered by utilizing renewable sources of energy. It will use geothermal energy for cooling and heating; solar energy for electricity generation, solar thermal for hot water production, special insulation, recycling technology for water and prefabricated construction techniques to minimize waste. Patient comfort is one of the highest priorities of AHI, so the new building includes a welcoming, well arranged reception area, modern cafeteria, well equipped waiting areas with indoor gardens for patients and families. Each patient will have his own individual multimedia station with access to internet, skype, telefon, nurse call and personal entertainment. Additionally the patient will have the flexibility to order on line the menu of his choice from a high-end cafeteria-catering service on the premises. The new 50-bed hospital will be a centre of excellence in cardiology, performing the entire spectrum of diagnostic and therapeutic cardiology and cardiac surgery, supported by state-of-the-art technology. Since Cyprus is already a well known tourist destination, AHI believe that it offers itself for postoperative recovery in a mild climate perfectly suited for rehabilitation, so seeks to attract patients from all over Europe and the Middle East. In the existing AHI hospital, 30% of AHI patients are non-locals, mainly coming from the United Kingdom. With the superior facilities in the new hospital, the % of overseas patients is expected to be higher. The Cyprus Health Service Promotion Board in cooperation with the Cyprus Chamber of Commerce, the Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Tourism and Cyprus Tourism Organisation have a joint mission to London to promote the Cyprus health services, with a conference and exhibition in a central London hotel from 20 to 23 November 2010. The preliminary program includes presentations by the participating members of specialties and services offered, meetings with potential suppliers of business. The mission is particularly targeting the UK&8217;s Greek Cypriot community. The organization of the event will be assigned to a specialized company in Britain.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=210672Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:08:57 GMT20100701110857Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:05:06 GMT20100701110506Thu, 01 Jul 2010 11:08:57 GMT20100701110857Plans to position Thailand as a leading medical tourism destination are being revived, starting with an effort to persuade foreigners that it is safe to visit the country as political tensions recede, says public health minister Jurin Laksanavisit.The minister says his immediate priority is to listen to the concerns and proposals of people in health care and related businesses. As medical tourism is a key element, support from the Tourism Authority of Thailand will be required. &8220;In the short term, we will require some roadshows to restore the confidence in safety among foreign patients when they come here to get medical treatment." Concern about safety was heightened during the ten weeks of anti-government protests that culminated in violence and arson in mid-May. At one point the red-shirt protesters invaded Chulalongkorn Hospital, claiming it was harbouring soldiers. Images of the chaotic scenes as the hospital attempted to evacuate hundreds of patients were seen worldwide. Thailand over the past decade has developed a thriving medical tourism industry, capitalising on high-quality, well-equipped private hospitals and skilled practitioners offering quality care at far less cost than in developed countries. Thailand has demonstrated good potential, proven by the increasing number of foreign patients, and worldwide recognition of Thai health care and other services such as massage. Traditional Thai and alternative medicines are likely to attract more foreign visitors for seeking treatment in Thailand. According to the Department of Health 1.5 million foreign patients visited Thailand last year for medical and health tourism, compared with 630,000 in 2004. Wattanosoth Hospital in Bangkok reports that foreign patients have delayed their visits recently because of political unrest and the imposition of a state of emergency. 35% of the hospital&8217;s patients come from overseas, mostly from Southeast Asia and the Middle East. Not everyone is convinced that stating that everything is now safe will be enough to restore tourism and medical tourism, as this year&8217;s problems are just a continuation of earlier unsolved internal troubles. Apichart Sankary of The Association of Thai Travel Agents (ATTA) has serious doubts on Thailand's revised official tourist target for 2010 of 14.1 million &8220;This is only the minister&8217;s dream. It is not the reality we all recognise in the business. If we can reach 10 million, we will be lucky." While the health minister may suggest that a few roadshows in countries that send people to Thailand will be enough, others disagree. Suraphon Svetasreni of the Tourism Authority of Thailand is among those believing that Thailand must restore confidence in Asian markets before advertising campaigns can be launched,&8221; We have to restore confidence in Asian markets such as China, Korea, Hong Kong and Japan because these markets can recover quickly. Then we have to move to medium and long-haul markets to regain the business in time for the high season.&8221; Under the banner &8216;Together We Can&8217;, government officials and private sector businesses have agreed to brainstorm marketing strategies to rebuild confidence, although no specific dates, meetings or action steps have yet been announced. A medical tourism network to boost business in Thailand was launched recently in Bangkok. The Medical Tourism Cluster (MTC) intends to recruit a wide range of tourism players who offer wellness and medical services in Thailand. It will coordinate business contacts and sales leads between cluster members and overseas medical tourism providers. Network founder Prakit Chinamourphong says that the MTC could help boost medical tourism by connecting local companies to overseas markets and suppliers. Within Thailand, Phuket has become a major participant in the medical tourism sector and ranks second only to Bangkok in terms of the volume of foreign patients seeking treatments.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=210656Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:57:16 GMT20100701105716Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:36:27 GMT20100701103627Thu, 01 Jul 2010 10:57:16 GMT20100701105716A medical tourism agency in Costa Rica, Great Sunrise Services Costa Rica (GSECR), wants agents to promote the services it offers, but there is a catch. Costa Rica's popularity has been growing steadily over the years, although it only has three Joint Commission International accredited hospitals, all in San Jose. There are 6 major private hospitals, 22 public hospitals, and an unknown number of private clinics. The overwhelming majority of medical tourists visiting Costa Rica come from the USA. The agency suggests a figure of 20,000 patients a year, but this is only an often repeated estimate. The price of medical services is low and Americans can achieve cost savings of between 30 to 70% off USA prices. The agency is seeking agents, but the agents have to pay an upfront on-off fee of US$6,000 that gives them; Use of GSECR designation as a contracted agent. Training in Costa Rica, helping them to market their medical service business Ongoing and unlimited support. Airfare from home city and airport pickup. Hotel and meals included with no out-of-pocket expense. Introduction, training and hospital-orientation field trips. 4% commission on gross billing for procedures arranged, with average billing quoted as $18,000 to $30,000. Clamp down on stem cell clinics Costa Rica is cracking down on an unauthorized stem cell clinics that have attracted hundreds of foreigners prepared to pay large sums when seeking relief from degenerative diseases and serious injuries. The promise is that stem cell treatment, using master cells gleaned from umbilical cords, fat and elsewhere, can cure or slow down the effects of many diseases that traditional medicine cannot cure or can only cure with long and expensive treatment. The health ministry has already ordered the country's largest stem cell clinic to stop offering treatments, arguing there is no evidence that the treatments work or are safe. The ministry&8217;s Dr. Ileana Herrera comments, "If stem cell treatment efficiency and safety has not been proven, we do not believe it should be used. As a health ministry, we must always protect the patient.&8221; The clinic's owner, Arizona entrepreneur Neil Riordan, has closed the clinic and admits the treatments, involving the removal and re-injection of stem cells, had not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The ministry said the clinic had a permit to store the adult stem cells, extracted from patients' own fat tissue, bone marrow and donated umbilical cords, but was never authorized to perform the treatment. Since the Institute of Cellular Medicine opened in 2006, 400 foreigners, mostly from the United States, have undergone the experimental treatment unavailable in North America and Europe to treat multiple sclerosis, spinal injuries, diabetes and other ailments. Stem cell treatment experts argue that without controlled clinical trials, there is no way to know if the treatment is making such differences or some other factor, and worry that such clinics exploit ill patients' desperation with an unproven remedy. The International Society for Stem Cell Research has cautioned against stem cell tourism, as some clinics do not follow the careful procedures in a clinical trial, which involve checking patients given the treatment against patients who have no therapy to rule out the placebo effect. Those advocating stem cell tourism argue that many patients will not live long enough to wait for official approval or clinical trials. It is unlikely that stem cell treatments will be approved for broad application in most degenerative diseases within the next 5 to10 years in the United States. Those in need of treatment must either wait until FDA clearance is given or seek treatment abroad. Trade estimates predict that the international cell therapy market will be worth $56.2 billion in 2010 and $96.3 billion in 2015. The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has just launched &8220;A Closer Look at Stem Cell Treatments&8220; a website offering patients, their families and doctors with information they need to make decisions about stem cell treatments. The launch is to counter the growing number of aggressive marketing campaigns offering stem cell treatments. The ISSCR urges individuals to be cautious and to learn the facts before making any decision. Irving Weissman of the ISSCR says, &8220;Stem cells do hold tremendous promise for the treatment of many serious diseases. Yet there are organizations out there that are preying on patients&8217; hopes, offering stem cell treatments for large sums of money for conditions where the current science simply does not support its benefit or safety. ISSCR is concerned that stem cell treatments are being marketed to patients worldwide for a variety of medical conditions, without having the mechanisms in place to ensure safety or likely benefit. Without these safeguards, patients may be put at risk. &8220;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=209429Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:36:20 GMT20100624013620Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:30:34 GMT20100624013034Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:36:20 GMT20100624013620A recent feature for a medical magazine by Doctor Peter Kovacs highlights the problems of fertility tourism. Here&8217;s a summary of his findings. Patients seek infertility services in a different country for various reasons. These procedures are regulated in most European countries, and the legal framework within which assisted reproductive technology can be practiced in a given country varies considerably. In some countries, the number of eggs that can be fertilized is limited (such as in Italy), the number of embryos selected for transfer is limited (such as in Germany), or the number of embryos that can be transferred is regulated (such as in the Scandinavian countries). In addition, certain procedures (preimplantation genetic testing, donor gamete use, surrogacy, or sex selection) may be allowed in some, but not all, European countries. Neither the regulation nor the financing of these services is uniform. In some countries, the entire expense has to be covered by the patient, whereas in others, not only is the treatment reimbursed but the medication expense is as well. Restrictions in some countries prevent patients older than a certain age or with a certain reproductive history from undergoing reimbursed treatment. Availability and waiting times also vary. All of these factors drive patients to explore treatment abroad. It is estimated that 20,000 to 25,000 European couples receive in vitro fertilization (IVF) care abroad each year. Under normal circumstances, assisted reproductive technology procedures are reported to national registries, and the data are forwarded to the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) to compile the European IVF database. However, procedures performed abroad are rarely included in these databases and therefore are unaccounted for. The kind of assisted reproductive technology procedures that can be performed in a given country differ significantly throughout Europe. A classic example is donor egg use. About 10% of the patients undergoing assisted reproductive technology need this service, but it is not allowed in several European countries (Germany, Austria, and Italy). In other countries, such as Spain, donor egg use is allowed and the donor can be reimbursed for her expenses. Not surprisingly, patients from all over Europe choose Spain as their destination when it comes to donor egg use, and nearly half of all donor egg treatment cycles in Europe are performed in Spain. A United Kingdom study by The York Management School found that about one quarter of the multiple gestations in the UK were the result of fertility treatments provided overseas. The assisted reproductive technology procedures that can be performed in a given country are influenced by the country's ethical, legal, traditional, and cultural characteristics. These differences will always exist and may at times exclude some patients from services, and these patients must seek services abroad. To make it easier for such patients to receive the desired services outside of their countries of residence, physicians should assist in the evaluation and follow-up of these patients in coordination with the physician team that actually performs the procedures. This would be more convenient for the patient and would guarantee high-quality care and adequate follow-up. Insurance companies could also cooperate and arrange the appropriate financial coverage for these procedures. Until these measures are introduced, physicians should adhere to available international guidelines when treating these couples, and therefore, complication rates can be reduced to the minimum. It is imperative that global standards be developed and the USA, European, and other nations take an active role in setting requirements, including rights of citizenship and immigration.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=209428Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:30:33 GMT20100624013033Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:27:43 GMT20100624012743Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:30:33 GMT20100624013033Until recently, the 350 clinics offering surrogate mother services to the hundreds of medical tourists coming to India every week have been unregulated. But legal cases in India and other countries, mean that this profitable free-for-all will be replaced by regulated agencies being forced to comply with national and international law. India's Supreme Court has demanded urgent new legislation to regulate one of India's fastest-growing industries. India has become the world capital of outsourced pregnancies, where surrogates are implanted with foreign embryos and paid to carry the resultant babies to term. In 2002, the country legalized commercial surrogacy in an effort to promote medical tourism. Indian surrogate mothers are readily available and cheap. A draft bill to direct assisted reproductive technology (ART) will be introduced this year in Parliament. The new legislation will make law the surrogacy guidelines of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) that are often ignored by Indian fertility clinics. Many of the couples using India are from countries where surrogacy is either illegal or unaffordable. Surrogacy costs $12,000 to $20,000 per birth in India, compared to $70,000 to $100,000 in the USA. Most surrogate mothers are rural women in need of income. Indian surrogates are usually paid between $5,000 to $7,000 for their services, which is more than many of them would be able to earn after years of work. In some Indian clinics surrogates are recruited from rural villages, with most recruits being poor and illiterate. Surrogacy recruits are brought to the clinics where they are required to stay in the clinic&8217;s living quarters in a guarded dormitory-like setting for the entire pregnancy. There have been several cases in which babies born from Indian surrogacy arrangements were stateless, in which neither India nor the parents&8217; home countries recognized the babies&8217; citizenship. Japan considers the woman who gives birth to a baby, the surrogate, to be the baby&8217;s mother. Until recently, two-year-old twin toddlers were stateless and stranded in India. Their parents are German nationals, but the woman to whom the babies were born is an Indian surrogate. The boys were refused German passports because the country does not recognize surrogacy as a legitimate means of parenthood. And India does not confer citizenship on surrogate-born children conceived by foreigners. Only after a long legal battle did Germany allow the boys German passports. The new proposed government bill bans in-vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics from brokering surrogacy transactions. It also calls for the establishment of an ART bank that will be responsible for locating surrogate mothers, as well as reproductive donors. Fertility clinics will only come into contact with surrogates on the operating table. Clinics see this as unworkable as they want to perform medical and background checks. But the new rules seek to protect surrogate mothers with freedom in negotiating their fee and mandatory health insurance from the couple or single employing them. Firm legal standards will ensure that medical professionals only be permitted to implant three embryos in a woman's uterus per attempt. The legislation will only allow a woman to act as a surrogate up to five times, less if she has her own children, and will impose a 35-year age limit. The new legislation will require that the international couple's home country guarantee the unborn infant citizenship before a surrogacy can begin. If this stipulation becomes law it could kill the industry as few countries will or legally could guarantee citizenship before birth. Countries accepting surrogate-born children typically rely on DNA tests done post-delivery to determine the parentage of the baby.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=209425Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:24:22 GMT20100624012422Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:22:36 GMT20100624012236Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:24:22 GMT20100624012422MediBid, an online US marketplace for medical treatment, is now making it possible for Canadian patients who cannot afford long waiting lists to access the care that they need. MediBid is the one place where Canadians can access surgeons and facilities from around the world at a price they can afford, with the launch of Canadian website MediBid.ca. MediBid's founder Ralph Weber has been helping Canadian patients for over 13 years. As a Canadian with extensive experience in the US and Canadian healthcare sectors, he knows the effects of a long wait for surgery, "I want Canadians to know that US health care is affordable, often 80% less than what you might think. MediBid is a tool for patients to obtain the real prices for health care from a free market system. It was founded on five principles: access, quality, choice, value and privacy. Often, procedures in the US are billed at an inflated price. For example, knee replacement surgery can be billed as high as $50,000, but can be obtained at cost for as low as $12,000. If you weigh in the expense of lost income from missed work while on a waiting list, the value in paying out of pocket is apparent." Timely access is what Canadians need, according to The Fraser Institute, "We are paying among the highest amounts in the world for our healthcare system that is actually delivering quite a poor service in terms of lengthy waiting lists, in terms of access to technology, and access to a family doctor." Lynn McLeod of Ontario Health Quality Council adds, "In many areas of care, too many people still wait too long." MediBid is now offering Canadian patients the same immediate access that has been available to US patients since MediBid.com opened in January 2010.Patients on MediBid.ca can review bids and compare credentials, experience, and quality from a pool of thousands of physicians without the price being inflated by any third parties. Patients deal directly with doctors, not a third party agency. MediBid&8217;s secure, needs-matching technology offers patients the ability to compare quality care with upfront, custom pricing in an interactive, online marketplace. Patients join to seek out surgeons, doctors, dentists, and other medical providers from both the US and around the world. Patients create a profile and a request for care online. Physicians review the request made by and give a custom bid to each patient based on their individual needs. MediBid does not get involved in the financial transaction between doctor and patient. The hospitals and clinics quote cash prices and accept only cash or credit cards at the time of service, not insured treatment paid for by insurers.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=209424Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:22:35 GMT20100624012235Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:17:41 GMT20100624011741Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:22:35 GMT20100624012235The first ever detailed study on health and medical tourism in Australia,&8217; Health tourism in Australia: supply, demand and opportunities&8221; has been published by the government funded Sustainable Tourism Cooperative Research Centre. This technical report presents a robust understanding of health and wellness tourism in Australia, and to a much lesser extent, medical tourism. It provides information and outcomes relevant for future development of the wellness and medical tourism industries in Australia. Australia does not yet offer medical tourism in any organised way as the number of international inbound visitors that meet the definition of a medical tourist is, according to the report, a consistent 7,000 a year from 2006 to 2009. While official figures suggest that there are over a million medical tourists in Australia each year, this is a definition that comes out of the unusual state based and insurance based healthcare systems in the country; so almost all of these are simply Australians travelling away from their home town/city, frequently a relatively short distance by Australian standards, but not by European standards, for medical treatment. There are a much larger number of health and wellness travellers, but again the vast majority of these are from within the country. There are very few hospitals or clinics offering facilities to medical tourists from overseas. This research suggests that Australia would benefit from developing niche medical tourism offerings based on Australian medical strengths/expertise, as has occurred with the Cairns Fertility Clinic and its IVF services. Possible areas for development of Australian medical tourism services include cardiology, urology, orthopaedic surgery and oncology. The report recommends that Australia seek a competitive advantage internationally by focusing on the provision of quality services at a lower price point than the United States, and based on niche medical offerings in which Australia has an international reputation and expertise. There is no state or national government policy on or support of medical tourism and no particular recognition of this as an area of distinctive opportunity. The prospect of medical tourism is seen by all these governments as fraught with difficulties for governments concerned with voters&8217; perceptions of medical resources being handed over to private sector entrepreneurs. The research suggests that the best way forward would be for the national government to establish and fund a body that develops a nationally coordinated medical tourism policy and actively promotes Australia as an international medical tourism destination through trade shows and other forums. To encourage the development of medical tourism, it is recommended that submissions are developed and presented to government to illustrate the potential for medical tourism to contribute to the supply of medical services and facilities in Australia and to contribute export income to the Australian economy. One problem identified is that the visa application process for medical tourists is so complex that most medical tourists enter Australia on a tourist visa rather than go through the process of applying for a medical visa due to the associated delay. It recommends that the application process for medical visas (long-stay and short- stay) be reviewed and streamlined. The report identified a problem on price as Australia does not have a comparable selling point on price to India, but Australian medical services are still considerably cheaper than in the United States and several treatments are also less costly than in South Korea.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=209423Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:17:41 GMT20100624011741Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:15:57 GMT20100624011557Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:17:41 GMT20100624011741Although the recent ministerial agreement on the cross-border healthcare directive is very important, members of parliament, doctors and patient groups say more work still needs to be done to amend the agreement to make it workable before the new rules can be implemented. The bill now goes back to the European Parliament, which has already backed a more far-reaching version of the directive. A majority of MEPs will have to vote in favour of a revised text before it can become law. One major concern is that the draft could allow governments so many freedoms when transposing it into national law that the directive would become so watered down as to lose the point of imposing it. EPF, the umbrella organisation of pan-European patient organisations wants mechanisms to be set in place for alternative means of payment that would not leave patients to bear the whole costs of cross-border healthcare up-front. It feels that without such mechanisms, the vast majority of the population would not be able to benefit in practice from the new rights granted to them under the directive. Former MEP John Bowis of Health First Europe comments,&8221; This political agreement is important not only because it puts health policy back on the European agenda but because during the negotiations politicians understood that values of quality and safety are of paramount importance for healthcare services in Europe." The health ministers&8217; compromise will see patients reimbursed for medical treatment in other EU member states, but with a series of safeguards giving health authorities the power to prevent patients from travelling under certain circumstances. The agreement also agreed on who should pay for treating pensioners who take up residence in another member state during their retirement. The agreement says a French pensioner living in Spain will be reimbursed by the Spanish state if they seek treatment in Germany. But France would pick up the tab if that pensioner were to be treated in France. The main problem is that the European Parliament had already agreed a more liberal view of how far the directive should go in patient mobility. Some MEPs have already said that the European Council's compromise attaches too many conditions to patients' rights. Patient and doctor groups want the language of the final text clarified in order to avoid variations in how member states apply the law. But politicians anonymously argue that "constructive ambiguity" is necessary in order to move it forward. MEPs will debate the issue again before the end of the year, but it is too early to declare the issue agreed given the differences between the Parliament and member states. Influential French MEP Fran&231;oise Grosset&234;te comments.&8221; I want more equity and more justice for all patients, depending on their medical needs and not on their financial means. There is still a lot of work to do in the European Parliament given the fragility of the commitments made by some of the member states." BEUC, the European consumers' organisation, calls on MEPs to address shortcomings in the agreement, &8220; The many new clauses introduced by the Council reduce the added value of the proposal and create more confusion for patients. We count on the European Parliament to address the shortcomings of the text and to make it more meaningful and ambitious."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=209422Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:15:12 GMT20100624011512Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:12:19 GMT20100624011219Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:15:12 GMT20100624011512The Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care (AAAHC) of the USA has accredited Nova Dental in San Jose, Costa Rica, as the first ambulatory organization outside the USA to be accredited by the new AAAHC International accreditation programme. The clinic received a three-year accreditation. The accreditation survey was conducted by a team of US based AAAHC surveyors who are active practitioners of ambulatory health care, including a dentist. John Burke of the AAAHC says, &8220;The goal is to improve the safety and quality of patient care. Our peer-based survey process and our comprehensive education programs make our accreditation unique, and enable us to work closely with ambulatory centres to assess their services and assure they provide high-quality care.&8221; Luis Obando of Nova Dental adds, &8220;We offer a full-service dental clinic that specializes in cosmetic dentistry, and 95% of our customers are from the USA.The accreditation process was a lot of work to get everything together to meet the standards, but in the end it helped to improve our clinical and administrative processes.&8221; AAAHC launched its international accreditation program in Costa Rica, and other organizations in that country have begun the process toward AAAHC International accreditation. The organisation will add accreditation for ambulatory organizations in other countries soon. The logic is that Americans going overseas for care need certainty as to the quality of clinics, most of whom are far too small to be able to afford JCI accreditation, and that while overseas authorities may license doctors or dentists, few countries in South and Central America licence the clinic or hospital. Care, founded in 1979, is the leader in ambulatory health care accreditation with nearly 5,000 organizations accredited across the US. The AAAHC accredits a variety of ambulatory health care organizations, including ambulatory surgery centres, office-based surgery centres, college student health centrers, managed care organizations, military health care clinics, and large medical and dental practices. It is an advocate for the provision of high-quality health care through the development of nationally recognized standards and through its survey and accreditation programmes.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=208191Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:01:52 GMT20100617120152Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:51:07 GMT20100617115107Thu, 17 Jun 2010 12:01:52 GMT20100617120152Although UK residents going overseas for cosmetic or other treatment may be able to sue the hospital or clinic if it all goes wrong, many believe that the medical tourism agency cannot be held liable, as it has no medical knowledge. Specialist lawyers Blake Lapthorn do not agree, and point to travel law to back up this view. The number of people undergoing cosmetic surgery has increased in recent years. With this escalation has come an increase in complaints and claims for compensation when the surgery does not turn out as expected. The impact of cosmetic surgery going wrong can be far wider reaching than standard surgery. Often the patient will have paid a large amount of money to have the surgery done privately and will have high expectations for the outcome. As with any procedure, the surgeon must obtain informed consent from the patient. This requirement often raises a conflict of interest. If the patient is made fully aware of all the risks of surgery, they may decide not to go ahead with the procedure, and will not therefore part with their money. The surgeon should always establish the patient's reason for the surgery and be clear what the patient hopes to achieve. The surgeon should also explain very clearly in full the possible risks, complications and outcomes. A surgeon may also be open to criticism if he fails to contact the patient's GP or conduct a full physical and psychological assessment beforehand. It is in the surgeon's interest to do this. Trying to establish the standard of care to which a patient is entitled when they undergo cosmetic surgery is often difficult. It will usually depend on the type of surgeon and what information and leaflets the patient is given beforehand. The relationship between patient and surgeon can cause further problems. This may be different to the normal patient/surgeon relationship, as here the patient is usually paying privately for the treatment, and creating a contract. The company employing the surgeon will often claim the surgeon is an independent contractor, meaning that any claim would have to be brought against the surgeon personally. This can cause further problems, particularly if the surgeon lives abroad, or is not insured and has no assets to claim against. For cosmetic surgery abroad, the patient may sometimes purchase a package through a medical tourism agency that includes flights, hotel and surgery, as well as time for the patient to recover abroad. Such packages are covered under the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations 1992. Under these regulations, if the surgery goes wrong, the patient can sue the package provider (the medical tourism agency), as well as the clinic. The agent may also be responsible for non-medical items such as travel accidents. While travel agents and tour operators selling packages are obliged to have bonds and professional indemnity insurance, there are as yet no similar rules for medical tourism agents; and calling themselves facilitators or consultants does not change their legal status of being an agent if they are subject to the Package Travel, Package Holidays and Package Tours Regulations. The lawyers say that as more people turn to cosmetic surgery, the burden on surgeons to ensure the patient is thoroughly informed and consenting is ever increasing. The list of holiday accidents that consumers can claim for includes personal injuries resulting from accidents that were not their fault includes accidents caused by air travel, road traffic accidents and coach crashes, and negligent medical/clinical treatment received abroad. Blake Lapthorn&8217;s approach to a consumer clinical negligence claim: &8220;First we listen to your account of the medical treatment you received, and the injuries you have suffered. We will also involve our medically qualified staff in assessing your prospects of bringing a successful claim. Then we assign a lawyer, or team of lawyers, to your case. Our initial work sets out to establish the strength of your case and whether a claim is likely to be successful. It involves gathering evidence including medical records, and a report from a medical expert. If we can establish there was a breach of duty by the medical personnel caring for you, and that you suffered injury because of that breach, we can proceed with your claim. The claim will normally be brought in the country where the medical treatment was received. Our foreign language abilities, including fluent French, Spanish and German, and international network of agents, TAGLaw, enables us to pursue claims abroad efficiently and effectively. Once you have realised that the clinical treatment you received has caused you injury, it is vital that you start proceedings as soon as possible because the time limits vary, depending on the country in which the claim is brought. Most personal injury claims can be pursued at no cost to you. You may have legal expenses insurance or your claim may be eligible for a no win-no fee arrangement.&8221;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=208187Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:50:07 GMT20100617115007Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:42:02 GMT20100617114202Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:50:07 GMT20100617115007NBK Capital, an investment fund owned by National Bank of Kuwait has acquired a 30 % stake in World Eye Hospitals and may increase that share of the Turkish company. World Eye plans an initial public offering (IPO) for part of the remaining 70 % stake, to offer its shares publicly. The IPO will only be after it completes investments, including opening surgical centres in Russia, Ukraine, Germany and the Netherlands. World Eye, which operates 15 hospitals in Turkey and overseas, plans investments of $20 million over the next 12 months with healthcare centres in the European cities of Kiev, Moscow, Munich and Amsterdam. It targets revenue of $100 million this year, which it aims to double in 2011.The group targets 50,000 foreign patients this year, and last year treated 20,000 non-Turkish patients, mainly as health tourists. At Singapore-listed Parkway Holdings there is now a battle for control of this key medical tourism player. The saga began in March, when US private equity group TPG Capital sold its 23.9% stake in Parkway to Fortis Healthcare, an Indian hospital chain for S$959million. Fortis Healthcare has since increased its stake to 25.3% to make it the single largest shareholder of Parkway. But there is another major stakeholder in Parkway, Malaysian government subsidiary Khazanah Nasional has a 23.8% share through its subsidiary, Integrated Healthcare. Khazanah recently made an offer to increase its stake to 51%, at a premium price to shareholders. If Fortis do not make a counter-bid, Khazanah wrests control from Fortis.If Fortis makes a counter bid, it will have to be at a very high price indeed, and would enable Khazanah to make a massive profit by selling their shares. There is a third player, the Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) with a 6.8% stake .If Fortis opts to make a counter bid for Parkway, it would have to launch a full general offer for Parkway, as Singapore takeover rules do not allow parties who have bought shares in the last six months to carry out a partial offer. That could potentially cost Fortis at least S$3.1billion to buy out the remaining shareholders in Parkway. Fortis is discussing financing options with GIC, but GIC&8217;s mandate is to invest abroad and this could constrain it from putting its money into a battle for control over a Singapore based company. Though Khazanah&8217;s offer is an attractive one, there is no assurance that it will succeed. Khazanah, has a 60% stake in Pantai Medical, the other 40% is held by Parkway.Fortis has another option, a partial offering, but Singapore&8217;s financial authorities would have to give special permission. Fortis&8217; investment in Parkway is seen as a starting point for ambitions of rapid international expansion. For both Khazanah and Fortis Healthcare, a majority stake in Parkway Holdings is a good acquisition, as Parkway has 16 hospitals in Asia, with over 3400 beds throughout Singapore, China, Malaysia, India, Brunei, and the UAE; and plans to build hospitals in Vietnam and China. Parkway has huge strategic value for Fortis, and losing control over the Singapore-based healthcare chain would constitute a big setback for the Indian healthcare company. Fortis plans to use Parkway as its vehicle to realise the dream of building a leading global healthcare chain. An option for Fortis is to stay invested as a minority shareholder. But unless it is able to arrive at an understanding with Khazanah over management control, it may not make much sense for Fortis to be just a financial investor. Khazanah&8217;s ace is that it has no global healthcare plans, and just seeks to make money from investments, so can play a long-term game. Khazanah&8217;s attempt to raise its holding to 51% is related to its unhappiness that Fortis had the cheek to take control of Parkway, despite only owning a quarter of it, and disagreements over future strategy. Whatever the outcome, Parkway seeks a quick solution, as while it is business as usual at the group, a prolonged shareholder battle would be a distraction for the staff and offer ongoing uncertainty on corporate strategies.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=208184Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:40:57 GMT20100617114057Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:27:45 GMT20100617112745Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:40:57 GMT20100617114057Regulations have been laid in the Scottish Parliament that will provide certainty and transparency on patients' rights to access healthcare in other European countries. Under European rules, patients can seek treatment in another member state, equivalent to the treatment that would have been provided in their home country. The patient also has a right to reclaim the cost of that treatment from their home healthcare system, up to the amount it would have cost if it were provided at home. Patients have the right to access healthcare in other European countries under Article 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. These new regulations are based on the existing law, not the recent EU draft agreement on cross-border healthcare. Health secretary, Nicola Sturgeon, welcomed the clarification of the European rules on overseas treatment but stressed that falling waiting times in Scotland meant this was unlikely to be an attractive option for many Scottish patients, "The regulations provide clarity to NHS health commissioners about Scottish patients' rights when seeking treatment in other European Economic Area countries and set out the procedures for obtaining prior authorisation and reclaiming the cost of that treatment. However with NHS waiting times currently at an all-time low I do not expect many Scottish patients to travel overseas for treatment that is readily available at home. Our latest figures show that almost all Scots wait no more than nine weeks for inpatient and day case treatment and these figures are continuing to come down. The NHS in Scotland provides first class care, with quality and safety at the very heart of all that it does. Lower waiting times mean that patients are now able to access the treatment they need faster than ever before and I believe this adds up to a quality healthcare package." The National Health Service (Reimbursement of the cost of EEA Treatment) (Scotland) Regulations were laid in the Scottish Parliament in May 2010 and will come into force on August 23 2010.The regulations ensure that NHS Scotland, in common with the other UK administrations in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, is complying with EU case law and provides clarity regarding: reimbursement of cost, the circumstances in which prior authorisation is required and when prior authorisation must be granted. Patients can access state or private healthcare in other European Economic Area countries but the Scottish health system would only be obliged to pay the amount the treatment would have cost the NHS if it was carried out in Scotland. Where the actual cost of the treatment is less than it would have cost NHS Scotland, only the actual cost is reimbursed.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=208181Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:27:45 GMT20100617112745Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:23:29 GMT20100617112329Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:27:45 GMT20100617112745Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) is under new management. DHCC parent Dubai Holding has had problems and has restructured. Tatweer, who used to manage DHCC, has been replaced by Tecom Investments.Tatweer failed to promote DHCC in the last 18 months, but Tecom seeks to be pro-active again. DHCC is a free zone in Dubai with a mandate to promote the emirate as a health care destination. Dr Aisha Mohammad Abdullah of Tecom reports that although some clinics have closed, DHCC has seen 21 new clinics opened since 2009, taking the total number to 90. In all of the free zone, hospitals and clinics treated 220,000 patients in 2009, compared to 90,000 in 2008. Of these, 10% are not UAE nationals, but the company is not able to differentiate between the millions of expatriate workers, business and holiday travellers, diplomats and medical tourists within that 220,000 figure. The challenge of reversing the trend from people travelling from the UAE for treatment, to the UAE in general and DHCC in particular, remains difficult. Dr Aisha comments, "The reason why people travel abroad is that they are looking for quality health care. DHCC is in a position to provide similar care. Perhaps what we have not done aggressively is to market what is available in DHCC. We have been in a developmental stage for some time, building infrastructure, both physical and soft. For us to compete in the international arena, we must have world-class facilities. We can build trust through emphasis on quality standards that meet and exceed international benchmarks. The focus on bricks and mortar in Dubai must shift to the content within.&8221; She said the public could take the quality of doctors at DHCC for granted as it ensures rigorous licensing with ongoing assessments to maintain best practices. DHCC also has 10 complementary and alternative medicine centres. Asked about the high costs of health care, Dr Aisha replied, "People have a misconception that quality care costs more. Our rates are comparable to any other private hospital or clinic in the UAE." This response fails to answer the criticism that the UAE is very expensive when compared to Asian countries, or even other Middle East ones. This makes it difficult to market on a cost-advantage, and the growth of hospital and clinic building, and international accreditation, in both those areas, makes it difficult for DHCC to argue it offers better quality or more modern facilities. DHCC has 90% occupancy with two hospitals and 1,700 health care professionals. The Jumeirah Group-run hotel and hotel apartment towers will be open by late 2011.Work on the University Hospital has restarted and when completed, the teaching hospital will be the main tertiary care facility within DHCC, with 400 beds for acute and intensive care patients. The existing two hospitals are The City Hospital and American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital. The problem that Dubai has is that other countries target residents of the UAE. South Korea, is the latest low-cost competitor to do so. In an effort to promote Korea as one of the world&8217;s most competitive medical tourism destinations, the Korea Tourism Organisation (KTO) organised a Korea medical tourism evening in Dubai in cooperation with ALTA Travel Agency. Charm Lee of the KTO says, &8220;A top priority for medical providers around the world has been to attract medical tourists from the Middle East for many years, but currently the trend is gradually reversing as the Middle East is seeking to attract medical tourists.&8221; So to make Korea friendlier to Arab patients, the country has successfully introduced personalised services for Muslim patients, implementing guidelines, which include various aspects of clinical care, food services, and religious observances, and visiting arrangements. ALTA Travel agency in Dubai has developed some attractive medical packages for Gulf tourists in association with hospitals in South Korea.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=208180Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:23:17 GMT20100617112317Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:18:14 GMT20100617111814Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:23:17 GMT20100617112317Malta is preparing to launch the introductory phase of marketing the country as a medical tourism destination and discussions with all the relevant parties, including the regulatory ones, should be concluded over the coming months. Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Mario de Marco, said at the Malta Medical Tourism Summit that at this initial stage of the development of medical tourism to Malta, the focus should be on the services provided by private hospitals and clinics operating on the island. As it grows and evolves it will become possible to widen the scope to include other specialised health services. The Malta Tourism Authority has defined medical tourism to exclude non-medical aspects of healthcare tourism such as wellness and spa, as these can be marketed better within mainstream leisure tourism. This also means that medical tourism needs special marketing outside leisure tourism. However, where wellness and spa treatment are part of a wider medical package, they can be marketed as medical tourism. Malta&8217;s main strengths lie in private hospitals and clinics offering cosmetic surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmic, neurological, urological, oncology, diagnostic, bariatric and cardiac services. Dr de Marco identified markets to target for the promotion of medical tourism to Malta. In order of priority; United Kingdom, the rest of European Union, Libya and Egypt, the Middle East, Russia and finally the USA and Canada. He emphasised that the development of medical tourism in Malta required that the health and tourism dimensions worked hand in hand for the successful development of this potentially lucrative segment, &8220;We need to recognise that medical tourism revolves around an individual&8217;s health and wellbeing which should remain topmost of any agenda involving the development, growth and expansion of this sector. The successful outcome of a marketing plan is very heavily dependent on the quality of the product or service being marketed. When it comes to the health of a medical tourist, there is absolutely no leeway for bad experiences to take place.&8221; Malta will be initially marketed as a medical tourism destination in the UK and then in the rest of Europe and North Africa. The attraction of medical tourism to Malta is that it is not seasonal, is very economically beneficial to the country and has the potential to add a new dimension to the tourist services already offered. Any surplus capacity at hospitals, clinics, health centres and hotels can be put to good use and allows for more of a return on investment, which in turn allows for the upgrading of facilities. As a hospital stay is normally followed by a period of convalescence, it necessitates accommodation and family or friends often accompany people travelling for medical reasons. Besides its central position, favourable climate, rich culture and history and good health services, Malta has a stable political climate, strong ties with neighbouring countries and many doctors who have worked or been trained in the UK.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=208179Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:17:07 GMT20100617111707Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:14:33 GMT20100617111433Thu, 17 Jun 2010 11:17:07 GMT20100617111707Fifth largest Swiss health insurer, Assura, has linked up with Geneva based medical tourism agency, Novacorpus. The initial offer is cheap laser eye surgery in Turkey where it costs 1,400 francs for an operation compared to 9,500 francs in Switzerland. Elective laser eye surgery is not covered by Assura, so any treatment will not be paid for or contributed to by the insurer. Assura is simply offering the option to customers who want to save money by dealing directly with and paying Novacorpus for treatment in Turkey. Assura has two objectives with this limited pilot. The first is to test whether customers are willing to leave the country for operations, as if they are not, any future deals are pointless. The other is to consider if in the longer term, it would be possible for patients and their insurance to offer the option of operations such as knee, hip or heart surgery in carefully selected foreign hospitals; and this may be rewarded by a lower premium in some way, possibly in the region of a 10 % saving. A good hospital in Istanbul could provide an artificial hip and including travel costs for 10,000 francs (between 10,000 and 25,000 francs less than in Switzerland). There is a very good reason why the insurer cannot offer any insured medical tourism at present; it is illegal. According to the Health Insurance Act, customers must be treated, not just in Switzerland, but also within their canton (local government area). That restriction could be abolished within a few years; although Switzerland is not a member country of the European Union and as such not bound by EU law, it has trade and other links that would mean it would have to comply with any proposed EU freedoms of treatment. While the Swiss medical association in theory has no problem with freedom of movement for treatment, it does have the caveat that any such treatment must be of as good a standard as in Swiss hospitals, and that Swiss nationals must be treated equally with EU citizens. While it may be easy for Swiss insurers to find cheaper overseas treatment, ensuring the quality is as good as in the excellent Swiss hospitals, may not be so easy. Meanwhile, the real test will be if Assura customers are prepared to pay for laser eye treatment in Turkey, and if they are satisfied with the results. The Swiss are very demanding on medical services, accommodation and other facilities.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=206993Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:10:57 GMT20100610021057Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:03:30 GMT20100610020330Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:10:57 GMT20100610021057There is a great deal of advice on where US medical tourists should go and why they should consider overseas treatment, and many assumptions about what they want. But few attempts have been made to ask Americans what they actually think or feel about the subject. So US based global healthcare network Medical Tourism Connection decided to remedy that when it started an international patient series to address important questions that overseas hospitals and clinics frequently ask. Although not a statistically accurate survey, Medical Tourism Connection took to the U.S. streets to ask people about their needs and wants. The company also believes that patient feedback is the very best way to establish a rewarding avenue for future referrals. Good patient references are a common goal that every facility strives to achieve; this is especially true in the medical tourism industry, past patient praise is a route to expanding your business. The company makes what seems in hindsight, a glaringly obvious point. What American patients want and need now, in the past, and in the future may change considerably over time. Healthcare and healthcare travel are need driven and the first point of reference for Americans is what is available locally and at what cost. The availability and cost of care may vary drastically not just between New York and New Orleans, Los Angeles and Maryland, but even within those areas. Patient&8217;s thoughts concerning the newly found information about global access to healthcare will continue to change, develop and even surprise. When it comes to answering what an American patient&8217;s true needs are when considering services and price, there is nothing better than to simply ask the patient. When asked what they really think about global healthcare, survey responses included: Can it really be safe to travel for medical care overseas? Finding a facility would be impossible; I would not even know where to start. I had no idea that treatment was available, how can I find out if the treatment is available, are the treatments as good as I would receive in the U.S.? I have never travelled outside of the U.S., I would not know anyone and I only speak English, I definitely would want a U.S. company to help arrange my treatment. How and where are the doctors trained? Are they real doctors? How would I be able to know? Where would I stay? I would feel much safer if the facility would tell me where to stay, what to do and what not to do while I am there for treatment. Do they do that? Will someone meet me at the airport to help me make my appointments and find my way around? Would I be alone or does the facility help me through the process? How do I pay? I would not want to send money out of the country to someone I do not know. I know someone who has traveled for medical care, but they had travelled to the country before, can I receive treatment without visiting first? It seems like it would be difficult to set everything up. I would never walk up to a hospital and get treatment without doing some research such as accreditation. Do people really do this? Many &8220;patients on the street&8221; have never considered medical tourism as a solution to their healthcare needs. Medical Tourism Connection makes the point that however good a hospital is, if potential customers do not know you are there, you may as well be invisible.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=206992Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:03:29 GMT20100610020329Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:02:01 GMT20100610020201Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:03:29 GMT20100610020329One of the respected international hospital accreditors, Trent Accreditation System, recently had an unexpected shock. The UK government has to find savings on NHS spending; the local health trust that funded the accreditor decided to close the scheme. Their relationship with the scheme was a non-profit, non-surplus one, so in their opinion it was a venture that would never provide it with any income and so was deemed an unnecessary administrative burden. At no stage was there any suggestion of problems in the quality of what Trent&8217;s surveyors were doing; many were NHS employees. So when the organization that used to oversee the UK&8217;s Trent Accreditation Scheme, or TAS, made the decision to withdraw from all hospital accreditation-related activities, the surveyors who had been very happy to donate their own precious time and duty leave to undertake surveys on behalf of TAS, thought that to let it die would be a waste. Surveying of hospitals and clinics was considered to be highly worthwhile, providing continuing professional development for those healthcare professionals from diverse professional backgrounds who were involved. It was obvious that there was a considerable pool of talent, expertise, experience and enthusiasm in existence just waiting to be drawn upon. Although previously linked mainly to Hong Kong hospitals, recent years have shown that partnership with UK-sourced healthcare accreditation is an attractive option to hospitals and clinics around the world. So, a group of former surveyors took the decision to collaborate and to continue with accreditation work. It was out of this decision that QHA Trent has risen phoenix-like from the ashes of TAS. Quality Healthcare Advice (QHA) is a new limited company based in the Trent region of the UK, and it is owned and managed by a group of UK doctors and healthcare executives. QHA Ltd will provide independent accreditation services under the banner of QHA Trent, and the plan is to: - Provide services at highly competitive rates, on the fees charged and surveyors&8217; airfares and living expenses. Be transparent on charging. Ensure that QHA operating methods and health standards remain as high and as professional as is possible. Seek to partner organisations with reputations for excellence in the field of healthcare quality and risk minimization. Maintain an independent panel of experts drawn from a wide range of backgrounds to oversee the accreditation work of QHA Trent. Ensure there is a strong bespoke element embedded into the co-development process for standards with partner hospitals. Base the scheme on voluntary expert surveyors who are actively working in healthcare and relevant academia in the UK. Offer the option to recruit and train additional surveyors drawn from the staff of QHA Trent&8217;s partner hospitals around the world. Offer high quality assistance at competitive rates for hospitals and clinics preparing for accreditation. QHA Trent adheres to a developmental approach to the accreditation process, and the scheme can either survey and accredit individual hospitals or clinics with surveyors brought in entirely from outside the country, or work with a group of hospitals within a given locality to set up a locally-based system for surveying and accrediting those hospitals which makes use of surveyors recruited from the staff of those hospitals.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=206991Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:01:55 GMT20100610020155Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:00:04 GMT20100610020004Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:01:55 GMT20100610020155Wellness is sometimes represented as a passing fad or niche market, but a major study conducted by SRI International (SRI) reveals that the yearly worldwide wellness industry is poised to cross the $2 trillion mark. The report, &8220;Spas and the Global Wellness Market,&8221; represents one of the first analyses of the wellness industry and the consumer forces driving its growth. The study says there are 289 million active wellness consumers in the world&8217;s top 30 industrialized nations, and that while medical tourism has been in the spotlight, wellness tourism and consumer travel to pursue holistic, preventive, or lifestyle-based services represents a market more than twice as large. The study says that three mega-trends will ensure continued growth in wellness: An aging world population; Failing conventional medical systems, with consumers, healthcare providers, and governments seeking more cost-effective, prevention-focused alternatives to a Western medical/sickness model focused on solving health problems rather than preventing them; Increased globalization, with consumers more aware of alternative health approaches at home and abroad. Wellness is rarely defined, so the study suggests- Multidimensional and holistic, integrating physical, mental, spiritual, and social approaches; Complementary and proactive, not only treating illness, focused on preventing sickness and improving overall quality of life; Consumer driven, relying on consumer choice rather than patient necessity. Katherine Johnston of SRI says, &8220;Governments, health professionals, and investors need to take consumer demand for wellness services very seriously, because, with the shortcomings in the global healthcare system, a shift toward wellness and prevention not only will, but must, accelerate.&8221; The study says that the spa industry is one of the most logical sectors to take advantage of and lead the wellness industry. Susie Ellis of SpaFinder suggests &8220;Consumers already associate spas with wellness, and increasingly modern spas are integrating fitness, complementary/alternative medicines, preventive health, advanced beauty/anti-aging, and weight loss/nutrition, as well as becoming a key player in medical and wellness tourism.&8221; Reinhard Petry of the European Spas Association (ESPA) says the global spa market is huge, and in Europe alone there are 180 million overnights per year at a spa or wellness center. Health tourism could be the fastest growing tourism market over the next 10 years. Petry says that while spas in Europe are very concerned with prevention and rehabilitation, together with the use of local national remedies and products, American spas are more devoted to enhancing overall wellbeing through a variety of professional services. Pointers for spa and wellness centers seeking the tourism market: Good language skills Good staff Use the cuisine as a unique selling point Include offers for the children Have quality control by recognized enterprises According to reader awards on tourism site TripAdvisor, the top five global spa destinations are; Sedona, Arizona Bath, UK Reykjavik, Iceland Bora Bora, French Polynesia Ubud, Bali And reflecting recent problems in Thailand, India, Jamaica, and Mexico, readers voted for the ten safest countries to travel to; Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore, Denmark, Cyprus, Luxembourg and Ireland.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=206986Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:40:14 GMT20100610014014Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:37:38 GMT20100610013738Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:40:14 GMT20100610014014The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR) has called for greater transparency and open evaluation of stem cell therapies. It is worried about stem cell clinics directly marketing to patients and using anecdotal evidence to support their medical claims. Most medical travel agencies venturing into stem cell treatments are quick to advise patients that many treatments are untested, and that not all therapies will work for all people. Stem cell clinics are appearing all over Central Europe, South America, and Asia. Some are unlicensed, some don&8217;t use stem cells at all, and many would have a difficult time proving that their treatments work, as the majority of stem cell use, embryonic or otherwise, is still in the clinical trial phase. Some people suffering from incurable or debilitating diseases neither can nor want to understand that it is mostly untested. The desperately ill are willing to take a chance, even a long shot to get healthy again. The longer it takes for tested and proven stem cell treatments to become available, the more questionable stem cell treatments will appear. Agents and hospitals need to keep this in mind. The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) warns that stem cell research in India is still in its infancy and cautions about claims by any doctor regarding treatment based on personal testimony. ICMR says doctors should not claim anything without exposing their findings in the peer-reviewed scientific journals. Professor Alok Srivastava comments "Such claims hurt the feelings of patients suffering from muscular dystrophy and spinal injury as they get false hope on getting a miracle cure soon." Stem cells have excited researchers and raised hopes of patients because of their potential to relieve symptoms or treat many diseases. They have become promising areas of new advances in medicine, since they can replace the diseased cell in our body in contrast to existing practice where diseased cells are treated with drugs and antibiotics. But stem cell research raises many ethical, legal, scientific and policy issues. ICMR is setting up the National Apex Committee for Stem Cell Research and Therapy (NAC-SCRT) to regulate the scientific community on the crucial health research of stem cell therapy. It will monitor and review stem cell research, technologies, techniques and clinical practices. In the UK, in April, the General Medical Council (GMC) ruled that Dr Robert Trossell, who operates a clinic in Rotterdam but is registered with the GMC and has consulting rooms in London, exploited a number of patients with multiple sclerosis. Dr Trossell was paid sums of between &163;6,000 and &163;11,000 by patients after he claimed exaggerated success rates for stem cell treatments based on anecdotal information and for stem cell treatments that had only been tested on animals. Costa Rica has ordered the country's largest stem cell clinic to stop offering treatment, saying there is no proof that it is effective. 400 patients, mostly from the United States, have been treated at the Institute of Cellular Medicine in San Jose for multiple sclerosis, arthritis, spinal injuries and other illnesses.The Health Ministry ordered the clinic, owned by Arizona entrepreneur Neil Riordan, to stop performing the treatment, in which stem cells extracted from the patients are reinjected into their bodies.The ministry says the clinic is not authorized to perform the treatment. Are stem cells effectively used in human therapies today? Does the ability to reprogram adult stem cells mean we no longer need embryonic stem cell research? Is it true that the stem cells produced through genetic reprogramming may become cancerous? Embryonic stem cells are said to have so much promise, but when will they lead to cures? These questions are just some of those mostly frequently asked by a confused public searching for answers, according to doctors at the Stem Cell Program at Children's Hospital Boston and they are among the primary reasons for launching a new website. Children's Hospital Boston has long been a leader in stem cell research, contributing many breakthroughs to the fields. Dr. Leonard Zon says,&8221; When it comes to stem cells, there is still a high level of misunderstanding or confusion. Our goal with this site is to be a reliable source of stem cell-related information." The new site seeks to explain the science in readily understandable terms, to correct misperceptions, and to illuminate the power and value of different types of stem cells to create potential cures for a range of diseases.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=206982Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:27:54 GMT20100610012754Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:25:44 GMT20100610012544Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:27:54 GMT20100610012754The Irish Dental Association has offered some curious and rather impractical advice to Irish residents who seek dental treatment abroad: it is recommending that they ensure that any dentist treating them abroad is registered with the Irish Dental Council. The advice also affects an increasing number of cross-border Irish patients who go over the border to Northern Ireland and vivit UK dentists where facilities and quality are as good, but prices usually much lower. Dr Donal Blackwell of the IDA makes the sensible suggestion that before going abroad, patients should check with a local dentist to see what work is required and to get a valid price comparison. The National Consumer Agency (NCA) in Ireland has called for greater transparency of dentist charges in Ireland following publication of a new NCA survey that shows that seven out of 10 dentists do not display prices. Only 32% of dentists displayed a schedule of fees on their premises. There is significant regional variation in propensity to display price: 54% of dentists in Waterford displayed prices versus 9% in Cork. Prices charged vary considerably across different areas of the country. In addition, prices within local areas also display considerable disparity. Ann Fitzgerald of NCA says, "We need to have greater transparency in what dentists are charging consumers. Any service provider to the public should be required to display prices for routine services and there is no reason why dentists should be exempt. The professions should have a code of practice or a law should require transparent price display." Irish dentists have a major price disadvantage on dental implants as they are much more expensive in Ireland than in Northern Ireland, and very expensive compared to costs in Hungary or Poland. A new survey by the Irish Dental Association seeks to suggest that in the past twelve months 6,000 people who travelled abroad for dental treatment have had to receive corrective treatment on their return to Ireland. According to the survey 75% of Irish dentists say they have provided treatment to patients in these circumstances. The survey was conducted by Irish market research firm Behaviour & Attitudes. A telephone survey of 120 interviews asked: &8216;And thinking about the past 12 months, has your practice treated any patients for problems arising as a result of dental treatment abroad?&8217; and &8216;How many patients in total would your practice have treated for such problems, in the past 12 months?&8217; The estimated number of patients treated for problems arising from dental treatment abroad in the past year among the survey sample was 621 and as there are 1,200 IDA dentists, the answer was multiplied by ten to get 6,210. There are problems with telephone interviews of this type. On some questions, people unconsciously exaggerate, on others they consciously exaggerate if they think the people sponsoring the survey want a particular answer. If your doctor asks you how much you smoke or drink, few people tell the truth, they reduce the number; if you ask people what they earn, they tend to exaggerate the answer. So in the questions posed, interviewees might quite naturally, and mostly unknowingly convert two people treated in three years, to five people treated in the last 12 months. Instant recall on numbers is rarely accurate, and if any dentist were asked how many patients they had seen in the last calendar 12 months, few would guess near the reality. There is a much bigger problem with the survey. It failed to differentiate between people who had gone overseas and those who had been treated in Northern Ireland, or to differentiate between a minor correction after new implants have been fitted, and a major dental problem. As a dental blogger says: &8220;It could just be that the bite was slightly wrong and the dentist just needed to adjust this or it could be that a full set of implants needed to be replaced. Without a breakdown of the severity of the problems, headline figures are meaningless. The focus should be on education of patients, helping people to identify a good dentist at home or abroad, highlighting what can go wrong with dental treatment and potential problems and why local treatment might be preferable to treatment further away. To try and scaremonger people into believing that all foreign treatment is bad and only an Irish dentist can treat you properly will push people away, when they investigate it further and find that this is just not always true, but that you have good and bad dentists everywhere.&8221; Local estimates are that Irish dentists treat a million people each year, and perhaps 12,000 go overseas or across the border for treatment. So if there really are 6,000 people who had a problem i.e. one in two who went abroad, every dental health site and dental tourist agency would be awash with complaints. They are not. Some dentists treating dental tourists do a poor job, and the IDA is right to warn people that there are dentists doing too much dental work over too short a time frame, unnecessary work being done and poor materials being used. Philip Boyle of RevaHealth comments,&8221; The IDA offers good advice to patients about informing themselves in advance about what treatment they need and about who is going to perform the treatment, advice that should apply equally to people being treated at home or abroad. &8220;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=206964Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:08:29 GMT20100610120829Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:04:28 GMT20100610120428Thu, 10 Jun 2010 12:08:29 GMT20100610120829Puerto Rican entrepreneur Michael Redondo is looking for investors from any country to invest in the first medical tourism hotel chain in Puerto Rico. The company is based in San Juan, Puerto Rico and speed of progress will depend on the availability of finance. Michael Redondo says,&8221; We are a newly formed company in the healthcare industry. The purpose of our company is to establish a multilevel, comprehensive, integrated, continuum of care spanning different levels of intensity, which does not exist in Puerto Rico.&8221; The company plans&8226; Sub-acute care: A form of post-acute care immediately after hospital treatment. It is generally thought as a transitional phase of care before the patient goes home or to a skilled nursing facility. Acute care is provided by hospitals but a contractor can provide ancillary care. The focus is on the care of the patient, including those recovering from: respiratory problems requiring ventilation, strokes, cancer, wounds, and other conditions.&8226; Medical resort: The Gurabo project is a sustainable medical resort, which includes a clinic, a nursing school, and a care or rehabilitation center. The clinic will only focus on orthopedics and cardiology surgeries, since these are the highest billing surgeries and there are many specialized doctors available on the island. Competition: &8226; There are no sub-acute facilities or medical resorts in the island. Hospitals provide the services rendered at a sub-acute facility, however the hospital fee is 40% higher. Target market:&8226; Sub-acute- According to market studies there is a need for at least 3000 beds in the Metro Area (3 miles radius). The project proposes 183 beds, 0.07% of the available market.&8226; Medical resort: medical tourists mostly if not exclusively from the USA.The company says 22,100 tourists a year will give it 100% occupancy. Planned locations&8226; Sagrado; 83 Sub acute beds; no competition, planned market share 0.07%&8226; Civita; 100 Sub acute beds; no competition, planned market share 0.07%&8226; Gurabo; 850 medical resort beds; no competition, planned market share 0.007% Key proposition to potential investors;&8226; Equity required fully warranted by land even at discounted values.&8226; All projects eligible for Tourism Tax Credits.&8226; All projects eligible for HUD 232 Financing- 90% Co surety.&8226; Gurabo project eligible for agricultural, energy. Educational grants not considered in the feasibility but that can lower the costs of the projects.&8226; Occupancy and debt service guarantee by payment of insurance companies- including Medicare.&8226; No competition as no sub-acute centers in the island.&8226; Cap rate is 13.5%.&8226; 35%-40% gross profit of total billings (Tax free for 10 years),http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=205704Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:36:18 GMT20100603023618Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:33:07 GMT20100603023307Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:36:18 GMT20100603023618The long political dispute between the governments of two countries over the use of the name Macedonia has not stopped thousands of Greeks from crossing the border into Macedonia in search of bargains. Dental surgeries in Bitola and other towns report a tremendous increase in visits by Greek customers. Residents of northern Greece are flocking across the border to find less expensive dental care. According to Greek dental associations, private practices have seen as much as a 50% drop in business due to dental excursions to Bitola, Gevgelija and Strumica. The main cause is the current economic crisis in Greece. As many as 1,500 Greeks a day cross the border during weekdays, and twice that at weekends, all seeking products and services, which include dental treatment. It is not known how many just go for dental care. Georgios Xanthopoulos, president of Florina's dentist association says that local residents began making the 24km drive to Bitola for dental care in 2000, but with the economic crisis in Greece and problems with state-run dentistry, many more people are going elsewhere for lower prices. Many residents of the prefecture of Florina are insured by the civil servant's health fund, but the fund has frozen dental care reimbursements at 1994 prices. Although it costs around 50 euros to fill a tooth cavity, the state-run fund only pays beneficiaries 7 euros, while in Bitolathe the same procedure costs around 15 euros. Similarly, a fitted denture costs 1,000 to 1,200 euros in Florina and Kilkis, but as little as 300 euros in Bitola. A routine root canal procedure is only reimbursed to the tune of 20 euros by the public sector health fund, whereas a Greek dentist charges a minimum of 150 euros. Greek dentists in the Florina and Kilkis regions all agree that the number of people going to them has fallen considerably, some say by up to half, because of lower prices available elsewhere. People are heading across the border on foot, as well as in organised coach tours and by cars. Greek dentists argue that facilities are better in Greece and that Greek practitioners are more experienced. CE certification exists in Greece for equipment, something that is not required in Macedonia because dentists there are not obliged to follow EU regulations and bylaws. But with the cost of living in general dramatically lower in Bitola compared to Florina, Greeks who have seen their salary cut and their living costs increased, have little choice but to seek the lowest price. Aleksandar Ivanovski, owner of the Estadent dental practice in Bitola, reports that Greeks account for a large and increasing proportion of his practice, due to a combination of quality of service, lower prices and the economic crisis in Greece.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=205702Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:33:07 GMT20100603023307Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:25:57 GMT20100603022557Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:33:07 GMT20100603023307Visas need to be issued faster, and infrastructure upgraded to international standards for India to tap the medical tourism market, which it stands to lose to Singapore, says Rajiv Verma of the Indian Clinical Research Institute (ICRI), "Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Nepal, the Middle East and Africa, especially Nigeria, Ethiopia and Sudan are the biggest markets for India for medical tourism. As far as Bangladesh is concerned, which constitutes 50 per cent of the medical tourism market for India, the issue is the medical category visas. It takes 15 days to get MVisas here whereas in Singapore, you get it overnight. We are losing a number of Bangladeshi medical tourists to Singapore because of this, despite scoring high in quality and affordability. The other overriding factor is that we need to develop more good roads and more airports of international calibre. Above all, the government needs to play a pivotal role in promoting India as an attractive medical tourist destination, just like Singapore Tourism Board. 80 % of medical tourists from Bangladesh get split between Chennai and Kolkata, Bangalore gets 20 %.&8221; Dr. Devi Shetty of Narayana Hrudayalaya hospitals, adds that India needs to tap the Middle East and South African markets,&8221; Visa regulations have to change. A person, when he or she is a patient, has to be treated differently. We must not only have more airports, but more direct flights and more airline operators. For India to become a top medical tourism destination, the hospitality sector needs to gear up in a big way like Thailand, which has 10,000 five-star hotels.&8221; According to Vinay Luthra of Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation, state governments have to realise the importance of wellness tourism and include it as part of their tourism master plan the way Karnataka has done, "The onus also lies on the national medical authority to lay down guidelines for accreditation of hospitals. The tourism department can then promote such accredited hospitals.&8221; The Medical Council of India (MCI) 's main objectives are to maintain uniform standards of medical education, recommending the recognition/de-recognition of medical qualifications of medical institutions in India or abroad, maintaining a permanent registry of doctors with recognized medical qualifications and ensuring ethical practices in the medical profession. Following the arrest of president Ketan Desai and others on corruption charges, the government has formed an interim board of governors as a stopgap measure to carry out the functions of the MCI, with the intention of dismantling it. The cloud over the medical system in India has come at a time when medical tourism is picking up in India. This needs to be sorted quickly to restore credibility in Indian doctors. A National Institute of Health & Family Welfare study &8216;Satisfaction Levels of International Patients in India may have only interviewed 49 medical tourists in 6 hospitals in New Delhi, but it comes up with some useful suggestions. Although satisfied with the overall level of service, there is a need for improvements in nursing care, room facilities and food. While medical care is generally excellent, in other service areas, hospitals are not meeting patient expectations of an acceptable standard of service; what may be acceptable to local patients is often seen as inadequate by international ones.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=205701Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:25:57 GMT20100603022557Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:23:44 GMT20100603022344Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:25:57 GMT20100603022557US health reform may make most health organization&8217;s current business practices and markets irrelevant, says PricewaterhouseCoopers. PwC&8217;s report &8220;Health Reform: Prospering in a post-reform world&8221; is a comprehensive analysis of health reform changes and how they will affect health organizations, including insurance companies, hospitals, physicians and other providers. Health organizations face more than 60 major regulatory deadlines over the next ten years to meet the timetable and goals of health reform, and the changes will create a profoundly different healthcare environment. Reform has opened the door for industries to work together to achieve change by thinking like a consumer, driving innovation, creating value and better understanding the needs of the new marketplace. Kelly Barnes of PwC says,&8221; To look at the implications of health reform only in the context of current business practices is not only futile but misses the point of the reform agenda. To prosper, health executives must reassess their businesses, find new market opportunities and sit on the same side of the table with unlikely new allies who now share common goals.&8221; New coverage, new fund flows and new regulators, will together create an entirely new health system that does not look like or act as it does today and will require sectors to work together on long-overdue changes to the cost, quality and outcomes of care. Much of the patchwork quilt that paid for the uninsured will largely be replaced by public or private insurance coverage. A stronger focus will be placed on paying hospitals and physicians for quality. Insurers will be highly regulated but have access to new customers through health exchanges. Individuals and businesses will face the choice of providing and paying for health coverage or paying penalties. Hospitals &8226; Beginning in 2015, a 300-bed hospital with poor quality metrics could be penalized by more than $1.3 million per year. Even more important, these hospitals could suffer reputation damage as these metrics are published online, which is now the most popular place for consumers to seek health information, according to earlier PwC research. &8226; The number of Medicaid recipients will increase by more than 40%, from 2010 to 2019, so hospitals must learn to operate on Medicaid rates. Medicaid rates have never covered all costs, so hospitals will need to quickly address fixed costs. Insurers&8226; Many health insurers will have to lower administrative expenses to meet the new medical loss ratio (MLR) of 85% for the large group market and 80% for the small group and individual market. Currently, many individual and small market plans are not meeting the new required MLR, which governs the amount of premiums allocated to paying medical expenses.&8226; Successful insurers will have to shift their attention from group to individual plans, which are expected to triple between 2010 and 2019. Over the next 10 years, growth in the Medicaid coverage will also increase substantially.&8226; Health insurers will have to differentiate themselves on price, service, quality, and provider network in the insurance exchanges. With regulations requiring four standard benefit packages, essential health benefits, and limits on cost sharing, insurers will have to compete on factors other than benefit design.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=205698Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:23:32 GMT20100603022332Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:12:38 GMT20100603021238Thu, 03 Jun 2010 14:23:32 GMT20100603022332People needing organ transplants should face shorter waiting times after the European Parliament approved a draft directive on quality and safety standards for human organs used for transplants. The directive covers all stages of the chain from donation to transplantation and provides for cooperation between member states. Over the past 50 years organ transplants have become an established practice worldwide. Yet the queues are long with 60,000 patients now on waiting lists in the EU, and every day 12 people on the lists die. This has sparked an upsurge in illegal organ trafficking, a practice which benefits criminal gangs and can have profoundly negative consequences, particularly for the donor. Common quality and safety standards are needed at EU level to assist the donation, transplantation and exchange of organs. A key step is to designate the competent authority in each country responsible for quality and safety standards. These authorities will have to establish rules for all stages from donation to transplantation or disposal, based on the standards laid down in the directive. Member states can keep or introduce more stringent rules if they wish. The authorities will approve procurement organisations and transplant centres, set up reporting and management systems for serious adverse reactions, collect data on the outcome of transplants and supervise organ swaps with other member states and third countries. Traceability from donor to patient and vice-versa will be part of the system, while confidentiality and data security will be ensured. Member states must ensure the highest possible protection of living donors. Organ donations must be voluntary and unpaid but living donors may receive compensation provided it is strictly limited to making good the expenses and loss of incomes related to the donation. Member states must ban any advertising of a need for, or availability of, human organs where the aim is financial gain. This aims to prevent anyone from within or outside the EU from advertising the availability of organ transplants anywhere within the EU.The Commission will set up a network of authorities and lay down procedures to transmit information between member states. Governments may also set up agreements with European organ exchange organisations. Efforts to boost voluntary organ donation through public awareness campaigns have met with limited success. Some countries operate an opt in system where citizens are presumed not to be donors unless they actively choose to register. Others have an opt out system, whereby citizens are automatically registered as donors unless they explicitly choose not to be. Spain and others have boosted voluntary organ donation rates by establishing a network of transplant coordinators, who liaise with families of deceased people to discuss transplantation options. Over 80% of Europeans support the donor card but only around only 12% actually have one. There are also huge differences in donor numbers between member states. In Spain there are 34.6 donations per million people compared with 0.5 per million in Romania. Trying to match donors and recipients separately in each member state seriously limits options, also leading to organ trafficking. Existing exchange organisations - Eurotransplant (Austria, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Croatia, Germany, the Netherlands and Slovenia) and Scandiatransplant (Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland) cover only limited numbers of EU countries. The creation of a European standard for organ transplants with harmonized quality assurance systems, improved cooperation between member states and higher number of donors through specific campaigns and administrative procedures could make a difference. With a growing number of people resorting to organ tourism, the European Parliament is seeking tougher measures to prevent its citizens from travelling abroad to receive organ transplants with organs acquired through organ trafficking. The new measures will give every EU state an organised way of tracking donors, receivers, doctors and hospitals involved in organ transplants. This will make any kind of organ tourism targeting Europeans, very difficult, and possibly illegal. Even if someone goes outside the EU to get a transplant, unless that is approved by their home country, they will not be able to hide what they have done as they will need long-term aftercare. Evidence of how organs are obtained in China was presented to the European Parliament, so states will be on notice to carefully investigate the origins of organs. Individual states could decide to include in their national legislation, extra rules such as banning all organs from outside the EU.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=205684Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:27:36 GMT20100603012736Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:25:32 GMT20100603012532Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:27:36 GMT20100603012736Dr. Chan Kok Ewe, of the Penang Health Association, gave a speech at Glow 2010 in Kuala Lumpur recently. He made some interesting points- One of the biggest challenges for healthcare professionals striving to expand their current business and market share is to reach out to new potential patients and customers. With faster, easier and cheaper communications, a treatment in another country does not seem so frightening to patients anymore.The medical tourism and global healthcare trend has opened many doors for owners and managers of hospitals and clinics all over the world. But how do you actually turn your healthcare facility into a global destination?Medical tourism and health tourism often get mixed up, even though there is a clear difference. Medical tourists travel to another country for medical treatment, while health tourists are more concerned with their general health and well-being. So, what are the distinctive factors that all medical and healthcare facilities must achieve to be competitive on the global market? Service factors&8226; Facilities must be more comprehensive. The patient care and equipment must be better than what the international patients could find at home.&8226; Better outcomes of treatment. The patient must be reassured that the result will be better than anticipated for the same treatment at home.&8226; Shorter waiting times. Treatments for urgent procedures must be available very fast&8226; Attractive comparative prices. The treatment, service and stay must be cost effective.&8226; Comfort of cultural and language factors&8226; Minimal personal adjustment. The hospital should adjust to the patient. The patient must not have to adjust too much as it might influence the healing process.&8226; Offer an almost like home environment.&8226; Easy setting for accompanying persons. The patients&8217; family or friends that come along for assistance and comfort should be able to stay with the patient during the visit. Infrastructure convenience&8226; Ease of entry, stay and exit. It should be easy for the patient to get to and from the facility, as well as the country of care.&8226; Communication facilities to reach expectations .The means of pre and post communication with the patient must work well.&8226; Safe and clean environment.&8226; Simple payment. It should be easy and fast for the patient to make payments for their treatment. Ready accessibility&8226; Direct convenient rapid access. The patient must be able to get to the facility fast and easily.&8226; Assistance in getting to treatment. Both airport collect and delivery, and transport to and from and within the facility each day. Realistic targeting of potential&8226; Current and future economic development of target markets. Carefully investigate your target market.&8226; Keep an advantage.&8226; Ability to cater to demands. With the raised level of quality, patients will also have greater demands that need to be met or surpassed.&8226; Political alignment is not out. Getting the buy-in&8226; In-country presence .The healthcare facilities must have an agent or office in the country that they cater to.&8226; Sharing of know-how in related areas.&8226; Cultivation of goodwill. Total patient satisfaction&8226; Continual quality service upgrade.&8226; Language proficiency. The healthcare facility must speak the patient&8217;s language to bridge any potential gaps in communication and understanding.&8226; Appropriate cultural responses through acquaintance. The healthcare provider must do its best to understand the patient&8217;s culture. According to Dr. Chan Kok Ewe, the effect of the economic downturn has hit all medical tourism markets during the last few years and growth is expected to be less than in many predictions. But this must not affect the service. Efficiency is always required, and there can be no compromise in patient safety. Instead, healthcare providers should use the time now to develop services, medical and other quality, or they will not benefit from future growth.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=205677Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:25:23 GMT20100603012523Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:14:47 GMT20100603011447Thu, 03 Jun 2010 13:25:23 GMT20100603012523Barbados wants to develop its health and wellness tourism business to help overcome the country&8217;s travel industry reliance on seasonality and the vagaries of the global economic climate. The Barbados Minister of Tourism, Richard Sealy, has said that health and wellness tourism is growing faster the general tourism and Barbados plans to develop its health and wellness market. A recent study by the Barbados Hotel and Tourism Association (BHTA) found that Barbados needs to do more to capitalize on this profitable niche market. The government wants the private sector to lead the way, but the private sector responds that government has to lead. The BHTA study reported that as wellness tourism is not seasonal, there is year round potential for cosmetic surgery and non-invasive treatments. While many hotels on Barbados offer spa packages, there is a lack of other well-being facilities that package accommodation and treatment together to attract long-stay visitors. The BHTA report highlighted that Barbados can be a major player in fertility treatments, given the success of the Barbados Fertility Centre (BFC), which in 2005 launched an IVF package. Senator Irene Sandiford-Garner, in a speech to a health and wellness conference saw a global potential in an aging population with increasing demands for cosmetic surgery, spas and retirement communities. The other target market she identified was among the younger population, particularly in the U.S., seeking vacations that offer spa facilities, fitness and addiction treatment. She says that the island's established tourism infrastructure, with its capacity to support the movement of customers and provide world-class hotel services, is the platform for developing the country&8217;s health and wellness tourism market, "Our markets offer attractive environments for the delivery of a health tourism product. Our proximity to the North American and European markets, climate and ambient environment, lower labour costs, reliable communications and transport infrastructure, first-class hotel and tourism services, an educated population, and well-trained practitioners in an established health and medical service in both public and private sectors, make Barbados a prime destination for visitors seeking health services." A government Task Force on Health and Wellness Travel last year recommended that the government seek technical assistance to undertake a study and development plan; draft a Health and Wellness Tourism Development Incentives Act; establish a wellness council; develop new legislation to address medical tourism; and establish coordinating bodies to manage the six sectors outlined in the Health Tourism Continuum for Development in Barbados of; wellness promotion, complementary and alternative medicine, healthy food alternatives, assisted living, universal access to tourism products and services and conventional medicine. Sandiford-Garner said that the establishment of National Health Care Quality Council is vital to ensure that health care standards are at world-class levels. The National Health Care Quality Council will be established to coordinate quality management in the health sector; provide annual reports on the quality of the sector; set benchmarks to measure performance; and establish performance standards and protocols. A wellness council has been established to act as the regulating body for wellness professionals.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=204156Wed, 26 May 2010 12:32:43 GMT20100526123243Wed, 26 May 2010 12:30:31 GMT20100526123031Wed, 26 May 2010 12:32:43 GMT20100526123243In an effort to promote medical tourism in Jordan and to position Jordan as the destination of choice for foreign patients, the USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) and the Private Hospitals Association (PHA) seek to increase the number of hospitals in Jordan with Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation. They believe that JCI accreditation is critical in the promotion of medical tourism as it represents a standard of patient safety and trustworthiness. The PHA says that global outsourcing of medical care is becoming a vital and viable industry and that JCI accreditation will help Jordan open the door to additional markets. Promoting medical tourism in Jordan heavily relies on conforming to a set of international standards to ensure Jordan's positioning as an important medical services hub for both neighboring and distant patients. At present only six Jordanian hospitals have JCI accreditation. SABEQ is working with ten additional private hospitals that are working towards accreditation. SABEQ is sponsoring a targeted technical assistance program that will prepare these hospitals and others in Jordan for accreditation. USAID&8217;s support through SABEQ for hospitals pursuing JCI accreditation focuses on activities that will lay the groundwork for success, such as conducting a gap analysis, providing technical assistance, and conducting mock accreditation surveys. Of the ten candidate hospitals, five were selected as potential JCI candidates in the short term, and thus SABEQ's efforts will focus heavily on preparing them to meet JCI standards. Professor Assaf al Assaf says,&8221; We believe the potential for Jordan's medical sector will be greatly enhanced with adding more internationally accredited hospitals. Our goal is assist each candidate hospital in achieving a sustainable culture of exceptional quality and patient safety. With the help of Jordanian consultants and highly-skilled hospital staff and administrators, we are moving rapidly toward achieving this goal." With the support of SABEQ, a PHA delegation went to Dubai to attend the Arab Healthcare Conference. The aim was to promote Jordan in Gulf countries as a medical tourism destination. Although Jordan's healthcare services are gaining steady recognition, Gulf countries have not been previously approached. The PHA invited two UAE health officials to visit Jordan and evaluate medical services offered by private hospitals. The USAID Jordan Economic Development Program (SABEQ) is a five-year economic development initiative implemented by Deloitte Consulting with international and Jordanian partner firms. The mission is to support sectors and activities for a knowledge-based economy, by making Jordanian enterprises into global value chains, promoting investment, and improving the environment to generate value added jobs, exports, foreign direct investment, and sector revenues as a powerful engine of economic growth.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=204155Wed, 26 May 2010 12:30:30 GMT20100526123030Wed, 26 May 2010 12:28:01 GMT20100526122801Wed, 26 May 2010 12:30:30 GMT20100526123030The debate on how good Canada&8217;s health care service is, whether it could be a market for inbound as well as outbound medical tourism, and the role of insurance, has become rather bitter internally; while much comment on it from the USA has been more concerned with &8216;proving&8221; the speaker&8217;s argument that it shows how good/bad etc is US healthcare reform. So it is interesting to get an unbiased viewpoint from Europe. European health-care expert Johan Hjertqvist says that long waiting lists, a lack of patient rights and slow development of new medicines, are among the more problematic areas that make Canada's health-care system inferior to European systems. Hjertqvist runs Health Consumer Powerhouse, a Swedish-based company that compares health-care systems from around the world, &8220;This is a very old and sloppy system, and that should not be the case," Health Consumer Powerhouse and think tank Frontier Centre for Public Policy recently released a report outlining how Canada's health-care system matches up to European systems. The 3rd annual Euro-Canada Health Consumer Index evaluates the consumer-friendliness of Canada's healthcare system. It compares Canada to 33 European countries by assessing the extent to which each national healthcare system meets the needs of healthcare users. Overall, Canada finished 25th out of 34 countries. In Canada, wait times for diagnostic exams such as an MRI can last for months, while the typical wait time in top European countries is less than one week. Hjertqvist said &8220;According to the study, Canada spends over $3,500 per person on health care, one of the highest rates among the countries studied. Despite that, Canada has very long waiting lists in comparison with European systems. Canadians think it is reasonable that people should wait over one year or two years for treatment. Nowadays, you expect that you should be able to access a new mobile phone or whatever, and no one says it will take 18 months to get a new television. I think it is much more important to have a new hip than a new television, you should not have to wait 18 months for a hip replacement." France, Belgium and the Netherlands have some of the best healthcare systems in Europe and have diagnostic and orthopedic surgery waiting lists of around a week, whereas in Canada, waiting lists can swell to years. The report highlights that having little access to health care, as in the case of waiting lists, has an enormous effect on Canadian budgets, because it is expensive to have someone not working and getting paid for sick leave. The Canadian health-care system needs more contracted private health-care providers in order to improve patient access to treatment. According to the study, Canada is behind several European health-care systems in terms of patient rights and information, and Canada needs a legislative guarantee of patients' rights and an easier method for attempting to seek a second opinion. The development of new medicines has been a weak spot for Canada, although there has been some improvement over the past few years. One area in which Canada excels is patient outcome. According to the report, Canada has a "Beveridge model health-care system, where a single organization handles the financing and provisions of the system. The Netherlands has the best overall health-care system in the study and uses the Bismarck model that consists of several insurance organizations that exist independently of the health-care providers in the country.&8221; The former president of the Canadian Medical Association (CMA), Dr. Brian Day, has always been an advocate for Canada promoting medical tourism, especially from the U.S., as a way to raise funds for the country&8217;s financially stretched health budget. Day argues that it makes sense to seek additional sources of income and that the U.S. could be Canada&8217;s major medical tourism source market. It could also attract patients from other regions such as the Pacific Rim. Day suggests that Canada can greatly discount treatment costs in the U.S. and offer world-class care, but it is not currently possible as the healthcare system is based on rationing and waiting lists. This prevents skilled health workers from obtaining full-time work and creates a peculiar paradox where, despite being in short supply, they are forced to leave the country. He argues that a Canadian medical tourism industry will increase training, recruitment and retention of health workers. It will create new, well-paying, long-term quality jobs and encourage investment in hospital and medical school infrastructure and new medical technology. Dr. Day says that British Columbia should be the first Canadian province to embrace the concept of international centers of excellence in Canada, and that a beneficial by-product of medical tourism will be the elimination of rationed access and waiting lists for Canadian patients. CMA President Anne Doig says, "If we want to save medicare, we have to change it. While Canadians like to think that we have the best health care system in the world, the facts say otherwise. Transformation is needed to ease pressure that is increasing in all sectors of the health care system. 25% to 30% of people in acute care beds should not even be in hospital, as they need 24-hour supervised care, not hospital care. Either change the healthcare system or prepare for its demise.&8221;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=204153Wed, 26 May 2010 12:28:01 GMT20100526122801Wed, 26 May 2010 12:25:36 GMT20100526122536Wed, 26 May 2010 12:28:01 GMT20100526122801Turkey could see the size of its medical tourism market double if an effective promotion campaign is put in place, says Levent Ba&351; of Turkish medical tourism agency Gusib,&8220;We are expecting to see an approximate 10 percent growth this year over 2009, but with effective promotion, the year-on-year growth in the sector could even exceed 30 percent. There is a huge potential as regards the future development of medical tourism in Turkey, a country that has the world&8217;s second highest number of hospitals with Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation. This is a clear indicator that Turkey is home to a well-developed medical treatment infrastructure and the country offers the most affordable prices possible in comparison to rivals such as India or Thailand.&8221; Bas continues, &8220;There will be a remarkable boost in the number of medical tourists to Turkey if we can manage to promote ourselves as an attractive medical treatment location. The biggest drawback is the lack of effective promotion abroad. The Ministry of Tourism could take care of this; we are not asking them for incentives or financial support. The only thing we expect from the government is that they undertake the promotional aspect. Turkey deserves to become one of only a few countries in people&8217;s minds when it comes to medical treatment abroad. It has a well-organized medical infrastructure and the advantage of geographical proximity to the large and promising markets of the EU and the Middle East. Ba&351; says there are four medical tourism businesses in Turkey, and while this is not enough, those who enter this business must be professionals; otherwise, the market could be adversely affected. Gusib began in 2002 in Vienna to help people from Austria, but of Turkish origin, to benefit from lower priced high quality services in Turkey. The firm then offered the services to Austrians. Gusib now works with some of Turkey&8217;s leading hospitals, particularly in Istanbul, bringing people over from Europe, the Balkans and Central Asia. The company is also interested in the US market, which could offer opportunities for Turkey. Gusib offers all-inclusive packages including return tickets, hotels and medical treatment. Tourists from Europe prefer Turkey for their medical treatment because prices are low, while people from the Middle East and Central Asia primarily come for the high quality of service. Most patients come for a cosmetic, eye or dental services. There has been a particular increase in demand from Balkan countries over the past few years. The promotions offered by Turkish Airlines (THY) play an important role in attracting medical tourists to Turkey as THY offers a 25 percent discount to every patient and one person accompanying them on their visit to Turkey for medical treatment.&8221; Ba&351; is working on a new project that envisages attracting for long-stay winter care, particularly from Scandinavian countries, where the governments are looking for ways to minimize expenditure on retirees,&8221; Norway is keen to send pensioners to Turkey as the government wants to pay less for their treatment and insurance, and we have enough capacity to host these people. We anticipate building village resorts where older tourists can receive the necessary medical treatment. This is a promising new field of investment and is also critical in diversifying services.&8221;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=204152Wed, 26 May 2010 12:25:35 GMT20100526122535Wed, 26 May 2010 12:23:35 GMT20100526122335Wed, 26 May 2010 12:25:35 GMT20100526122535In the first course of its kind, 250 staff members of the Ramada Plaza Herradura in San Jose, Costa Rica, completed a two day training programme, &8220;Caring for the Medical Tourist&8221;, created and delivered in Spanish by Medical Tourism Training. The hotel staff enjoyed the mix of information, demonstrations, discussions, and questions and answers, all aimed at helping them deliver better customer service to the hotel&8217;s medical tourism guests. Hotels and resorts are catering to medical tourists as a way to diversify and expand their client base while increasing revenues by offering services to guests before and after they receive medical treatment. The required changes to customer care vary depending on the type of medical care guests receive. The challenges and opportunities offered by serving medical tourists require careful planning and thorough preparation. Preparing staff members is a key factor to successfully serve the needs of medical tourists. The two-session, interactive introductory programme is based on real-world scenarios. Each session is two to two and one-half hours long and covers topics including:&8226; Introduction to medical tourism and medical tourists;&8226; Cultural awareness and cultural norms;&8226; Providing customer care pre-op and post-op;&8226; Impact of staff behavior - body language, eye contact;&8226; VIP customer care service for medical tourists;&8226; Caring for accompanying guests;&8226; Identifying and handling biohazardous waste;&8226; Wheelchair assistance;&8226; Recognizing serious emergencies;&8226; ABCs of first aid;&8226; What to do in an emergency;&8226; What to do after an emergency. Designed to ensure measurable results, the knowledge check component to the training sessions confirms that the participants are able to identify and recall the key points. A post-training evaluation ensures that the program is meeting the needs of the organization. Following the training the trainers prepare a report containing the results of the programme evaluations as well as actionable steps for senior management to improve their medical tourism services. The training focused on the unique demands of international health travellers and is the first completed by new company Medical Tourism Training. Medical Tourism Training&8217;s affiliated company, healthcare consultancy firm Stackpole Associates, compiles quarterly surveys of the hotel&8217;s current and past guests, of all kinds, to evaluate their awareness of medical tourism and to plan for improved hotel services for medical tourists. The company is developing other training programmes designed to have a broader appeal to healthcare providers, agencies and others in the medical tourism field. Medical Tourism Training&8217;s Elizabeth Ziemba says that healthcare providers lose customers because they are not meeting the service expectations of international health travelers, &8220;Prompt and polite communications are essential to success in this sector that is relationship driven. Every phone call or e-mail that goes unanswered or employees that react poorly to foreign customers lose business. Our programmes train staff, instilling effective, proven skills that can transform relationships with medical tourists.&8221; The company is also offering "Medical Tourism Guests: The Right Choice for your Hotel or Resort?&8221; This 90-120 minute presentation is designed for senior management teams that are expanding services for medical tourists and their accompanying guests. It addresses the planning and management issues vital to creating and tailoring services for the medical tourism market:&8226; Background information about medical tourism opportunities.&8226; Issues and challenges associated with serving medical tourists and their accompanying guests.&8226; Management and planning tactics including:o Changes/additions to physical environment;o Designing and delivering VIP customer care;o Staff training and preparedness;o Developing relationships with key ancillary services.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=204146Wed, 26 May 2010 12:16:40 GMT20100526121640Wed, 26 May 2010 12:14:25 GMT20100526121425Wed, 26 May 2010 12:16:40 GMT20100526121640In a recent speech on patient safety, John Dalli of the European Commission, responsible for Health and Consumer Policy, said, &8220;Access to safe and good quality healthcare is critical for patients, not only in their own country, but also across borders. The differences in access to healthcare between member states are alarming. The European Union has already made some progress towards securing equal access to safe and good quality healthcare across its borders. You will, no doubt, be aware of the European Court of Justice rulings confirming that patients have the right to be reimbursed for healthcare received in another EU Member State. Yet only a few patients are aware of this and only a few can afford to exercise this right. I hope that member states will soon give their green light to the European Commission's proposal on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare, which will enable patients all over Europe to access safe and good quality treatment across borders and be reimbursed for it. &8220; Spain&8217;s minister for Health, Trinidad Jimenez, together with John Dalli presided over an informal meeting of EU health ministers in Madrid in April. A debate took place on the guidelines on the rights of patients to cross-border healthcare and the work of the Spanish Presidency in order to try and harmonise the different points of view of the member states to offer sufficient legal security and guarantees of quality to patients. Although not on the agenda, and as an informal meeting not subject to the usual EU rules on reporting who said what or even which countries attended, those ministers not prevented from attending by volcanic ash clouds, also discussed cross-border healthcare. Spain has led the resistance to the directive on cross-border health care, and at the meeting it tried to broker a draft compromise to take the discussions forward, that just happens to benefit countries such as Spain whose climate attracts large numbers of EU expatriates as a permanent or winter home. Most of these expatriates are retired, with one in four adults in the EU now over 65. The deal engineered by Spain seeks to overcome the main problems that led the Council to reject the Swedish EU Presidency&8217;s compromise, in December 2009, on the legal basis, the underwriting of costs and prior authorisation. Spanish Health Minister Trinidad Jimenez was at pains to argue, &8220;This is just a working document, not an official text. It was not presented in detail to the ministers, but their reaction was positive and we hope to reach agreement in June.&8221; One of the provisions on which the 2009 discussions faltered was the definition of the member state of affiliation: who has to pay for retired people who live in a state other than their state of origin? For instance, who would pay for a retired British national who lives in Spain and receives health care in France? The Mediterranean countries, principally Spain, have concerns about situations of this type. For the Spanish, the directive has to resolve this question in detail, covering all potential cases. In the case, for example, of a Dutch national living in Spain and wishing to receive treatment in the Netherlands, the Dutch state would have to bear the costs. However, if this Dutch national decided to seek treatment in Italy, then the cost could be taken on by the country of residence, namely Spain, but under certain conditions. The costs would only be paid if the patient is not hospitalised, is not treated using sophisticated technologies, and the cost of the treatment must not be greater than equivalent treatment in his country and if the treatment is not experimental. The patient must also have received quality services. So if a citizen from one country who lives in another, wants to be treated in a third country, they would have to obtain an authorisation from his or her doctor for the transfer and only at a hospital where the quality is guaranteed by the country it is in, but even if these conditions are met, there would be a ban on the patient actually being admitted overnight, or from taking part in any experimental treatments. The idea of such restrictions is to make the person either return to his or her country of origin, or to remain in their country of residence for treatment. This sounds more complicated than the original plan; you may be confused as to who pays for what and wonder how the average consumer would ever understand it, let alone the health bureaucracies of some EU countries. Some countries have free state healthcare, in others you pay and try to get it back from a mixture of state and private insurance, and in others health plans are compulsory but available from hundreds of private providers; so trying to work out payment from what may be three different types of systems is an administrative nightmare. But that is the Spanish plan, to comply with the principle of the directive, but in practice to make it so complicated and difficult for any consumer to get healthcare paid for by complex mixtures of state bodies and insurers, that it may effectively kill the concept. Part two of the plan is that the 27 health ministers gets so tangled up in details, and with several countries facing pressure on health expenditure due to economic problem wanting to avoid anything that adds to costs, that the proposal fails due to inaction and neglect. Most countries are staying quiet on whether they are for or against the original directive, and /or for or against the Spanish plan. This is complicated by changes in the ruling party in some countries, even since last year. The UK&8217;s Labour administration was firmly behind both Spain&8217;s antagonism to the proposal and the concept of complexity making it unworkable, but the attitude of the new Conservative-LibDem coalition is as yet unknown. Portugal, Poland, Greece and Romania are known to have supported Spain last December in opposing the original proposals to legislate along the lines laid down by the court as tabled by the European Commission in 2008. Health authorities and politicians in other EU countries are known to support Spain simply because they feel that their patients should use their own domestic system, and there are reports that as many as 15 EU health ministers agree with the latest Spanish suggestion. The main problem with the original proposal is that it attempts to reconcile vastly different healthcare systems. Britain mostly relies on its state-run National Health Service to deliver procedures, while the Netherlands relies on a network of private insurers, and in Spain their health system is administered by the regions, which have trouble dealing with each other, let alone foreign providers. In theory, the cross-border healthcare directive is on the agenda for approval in June, but in practice, the process looks like running for months, if not years, before any conclusion.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=204142Wed, 26 May 2010 12:13:21 GMT20100526121321Wed, 26 May 2010 12:02:08 GMT20100526120208Wed, 26 May 2010 12:13:21 GMT20100526121321The German National Tourist Board plans to promote wellness travel in 2011 in three areas to highlight Germany&8217;s modern and cutting-edge spas and health resorts, wellness and beauty hotels, as well as surgery medical tourism. The German National Tourist Board estimates that German clinics and hospitals treat about 70,000 medical tourists plus 400,000 on health, wellness and spa trips. The latter number is growing faster than the former. The 2011 campaign will focus on Germany&8217;s luxury hotels, spas and spa-towns. The campaign will highlight the top clinics for international patients as well as the tourist attractions of nearby towns and cities. It will show that those visiting Germany for health-oriented vacations can get a range of treatments from traditional Kneipp treatments to Aryuveda therapy. Germany has a long history of wellness travel and the country promotes its thermal spas and resorts as an experience that combines a health experience with one on German culture. The German National Tourist Office says the country has more than 350 spas and health resorts, plus 500 spa and wellness hotels offering a variety of therapies, massages and treatments. At present the office does not offer special online information to either consumers or the travel trade about health, wellness or medical tourism. One area that the tourist office lacks is any facility for training travel agents and tour operators on the wellness travel sector, or advising customers of travel or medical tourism agencies that offer the sector. It appears content just to market destinations to consumers and travel professionals. But there is still time to rectify these campaign deficiencies.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=203152Thu, 20 May 2010 09:47:11 GMT20100520094711Thu, 20 May 2010 09:45:54 GMT20100520094554Thu, 20 May 2010 09:47:11 GMT20100520094711Worldwide, many new medical tourism agencies have entered the market in recent times.. In the USA, there are many opening with the hope of cashing in on an emerging industry. As with all small business ventures, many will fail, while others will stay the course and succeed in what is a much tougher business than many imagine. Founded in 2003, Illinois medical tourism agency MedRetreat is one of the surviving pioneers. Patrick Marsek of MedRetreat warns international hospitals that not all agencies are created equally: "The best agencies have trained staff, industry experience, and proven processes that guarantee a safe and stress-free experience for North American medical travelers. Unfortunately, some agencies may not possess the qualifications necessary to ensure a positive medical travel experience.&8221; Marsek continues, &8220;To ensure that the medical tourism industry continues to flourish, overseas hospitals must take great care when choosing agencies as affiliates. That is because a single patient mishap can effectively put an overseas medical provider out of the health tourism business for good. Even if a hospital has provided superior quality care, it may lose business if a medical tourist who is dissatisfied with the service provided by the agency speaks to the media about having a bad overseas experience.&8221; Marsek adds, &8220;The fact that unlike hospitals there is no official accreditor in place to identify and evaluate quality standards for agencies makes it difficult for international hospitals to know which agencies offer top quality. Until such an accreditor exists, MedRetreat would like to encourage all international hospitals to take the following five steps before agreeing to an affiliation with an agency for the purpose of attracting North American patients:&8226; Develop an affiliation approval process.&8226; Verify that the agency is a legitimate business in good standing.&8226; Insist that the agency visit your hospital. &8226; Ask the agency to disclose their process.&8226; Determine the level of service the agency provides. Shortly after a 10-minute pitch describing a medical tourism agency that she plans to launch, Dorothy A. Owens was taking questions from a potential investor who wanted to learn more about the concept. Owens' presentation was among 18 sales pitches that took place at the Tennessee Innovation Conference and Venture Showcase to connect venture capitalists and angel investors with entrepreneurs who need capital to make their ideas reality or to expand. Owens, a new MBA from Vanderbilt University, seeks $400,000 to launch Constellation Medical Travel, "I think the timing in the market is better, the market is starting to grow and come around, people are more familiar with medical tourism, and insurers are actively seeking a solution and looking abroad." Jack Schafer of Atlanta based agency Global Surgery Providers (GSP) wants to train and license US travel agencies to handle patient leads, "There is a desire for retail travel agencies to get involved in this business, but those of us dealing with the assurances that the trip experience and the procedure are perfect, need local representatives who are able to work one-on-one with patients/clients as well. This is a natural fit. We need these agencies now as we need to have hands-on representatives around the country." GSP plans to start turning over all of the leads generated from 32 medical tourism related internet sites, and by 2011 they will be strictly wholesale operators, expecting upward of 100 licensed agencies around the USA. The licensing program aims to develop a distribution channel involving local agencies with exclusive territories for travel agents. GSP uses a network of 16 JCI accredited hospitals in India, Panama, Costa Rica and Mexicohttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=203151Thu, 20 May 2010 09:44:50 GMT20100520094450Thu, 20 May 2010 09:43:12 GMT20100520094312Thu, 20 May 2010 09:44:50 GMT20100520094450Major US health insurer Aetna has followed several competitors in introducing a new health plan that allows members and their families to access health care in California or in the Mexican cities of Mexicali, Tecate and Tijuana. It does so through an agreement with Mexico's Sistemas Medicos Nacionales (SIMNSA), a health management organization that operates similar deals for several other insurers. These are cross-border plans for Mexico and specific border states, not policies with medical tourism options outside Mexico. Unlike other countries, insurance in the US is regulated state by state, so insurers mostly offer individual state plans for individuals, even when they are major international insurers. These cross-border plans accept that many workers in Southern states are Mexican, or of Mexican descent, and that for many their main language is not English, so feel uncomfortable discussing healthcare in English. Some Mexicans live in Mexico but travel across the border to work in the USA, on a daily basis, or just returning home to their families at weekends. Beth Andersen of Aetna says,&8221; Aetna recognizes that it is important for our members to be able to receive health care in a language and cultural setting they understand and feel comfortable with. Vitalidad PlusSM offers employers an affordable health option that lets their employees receive care in whichever setting they prefer. People are more likely to get routine care and stay healthier when they have a primary care physician they can relate to. With access to Aetna's provider network in California as well as the SIMNSA network in Mexico, we believe we can help members achieve their optimal health. Members will be able to participate in Aetna's maternity management, heart health, diabetes and weight management programs, as well as other disease management and wellness programmes." SIMNSA is a comprehensive health care service plan that was developed to provide quality healthcare for the growing U.S. workforce who prefer to receive their healthcare coverage in Mexico. SIMNSA is one of the leading Health Maintenance Organization (HMO) programs in Northern Mexico, and was the first Mexican HMO to be licensed as a health care service plan by the State of California. The network extends through the border cities of Tecate, Mexicali and Tijuana. It offers network services for treatment in Mexico on a range of its own health plans and for various US health plan providers including Cigna, Health Net and PacifiCare. Vitalidad PlusSM California con Aetna is an HMO plan that features 100 percent coverage for qualified preventative care, including immunizations and child and adult wellness exams. Employers can select four different co-payment levels for employees. Members and their family members will select a primary care physician in California or one of the SIMNSA physicians in Mexico. Plan documents and customer service are available in both Spanish and English. In addition, members can visit Aetna's Spanish language web site to search for participating doctors and hospitals, and obtain information on a variety of Aetna health programs and products. Sarah Horton, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Colorado, Denver, has published extensively on immigrant health and the U.S. health care system and is currently writing a book about cross-border health care for the University of California Press. Research a few years ago claimed that a million people travelled from the USA to Mexico for dental and healthcare, but the figures were very old and the statistical method curious. Gabriel Senior, founder of Travel for Care, a Mexican medical tourism agency sending U.S. and Canadian patients to hospitals in Tijuana and Monterrey estimates that of the 50,000 Americans who travel to another country for medical treatment every year, about 35,000 travel to Mexico. The remaining 15,000 are to destinations in Central America and Asia. Of the 35,000 people who go to Mexico, a large proportion are Hispanic who come naturally to the country on business or visiting family. SIMNSA points out that healthcare needs differ when a border is crossed as insurance may be bought by employees and their families at home in Mexico, while at the same time protecting them from emergencies on the job in the U.S. The failure to understand that people may live in Mexico but work in the USA accounts for why earlier studies overestimated medical tourism by failing to differentiate between where people work and live.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=203148Thu, 20 May 2010 09:43:12 GMT20100520094312Thu, 20 May 2010 09:40:05 GMT20100520094005Thu, 20 May 2010 09:43:12 GMT20100520094312Syrian Qatari Holding (SQH) has agreed to co-develop Syria&8217;s first world-class medical city with a group of US-based Syrian physicians acting within the framework of the Syrian American Medical Center (SAMMC), The medical city will have a 200-bed hospital and several specialty medical centres. This agreement follows successful feasibility studies of the project and agreement on the final outlines of the future medical center. Work on site has already begun. The medical city will be located in Damascus, in the West Mazzeh area of Syria. The site is near to the Mazzeh highway, and within easy reach of Damascus centre and rural Damascus. It will be built on a land area of 10,000 sq.m. The medical complex will include the 200-bed general hospital facility with individual medical clinics, plus other medical related trades and businesses, as well as accommodation for medical staff and visitors. The Syrian American Specialty Hospital will include several centres of excellence on heart, pulmonary disease, gastroenterology, gynaecology / obstetrics / pediatrics unit, oncology, musculoskeletal / orthopedics, and neuropsychiatrics. There will also be general surgery and medicine supported by a radiology centre. It will have state-of-the-art equipment and will implement the latest technological advancements in patient care. It will be staffed by well-trained medical practitioners, support staff and nurses and will provide an international standard of medical treatment and care. The hospital will benefit the Syrian population, and will encourage patients from across the Middle East to come to Syria for treatment. Hassan Mukayed of SQH explains, &8220;Syrian doctors practicing in the USA and Europe are known to be among the best physicians in the world. It will both retain the patients who today travel out of the country for special surgical operations and procedures and encourage Syrian experts who live abroad to come back to Syria and work in a medical city that aims to become the first choice for treatment in Syria and the surrounding region.&8221; The hospital will be the first Syrian hospital seeking JCI accreditation. SQH will develop and manage the project through its fully owned subsidiary, Syrian-Qatari Healthcare. The total project cost is estimated to be around US$ 112 million, and the development of the entire complex will take between three and five years. Founded in 2008, and based in Damascus, SQH is equally owned by the governments of Syria and Qatar.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=203146Thu, 20 May 2010 09:40:04 GMT20100520094004Thu, 20 May 2010 09:38:27 GMT20100520093827Thu, 20 May 2010 09:40:04 GMT20100520094004Boomers Abroad, an online community popular with Americans and Canadians visiting, relocating and retiring to Latin America, has expanded its offering to include the Health Travel Guides network of premium medical and dental travel services. California based Health Travel Technologies (HTT) is a medical travel technology firm whose platform powers North American medical tourism agencies including Health Travel Guides and Dental Travel.HTT has signed an agreement with Boomers Abroad to provide a medical travel portal service for the popular Boomer's Abroad website. Health Travel Technologies is a business-to-business provider of medical tourism solutions and services that enable health care provider networks to cost-effectively market operate and manage international patient operations. Boomers Abroad, a niche portal, online community and social network, was launched in 2009 to provide information, education, and alternatives to the millions of Americans and Canadians now living in, visiting, or planning to relocate to Latin America.7 million Americans and Canadians currently live abroad and that amount is expected to double in the next 10 years. Many of those are retirees looking for warmer weather and a lower cost of living, something Latin America delivers with ease. Luis Miranda of Boomers Abroad says, "Having the medical travel element as part of our site is important not only for retirees that need to figure out how to locate quality health care options while living in another country, but also for those Americans and Canadians who cannot afford or get the health care they need at home." Nishant Bagadia of HTT adds, "Boomers Abroad is a great new partner as it offers a very targeted community based website where people wanting to live, work and play in Mexico and beyond go for very specific needs. Healthcare is very high on that list. They provide us with a database of 18,000 people in need of medical travel services,and we can provide them with dozens of options for high quality healthcare in Latin America, comparable to what they experience at home, at prices up to 75% less than they are used to paying." Luis Miranda comments, "There are many good sites for information, but we think that there is no substitute for the real testimonials of those already living life in another country. Our community consists of leading industry experts that share their personal experiences and knowledge in a great variety of areas, such as top destinations, community highlights, attractions, real estate, mortgages, tax, finance and lending, healthcare and insurance."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=203144Thu, 20 May 2010 09:38:26 GMT20100520093826Thu, 20 May 2010 09:35:45 GMT20100520093545Thu, 20 May 2010 09:38:26 GMT20100520093826An online nationwide survey of 3,700 business executives conducted by Crain Communications publications, Workforce Management and Business Insurance, in April 2010 indicates most U.S. employers are unlikely to stop offering health care benefits in the wake of federal health care reform law. Previously, some medical tourism pundits have suggested that rising healthcare costs will mean many US employers will drop health insurance. Health insurance in the US is far from perfect, but as most large and medium sized companies buy via professional insurance intermediaries, the effect on the corporate market is of interest to the insurance world. This survey for a leading insurance magazine refutes the suggestion that US companies are contemplating dropping health insurance, or will actually do so. In the survey, 52.5% strongly disagreed with the statement that it would be better for their organizations to stop offering health care benefits and pay a fine under the new law. Another 15.3% somewhat disagreed with the notion of dropping coverage and paying the fine.18 % might look at the idea of dropping coverage; but only 14.1% strongly believe their organizations would be better off in dropping benefits. Under the health care reform law, beginning in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time workers must offer health care coverage or pay a fine of $2,000 per full-time worker per year. Among the largest employers&8212;those with 25,000 or more workers&8212;64.9% strongly disagreed with the statement that their organizations would be better off dropping health care benefits. Another 12.4% somewhat disagreed; 14.2% somewhat agreed and 8.4% strongly agreed. It is not as simple as a yes or no to health insurance. The health reform law includes provisions intended to boost employer-provided wellness programs and make them a more widespread way to help increase the overall health of the population. They are intended to encourage employers to offer wellness programs, provide employers with support in doing so and make it possible for them to offer employees a financial incentive to participate in programmes that promote greater health and healthier lifestyles. The law makes federal grants available to small businesses to enable them to provide employees access to comprehensive workplace wellness programs. These programs include: health awareness initiatives, such as health education, screenings and health risk assessments; initiatives to change unhealthy behavior, such as counseling, seminars, online programs and self-help materials; and supportive environment efforts, such as workplace policies to encourage healthy lifestyles, healthy eating, increased physical activity and improved mental health.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201358Thu, 13 May 2010 16:58:41 GMT20100513045841Thu, 13 May 2010 16:52:54 GMT20100513045254Thu, 13 May 2010 16:58:41 GMT20100513045841RevaHealth.com has unveiled some interesting figures on the treatments UK, Irish, US and Canadian medical tourists consider going abroad for. The data is based on enquiries for treatment not actual travel and only covers people who have used their website. Although statistically flawed, it does provide some insight into consumer intent in April 2010 and over the last 12 months. UK patients seeking dental treatment abroad;Patients from the UK heading abroad for their dental work are still interested primarily in the top end treatments such as veneers and dental implants, but the number one treatment enquired about in April was teeth whitening, traditionally one of the cheaper cosmetic dental treatments. UK patients seeking treatment abroad;Looking at what treatment areas British people are looking for when travelling abroad, the top four are dentistry, cosmetic surgery, bariatric surgery and fertility. Irish patients seeking dental treatment in Northern Ireland; Northern Ireland remains a very popular alternative for dental treatment for Irish patients, accounting for 26% of all Irish dental enquiries in April. Expensive treatments dominate the enquiries, with braces, teeth whitening and dental crowns leading the way. Irish patients seeking dental treatment abroad; The favourite treatments are veneers, teeth whitening, dental implants and braces. Irish patients seeking treatment abroad;Irish patients looking for treatment abroad are increasingly interested in cosmetic surgery, as well as fertility and bariatric surgery. Dentistry remains the most popular area. USA and Canada patients seeking treatment abroad;US and Canadian patients are mainly looking for dental treatment, although this may be due to the specialties of the site rather than a general trend. Other popular areas are cosmetic surgery, fertility and urology. Mexico remains by far the most popular destination, followed by the Philippines and Costa Rica.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201359Thu, 13 May 2010 16:58:16 GMT20100513045816Thu, 13 May 2010 16:54:35 GMT20100513045435Thu, 13 May 2010 16:58:16 GMT20100513045816A year after the South Korean government began allowing local hospitals to market medical treatment to foreigners hoping to boost its medical tourism industry, progress has been slow, according to a survey conducted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The chamber asked 460 local medical institutions, including general hospitals and clinics, about the level of satisfaction in the policy. 93.9 % said progress has not met their expectations. The survey suggests that the number of foreign patients in the hospitals is similar to that of the previous year. 18.6 % of hospitals said they saw a rise in foreign patients while 67.5 % said they saw no change at all. 9 % said the number of foreign patients dropped. This may seem contrary to other figures coming out of the country, but this is explained by the increasing numbers being almost entirely people seeking cosmetic surgery, rather than surgery. One out of five hospitals recruited an average of 2.2 employees to promote medical tourism. Projecting this figure to the 460 hospitals means that the costs of some 180 extra people have to be covered by additional medical tourism revenues. Most of the surveyed hospitals want to attract more foreigners, but suggest there is a need for improvement in marketing, tourism programmes, communication in foreign languages, and level of services. Also, Korea should focus on providing specialized treatment rather than basic services and promote a high-end image to differentiate itself from other medical tourism destinations. Korea&8217;s medical tourism industry is still in its infancy. Considering Korea&8217;s high medical standards and its price competitiveness, there is more room for the industry to grow. The Korea International Medical Association, a government-sponsored institution, aims to raise the number of foreign medical tourists from 60,000 in 2009 to 140,000 in 2012. More than 60,000 foreign nationals received medical treatment in Korea last year, with their spending amounting to $50 million, says the Ministry of Health and Welfare. A total of 60,201 foreign patients including 4,576 American soldiers based in the country went to Korean hospitals for treatment, exceeding the government&8217;s original goal of 50,000.The figure is more than double the 27,480 in 2008.The data was based on reports from 1,468 medical institutions of the total 1,547 registered to offer services to foreigners. People from the United States (32.6 percent) and Japan (30.3 percent) accounted for the majority of foreign patients, followed by Chinese (11 percent), Russians (4.1 percent), Canadians (2.3 percent), Mongolians (2 percent) and those from the Middle East (1.4 percent). Medical services mainly used by foreign patients were health checkups and cosmetic surgery.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201357Thu, 13 May 2010 16:52:52 GMT20100513045252Thu, 13 May 2010 16:51:05 GMT20100513045105Thu, 13 May 2010 16:52:52 GMT20100513045252Medical tourism is in its infancy in Japan, but hospitals, schools, travel agencies and even the government are moving to improve services and promote growth. Their efforts have shown signs of success, with a handful of patients from the Untied States, China and elsewhere increasingly visiting Japan for surgery, checkups and other medical services. The Cancer Institute Hospital in Tokyo treated 22 medical tourists in 2009; compared to 9 in 2008.Kameda Medical Center in Kamogawa has also seen an increase in overseas patients. The hospital treated 50 people from abroad last year and receives five or six inquiries from foreign countries daily. Last August, Kameda became the first hospital in Japan to earn accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI). Currently, four Filipinos training to become nurses in Japan work there, and it plans to hire Chinese with Japanese nursing qualifications by the summer. It plans to devote one floor of a 13-story building to international patients. Inter School, which trains interpreters and translators, has started year-long courses for Japanese-English medical interpreters at its five branches around Japan. About 80 students signed up. Next month, the school will begin similar courses in Chinese. In April 2009, Nippon Travel Agency started offering tours for wealthy Chinese seeking positron emission tomography, a medical scanning technique. By late February 43 people had been on the tours, which include sightseeing. Fujita Kanko began similar tours this spring. JTB, the largest travel agency in Japan, has created a section devoted to medical tourism. The government is supporting these efforts. In 2009, the Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry invited 24 people from overseas for health checkups to locate any problems in medical interpretation and the immigration system. The ministry plans to use the results to improve practices in medical tourism. The Japan Tourism Agency is also expected to establish a medical tourism booth at the Asia Luxury Travel Market trade show in Shanghai in June. Numbers travelling to Japan are still very small, but exact figures are unknown as official travel bodies have previously issued figures and targets that claim to be for all medical travellers to Japan, but have subsequently been found only to be medical travel on trips where they are involved in the arrangement process, so ignoring anyone who travels independently to one of the few Japanese hospitals welcoming medical tourists. Estimates are still low, probably no more than 200 a year.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201355Thu, 13 May 2010 16:50:51 GMT20100513045051Thu, 13 May 2010 16:47:28 GMT20100513044728Thu, 13 May 2010 16:50:51 GMT20100513045051Bulgaria plans to launch a national policy for inbound dental tourism. Ventsislav Stoev of the Bulgarian Association for Health Tourism says that Bulgaria has suffered, as with no national policy for health and dental tourism, each clinic worked on its own without any coordination with others: &8220;After some discussions with authorities in our parliament, we have a national policy to organize dental tourism all over the country, and to include more highly qualified dentists in it.&8221; Bulgaria has a large number of dentists and low labour costs. 7,800 dentists in Bulgaria own clinics with good equipment and laboratories. Foreign patients go to Eastern Europe where the quality of the dental treatment is similar to that in developed countries but at significantly lower prices. To begin with, people made their own arrangements, but now dentists and tour operators offer to combine dental treatment and tourism, particularly for visitors from Germany and Italy. Bulgaria has two advantages to develop its dental tourism: highly qualified dentists who speak foreign languages, and high level clinics located in tourist areas. Twenty years ago, visitors from Scandinavia, Russia and the Middle East were regular guests in Bulgaria's spas that specialised in treating medical conditions varying from gout to sterility. But this almost vanished as Bulgaria concentrated on becoming a cheap holiday destination. In recent years, new investment has once again begun to make Bulgaria a spa destination. Spa tourism has attracted some $5.4 billion in investment in the past five years, according to the Bulgarian Union for Balneology and Spa Tourism. Companies from Israel, Russia, Kuwait, Qatar and Oman have already invested or shown interest. The industry wants 10% annual growth. It is advertising at travel trade and consumer shows in Germany, the Balkans, Israel and Russia. But to compete with the Czech Republic and Hungary, Bulgaria's biggest spa competitors in Eastern Europe, the government must start spending more on marketing and improving the run-down roads, railway and bus transport. Sigrun Lang of the European Spas Association says Bulgaria's rich natural resources, long-term traditions in balneotherapy and well-qualified specialists in the sector may come to nothing if the country does not market itself, " Marketing is most important because if nobody knows that you have great locations, people cannot come." The government has allocated a tiny budget to tourism advertising, and seems unwilling to promote dental and health tourism, as it is still locked into the Soviet-era thinking that if you have good cheap offerings, customers will find you without advertising or marketing. The spa industry has managed to change the misconception that spa resorts are beneficial only to the elderly and ill. Bulgarians account for four out of five visitors in the high-end wellness hotels.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201353Thu, 13 May 2010 16:47:27 GMT20100513044727Thu, 13 May 2010 16:43:46 GMT20100513044346Thu, 13 May 2010 16:47:27 GMT20100513044727As part of the 2010 Survey of Health Care Consumers, the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions examined the behaviors, attitudes and unmet needs of 400 adult Americans &8211; from a variety of regions, ethnicities, age groups and other key demographics &8211; and on a variety of issues and trends. Not surprisingly, there were significant differences in how people view the health care universe. The survey asked respondents their views about travel outside their local area for treatment. Other Deloitte surveys have referred to travel outside the USA, but this rather loosely describes medical tourism as travelling outside your own community. The survey results were revealing. Many of the apparent differences in consumer attitudes and approach break down along lines of income, the extent and source of insurance coverage and the age of respondents. Wealthier respondents express greater interest in medical tourism, as do those enrolled in public health plans. Younger consumers are least interested in traveling for medical treatment, however in the past 12 months, consumers aged between 17 and 28 were more likely to have travelled outside their local area for medical services, than older working age consumers. Gender plays virtually no role in whether a patient considers medical travel. Those without medical coverage are least likely to travel for medical treatment. Individuals covered by Medicare are more likely to travel outside the area for treatment. Nearly half of consumers who say they earn upper-income annual salaries are willing to travel for treatment. Preparedness to travel is not the same as actually doing so. You may be prepared to go on holiday to the Arctic Circle, but whether you actually do so depends on a whole host of factors. The survey only asked about preparedness to travel outside of their own community. This has been loosely reported as preparedness to travel outside the USA, but that is an incorrect interpretation of the survey. The question refers to preparedness to travel outside people&8217;s own town or city for health care. That could be within their own state. It could be to another state, it may even be to another country. The number reported as actually travelling outside their own community is 7%, down on 8% last year. This does not, as some have wrongly reported, equate to 7% who travelled to another country or even 7% who travelled outside their own state. Compared with 49% in 2009, 41% say that they would travel outside their local area to seek medical services. The concern for medical travel businesses is that despite health care being top of the political agenda for the last year, and medical tourism receiving increased coverage in the US media, the survey shows a fall in the numbers who did or who are prepared to travel for treatment.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201351Thu, 13 May 2010 16:43:45 GMT20100513044345Thu, 13 May 2010 16:35:36 GMT20100513043536Thu, 13 May 2010 16:43:45 GMT20100513044345The European medical travel industry has issued the &8220;Declaration of Venice&8221; supporting the rights of European Union citizens to travel for health care services. The declaration was one of the key outcomes of the European Medical Travel Conference 2010 in Monastier, near Venice, Italy. Drafted by a group of medical travel experts, the Venice Declaration calls for public tourism organizations to encourage greater cooperation and synergies between the tourism and health sectors. Medical travel services should be assisted through the provision of additional health services for tourists. The declaration stresses the need for stakeholders to collaborate more effectively in integrating elements of the health and travel sectors by investing greater resources to improve quality, customer orientation and the healing competency of health services. The Declaration of Venice also calls for improved quality of medical travel agencies and service providers, as well as greater emphasis on patient safety; follow up care in their home countries; cross-border case management executed by medical professionals; patient referral and re-referral systems to guarantee continuity of care; economic models that protect patients from fraud and corruption; and the availability of inexpensive no-fault medical malpractice coverage. The main points of the declaration;&8226; The right of citizens to travel to receive access to better health care services.&8226; The need for global health systems to respond better to the needs of increasingly mobile citizens seeking the best quality, most timely, most cost-effective, and convenient medical treatment and healing capacity in Europe and throughout the world.&8226; The need to integrate better health and tourism services by investing more resources to improve quality, customer orientation, and healing competency of health services.&8226; The need for controllable patient safety. Attendees at the Venice conference signed the declaration in a bid to affirm the rights of citizens of European Union states to travel and request and receive medical care and treatment. Key statements by the signees:&8226; Recognise the need for health systems worldwide to provide improved responses to the health care needs of increasingly mobile citizens who look to obtain the best quality, most timely, most cost-effective, and most conveniently located medical treatment and healing capacity available in Europe and throughout the world.&8226; Stress the need to encourage stakeholders to collaborate more effectively in integrating elements of the health and travel sectors together.&8226; Agree the need for a combination of a sound infrastructure, high quality medical facilities, and a healthy environment to provide to citizens high standard destinations for medical reasons.&8226; Want the quality of tourist attractions to be balanced by high quality medical facilities.&8226; Recognize that the main motivating factor for citizens looking abroad for medical treatment is access to health care, value; and outcomes for healing.&8226; Aagree that access to medical travel services should be encouraged through the provision of additional health services for tourists.&8226; Believe that public tourism organizations should encourage greater cooperation and synergies between the tourism and health sectors.&8226; Want equal access for tourists, whether in good or poor health.&8226; See the need for patient safety to be made a top priority.&8226; Agree that patients' rights must be recognized.&8226; Want patients to have neutral medical professional guidance for the selection of their services.&8226; Agree that for patient safety there is a need for:- effective medical follow-up of patients on their return to the home country;- cross-border case management executed by medical professionals;- patient referral and re-referral systems that guarantee continuity of care;&8226; Countries and regions should invest greater resources to improve the quality, customer orientation, and healing competency of hospital and tourism services. More important than the detailed wording, is that key players in the European medical travel industry are in agreement on the way forward. This may encourage European politicians to take the medical tourism industry seriously, as they may listen to a concerted lobby; they have not listened to individual countries or organizations that they see as promoting national interests.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=201348Thu, 13 May 2010 16:35:36 GMT20100513043536Thu, 13 May 2010 16:29:51 GMT20100513042951Thu, 13 May 2010 16:35:36 GMT20100513043536Jordan&8217;s medical tourism sector witnessed a rise in patients last year, says the Private Hospitals Association (PHA). Private hospitals across the country witnessed a 10 per cent increase in foreign patients in 2009. 220,000 patients from across the world received treatment in the Kingdom&8217;s private hospitals last year, up from 200,000 in 2008 and 190,000 in 2007. Initial figures for 2010 received from the 48 private hospitals affiliated with the association are promising and indicate that the number of medical tourists will continue to increase this year. Iraqis represented the largest number of foreign patients seeking treatment in the Kingdom, accounting for 19 %, followed by Palestinians (16 %) and Saudi Arabians (15 %). Yemeni patients were fourth, constituting 14 % of the total, followed by Sudanese and Libyan patients at 13 % and 9 % respectively. Although the exact percentages have changed, these results are very similar to the ones for 2008 and 2007. Attempts to widen the target market to include Europe, Asia and the Americas have not yet achieved much business, as the total for the over 40 countries outside the top six ones, is only 14% combined. Fawzi Hammouri of PHA says, &8220;The quality and competitiveness of healthcare in Jordan have made the country an attractive destination for foreigners seeking advanced treatments that are unavailable or unaffordable in their home countries.&8221; The majority of foreign patients arriving in Jordan seek treatment for cosmetic surgery, cancer treatment, heart and brain diseases, kidney implantation, spinal and nervous system diseases. Medical tourism brings in revenues that reach $1 billion annually.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=199315Thu, 06 May 2010 11:43:47 GMT20100506114347Thu, 06 May 2010 11:42:16 GMT20100506114216Thu, 06 May 2010 11:43:47 GMT20100506114347Currently, there&8217;s confusion around exactly what EC health ministers have or have not agreed for the future, and when, and we have Spain, France and the UK all seeking to show how they are clamping down on &8220; health tourists abusing local health services for free&8217;. So, it is no surprise that NHS hospitals and UK expatriates are unable to separate fact from political rhetoric. Spain and France are still at the &8220;waving sticks at foreigners &8216; stage. It should be emphasized that this has nothing to do with commercial medical tourism where people pay to travel to the UK, France and Spain for private treatment, but where EU citizens and others use free health services. Separating real abuse from political cant, is almost impossible as while all three nations are happy to accept the considerable amounts of money they get from millions of tourists, they seem reluctant to allow these same tourists to have treatment for illnesses and accidents they have when in their country. Particularly in off-peak times a large number of these short term and long holiday tourists are retired, so tend to have a higher number of falls and heart attacks than younger visitors. One in four of the EU adult population is now over 65.When pressed, the three countries have found it impossible to give any accurate figures for the number of people who travel to their country as deliberate medical tourists, and get free treatment or leave bills unpaid. It is no wonder that NHS hospitals are thoroughly confused as to what treatment they can give even to their own UK nationals who live or work abroad on a full or part &8211;time basis. The Department of Health privately admits that much will depend on who wins the UK election, as to what rules will stay, which will change, and which hospitals will be instructed to ignore or strictly enforce. Meanwhile, the current rules on NHS treatment of UK expatriates are-&8226; Entitlement to NHS hospital treatment is based on ordinary residence&8217; in the UK, not nationality, having property in the UK or the payment of UK taxes or national insurance contributions- as has often been suggested in the press.&8226; Anyone not ordinarily resident in the UK is deemed an overseas visitor and is subject to the NHS (Charges to Overseas Visitors) Regulations 1989, as amended. These regulations place a responsibility on NHS hospitals to establish whether a person is ordinarily resident, or exempt from charges under one of a number of exemption categories, or liable for charges. &8226; New guidance has been issued to the NHS on how best to implement the charging regulations and most hospitals have an overseas visitors manager to oversee this. It is for hospitals to decide what evidence is acceptable in each individual case.&8226; Anyone who lives outside the UK for more than three months is no longer automatically entitled to free NHS hospital treatment. If the person is away on a one-off extended holiday, then they will continue to be fully entitled to free hospital treatment as soon as they return to live permanently in the UK. They will then be ordinarily resident again.&8226; Members of the Armed Forces and Crown Servants, together with their dependants, retain full eligibility. &8226; UK state pensioners who live for six months or more each year in the UK and six months or less in another EEA member state, without registering as resident in that other member state, are exempt from charges for all hospital treatment during the time they reside in the UK. Other UK state pensioners who are not considered ordinarily resident in the UK are entitled free of charge to treatment the need for which arises during visits here, but not pre-planned treatment, as long as they have lived for ten years or more in the UK in past. &8226; UK ex-pats who have previously lived in the UK for ten years or more and who are now working overseas are exempt from charges for all hospital treatment during visits back to the UK for a period of five years.&8226; An ex-pat who is not considered exempt from charges under the charging regulations will be charged for any treatment they receive during a visit to the UK. &8226; An ex-pat who resumes their permanent residence in the UK is exempt from charges immediately.&8226; The rules are enforced by trusts. Hospitals are advised in the guidance to ask baseline questions to all patients to establish if they have lived lawfully in the UK for the previous year or not, which can then be probed at interview if necessary.&8226; Proof of simply owning property in the UK is not sufficient evidence of entitlement. Examples of residence in the UK might include bank transaction details, utility bills in the name of the person (not the tenant) or immigration stamps. It is down to the hospital to make a judgement on what evidence is acceptable in each case. What has confused hospitals is a proposal to extend the period of absence allowed for expatriates from three months to up to six, as politicians announced it as if it was a certain change. The proposal is currently only a consultation called Access to the NHS by Foreign Nationals, and this also covers some treatment for NHS expatriates. What happens will depend on the results of the UK election. The political nature of the proposals and why any new government could change or scrap them are that the proposals concentrate on the rights of failed asylum seekers and a proposal to refuse entry to the UK to those who have significant outstanding debts for previous NHS treatment, both of which are insignificant in real terms. NHS hospitals are required under European law and official instructions to provide free treatment to EEA nationals. The NHS does not offer cosmetic surgery or cosmetic dentistry, and the provision of dental care is not at hospitals- so the reasons that EU nationals mainly travel across Europe are not covered either by the NHS or other country&8217;s health systems. The &8220; abuse&8221; that some EU politicians claim is costing their hospitals lots of money is for non-emergency surgery only, and none of the countries can provide anything more than a few word-of-mouth sample cases. Perhaps most telling that this is all political is a sentence in the official consultation, &8220; The NHS does not collect detailed data on the overseas visitors it treats or charges so the precise scale of health tourism is difficult to quantify. &8220;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=199314Thu, 06 May 2010 11:42:12 GMT20100506114212Thu, 06 May 2010 11:39:45 GMT20100506113945Thu, 06 May 2010 11:42:12 GMT20100506114212In a new research report &8220;Poland Medical Tourism Market 2013 &8211; An Untapped Opportunity&8221;, Insight Market Research Solutions (IMRS) has identified Poland as one of the most promising destinations for medical tourism in Europe. In recent years patients from countries like the UK and Germany have visited hospitals and clinics in Poland for medical consultations and treatments. The huge differential in treatment cost has driven the inflow of patients from other countries to Poland. The entry of Poland into the European Union has also resulted in a positive thrust to medical tourism. The report gives a brief overview on the existing healthcare infrastructure in Poland in terms of number of public and private hospitals, medical personnel, and health resorts. According to the report, the medical tourism industry in Poland has the potential to grow, driven by association and government support coupled with increasing number of private healthcare facilities. IMRS anticipates more than 15% annual growth for revenue in coming years due to increasing flow of medical tourists and rising per capita expenditure by medical tourist on treatments and surgery. IMRS anticipates Poland will be able to overcome the challenge of India, Singapore and Thailand due to its proximity to European countries and presence of well-trained medical experts similar to western countries. Poland will continue to attract large number of medical tourists from other European countries due to less travel time and absence of visa requirement for travel within European Union borders, compared with travelling to Asia. According to estimates from the Polish Association of Medical Tourism (PSTM), between 300,000 and 330,000 people visit Poland annually and spend an average of 1156 euro on voluntary medical and dental procedures such as porcelain crowns, breast augmentation, or dental implants. Artur Gosk of PSTM says. &8220;If we can maintain a high level of service, these competitive prices will promote themselves.&8221; PTSM reports that people are coming to Poland mainly from Germany, the United Kingdom and Scandinavian countries to seek cheaper medical treatment at Polish clinics. PSTM has agreed to form a consortium together with the Polish Tourism Organization (POT) and representatives of the country&8217;s health industry. POT is inviting the health ministry and local governments to cooperate to advertise medical tourism in Poland.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=199313Thu, 06 May 2010 11:39:43 GMT20100506113943Thu, 06 May 2010 11:32:10 GMT20100506113210Thu, 06 May 2010 11:39:43 GMT20100506113943About four million people in the United States could be fined for failing to buy health insurance when the health overhaul law is fully in force in 2016, the Congressional Budget Office forecasts. Starting in 2014, individuals must maintain minimum essential coverage or pay a penalty. The penalty will equal the greater of (1) 1 percent of modified adjusted gross income (AGI) or $95 per person in 2014, (2) 2 percent of AGI or $325 per person in 2015, and (3) 2.5 percent of AGI or $695 per person in 2016, indexed for inflation in later years. Minimum essential coverage includes cover under a qualifying or grandfathered insurance company or employer-sponsored plan, government-sponsored program such as Medicare or Medicaid or a state-based exchange. The penalty for dependents under the age of 18 will be capped at 50 percent of the adult individual's penalty. The penalty for each family will be capped at 300 percent of the adult individual's penalty. The maximum penalty will also be capped at an amount equal to the average national premium for exchange coverage. There are a number of exceptions to the individual mandate, including exceptions for individuals who have income below the tax filing threshold, incur hardships, have religious objections, are not lawfully present in the United States, are incarcerated or are overseas. The new law waives insurance premiums for those with very low incomes as well as some other groups, while subsidies are provided to help poorer people buy coverage. Most individuals must buy health insurance under the landmark legislation passed by Congress last month, or face fines that will be phased in. By 2016, those without coverage may be fined up to 2.5 percent of their income. Of the estimated 4 million who will, some 9 percent will be under the poverty line -- $11,800 in annual income for an individual and $24,000 for a family of four, said the CBO, which analyzed expected compliance rates. The U.S. population is about 309 million, according to the Census Bureau. The CBO also forecast the government would collect about $4 billion annually from related penalties between 2017 and 2019.The number predicted to pay tax penalties amount to less than 1.5 percent of the population. To put the number of uninsured into perspective and to indicate that the deliberately uninsured are neither a real medical tourism target, nor indicate that health care reform can never work- 1.5 % pales into insignificance compared to the latest figures for the number of Americans driving without car insurance- between 15 and 20% - the figures vary by state; this suggests that whatever government does there is going to be a part of the population with a total disregard for any laws.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=199310Thu, 06 May 2010 11:32:07 GMT20100506113207Thu, 06 May 2010 11:30:59 GMT20100506113059Thu, 06 May 2010 11:32:07 GMT20100506113207Thailand&8217;s political crisis has been ongoing for almost two months. Some hospitals and medical tourism agencies are making the point that trouble is occurring in only a few places. Some are claiming that Bangkok is safe. Many countries are now advising their citizens not to travel to Bangkok. Some are advising against all but essential travel to anywhere in Thailand. Some are advising against any travel to Thailand. Some have even flown their citizens, some of whom are medical tourists home. How damaging the political troubles are to medical tourism is something local hospitals and clinics may not know for months or even years to come. Persuading insurers or employers that it is safe to send people to Thailand is not going to be easy. Overseas governments are updating advice on a daily basis and at the time of writing-&8226; The State Department alerts U.S. citizens traveling to Thailand of ongoing demonstrations in Bangkok.&8221; Due to escalating violence in central Bangkok, all U.S. citizens should avoid nonessential travel to Bangkok. Those traveling outside of Bangkok in Thailand should be aware of the possibility of disturbances elsewhere and should exercise caution and good judgment.&8221;&8226; The UK&8217;s Foreign and Commonwealth office warns there is a high threat from terrorism throughout Thailand; &8220; Attacks could be indiscriminate, including in places frequented by expatriates and foreign travellers. You should exercise caution at all times. We advise against all but essential travel to the whole of Thailand.&8221;&8226; The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade warns, " We advise you to reconsider your need to travel to Thailand due to the recent deterioration in the security environment caused by widening political unrest and civil disorder occurring in Bangkok and other parts of the country. There is a high threat of terrorist attack in Thailand. We continue to receive reports that terrorists may be planning attacks against a range of targets, including tourist areas and other places frequented by foreigners. " &8226; Over 30 other governments have issued warnings against travel to Bangkok, some warning against all travel to Thailand. The increasing violence has taken its toll on tourism, Thailand's main foreign exchange earner. Tourism accounts for 6 percent of the country's economy and has steeply declined since the protests started. Cancellations are pouring in from tourists and medical travelers. The situation is serious, and it really depends now how events will turn. The longer protests go on, the more aware will be travellers around the world about Bangkok&8217;s situation. It will then become harder to convince them to come back. Thailand has faced many crises in the last few years and Bangkok and Thailand have always bounced back more rapidly than expected. With concerns growing around the world, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) encourages visitors not to cancel travel plans, and merely warns travelers to be vigilant. TAT encourages passengers to travel to Thailand and has been seeking support from trade partners to discourage cancellations and encourage people to travel to Thailand, amending itineraries to avoid the city of Bangkok. Even by the middle of April, medical tourism had begun to feel the pinch of prolonged political strife. Bangkok Dusit Medical Services (BGH), the country's largest private hospital operator, said foreign patient visits decreased by 20% compared with the same period of 2009. Phyathai Hospital saw a 7-10% decline of international patients arriving compared with last April. The most severe impact has been from Europe and the Middle East as some appointments were cancelled and others postponed. Some countries from the Middle East instructed their citizens not to go to Thailand or even hosted charter flights to take them back home.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=199306Thu, 06 May 2010 11:30:58 GMT20100506113058Thu, 06 May 2010 11:22:13 GMT20100506112213Thu, 06 May 2010 11:30:58 GMT20100506113058From an assistance company based in Thailand - Asian Assistance (Thailand) Large scale political demonstrations have been occurring in Bangkok since March 12, 2010, and currently large parts of Bangkok's central business district are occupied by anti-government protestors. A number of violent clashes with security forces and dozens of attacks involving explosives have occurred, resulting in deaths and injuries. The Thai government continues to deploy significant numbers of police and military forces and future violent clashes remain a real possibility. A state of emergency is in effect in Bangkok, Nonthaburi, and some areas in the provinces of Samut Prakan, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani, and Nakhon Pathom. The situation is volatile and it is unclear for how long these protests will continue and which areas may be affected. Public transportation, including the SkyTrain (BTS), Metro (MRT), and bus routes, has been disrupted. Bangkok&8217;s airports and train station are operating normally. The medical facilities located in the areas where the demonstrations are centered are: &8226; Bangkok Christian hospital&8226; Bangkok Nursing Home&8226; St. Louis Hospital&8226; Lerdsin hospital&8226; Chulalongkorn hospital&8226; The Police hospital The Chulalongkorn hospital, which is located near the epicentre of the red shirts anti-government protests, is considering moving patients for further treatment to another public hospital, The Siriraj hospital for further treatment after protesters forced their way into the hospital yesterday, Thursday, night searching for troops. From &8220; The New York Times&8221; &8220; A major Thai hospital evacuated hundreds of patients and suspended all but emergency surgery after anti-government protesters stormed in to hunt for security forces they suspected were taking positions there overlooking their barricaded enclave. A group of the so-called Red Shirts barged into Chulalongkorn Hospital late Thursday despite pleas from its director, then withdrew after not finding soldiers or police within the sprawling compound. Hospital director Adisorn Patradul said all but two of the hospital's 500 patients were either discharged or sent to other facilities Friday in the wake of the raid.&8217; The incident yesterday clearly showed that it was longer safe in the hospital. They could come in anywhere they want,'' Adisorn said.&8221;http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=198301Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:55:40 GMT20100430045540Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:51:40 GMT20100430045140Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:55:40 GMT20100430045540Mexican president Felipe Calder&243;n hopes to convince U.S. officials that retirement benefits and medical tourism to Mexico is beneficial, when he goes to Washington on an official visit on May 19.The country wants to attract millions more American retirees to live in Mexico by allowing the healthcare benefits they receive under Medicare to be used in Mexican hospitals. The argument is that for US retirees living in Mexico and those in border states, they and Medicare would save money by getting treated in Mexican hospitals. The subject has been brought up several times in recent years, the main excuse for inaction being &8220; wait till after US healthcare reform. It is not known if President Obama and his officials will just listen politely and quietly ignore the proposition as too much to take on at the same time as reforms on health care, or whether they will seriously consider it as another way of reducing costs. Calder&243;n is expected to suggest Medicare pay benefits to U.S. retirees in Mexico. Under current rules, Medicare only covers healthcare services in the United States. Essentially, all Americans are eligible for Medicare when they turn 65. There is an initial enrollment period for seven months after their 65th birthday, when they can enroll in Medicare for free. The senior citizen must decide whether to enroll in Medicare Part A only, which offers basic Medicare coverage, or also in Part B, which offers supplemental coverage. Some seniors who are covered by their company's group health insurance, or their spouse's, may decline to enroll at all, or may just decide to enroll in Part A as it is cheaper. Some Medicare coverage is administered by private companies paid by the federal government to administer Medicare. Each state has a different way of dealing with Medicare. It is not a "one-plan-fits-all" system. Medicare is complicated, with many exceptions, provisions, rules, limitations, and providers, making it difficult to negotiate a deal around . This complexity is why all previous attempts to get Medicare to pay for treatment outside the US have failed. But there are already an estimated 1 million Americans living in Mexico. And according to Mexican government estimates based on U.S. Census figures, that number is likely to soar to 5 million by 2025 as the U.S. population grows older and more Americans look for sunny, cheaper places to retire. The U.S. Census projects that the number of U.S. retirees will soar from 40 million now to nearly 90 million by 2050. Already, 5 million American retirees live abroad; 2.2 million are in Mexico, the Dominican Republic and Brazil. Another 1.5 million live in Europe and 850,000 in Asia. Some people believe that the key to attracting more U.S. medical tourists and retirees to Mexico is getting hospitals in the region to be certified by JCI. There are already eight Mexican hospitals certified and several others awaiting certification. According to Mexican government estimates, healthcare costs in Mexico are about 70 percent lower than in the United States. But there are two huge snags, the first being that until healthcare reform is fully completed, amending Medicare may not be workable. The second is the drug-related violence in northern Mexico and the damage that may cause to the country&8217;s reputation as a safe destination. Mid April saw six people die in the border city of Acapulco during one of several gun battles in broad daylight on the main thoroughfare in Acapulco's tourist district. Fears of drug violence spreading to beaches and colonial towns are affecting Mexico's tourism and medical tourism industries. The number of international tourists flying into Acapulco fell by almost a quarter in the first three months of this year. Almost 20,000 people have died in the fight between cartels and Mexican security forces. Violence has worsened dramatically since the start of the year, with 1,000 deaths across Mexico in March. The U.S. State Department has warned against nonessential travel along the U.S.-Mexico border, especially in the violent cities of Ciudad Juarez and Tijuana. The Mexican medical tourism sector may feel that the media is exaggerating the risk, but the killing of three people linked to the U.S. consulate in Ciudad Juarez provoked outrage from U.S. President Barack Obama and put new pressure on Mexico. Mexico&8217;s tourism industry is still likely to grow in 2010 compared to last year, but businesses worry a perception of danger hangs over Mexico that could continue to undermine the industry. Until Mexico can control the drug gangs, Calderon&8217;s overtures to Obama may fall on deaf ears, as the safety of its citizens at home and abroad is high on any US government&8217;s agenda.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=197686Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:00:09 GMT20100428040009Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:59:03 GMT20100428035903Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:00:09 GMT20100428040009The Iranian health ministry has agreed to a health tourism office being set up. Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) suggested establishment of the office for health tourism, initially to promote the medical tourism potential at the university&8217;s hospitals, and perhaps later to be extended to a wider national role. TUMS has 16 hospitals with 4000 beds. The chancellor of the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS), Dr. Bagher Larijani suggested setting up the office for health tourism and the health minister, Dr. Vahid-dastjerdi has given TUMS the green light to do so. The chancellor justified his suggestion on the basis that health tourism not only could tap the health resources of the university, it but also can play a constructive role in the state&8217;s health economy. He also mentioned the need for a more effective coordination among the state&8217;s universities on medical tourism. The health minister Dr. Vahid-dastjerdi, welcoming the move, gave her approval and has asked the chancellor to take on the responsibility for establishing the office and a network between medical sciences universities throughout Iran. Iran&8217;s health tourism sector has a promising future, says the head of Majlis Health Commission, Shahabeddin Sadr, &8220;Many Iranians used to go abroad for treatment, but few now do. Today, due to the knowledge of Iranian doctors, which is well known in the world, and hospital facilities, many tourists arrive in the country for inexpensive and high quality health services. In the near future, Iran&8217;s health tourism will turn into a promising industry that Iranians will be proud of. Many medical advances have been made by Iranian researchers recently and Iran is one of the most progressive countries in the region. There is no need for foreign doctors as Iranian doctors are among the most qualified ones in the world. Iran has suffered from political violence in recent months, selling Iran as a safe destination for medical tourists is going to be a challenge.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=197684Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:59:02 GMT20100428035902Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:57:50 GMT20100428035750Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:59:02 GMT20100428035902One take on the US healthcare reforms is that that high US health insurance premiums could prevent people buying insurance, risk the tax fine, and make them consider medical tourism. Healthcare, banking and insurance reforms contain many future measures to control what insurers can do on premium, co-pays, deductibles and acceptance. But, while reform is being implemented in the next two to four years, those with or considering health insurance have limited price protection. Most states can prevent insurers of health plans from applying excessive insurance premium increases, but whether they take a hard or soft line depends on the political climate in the state, the stance of the insurance commissioner, and whether a state with limited finance is faced with many small local insurers, or bigger nationals who can afford the legal costs of fighting tooth and nail against any attempts at price control. Much of the problem is because, unlike almost every other country, insurance regulation and authorization in the USA is not on a national basis, but on a state-by-state basis. Concerned that health insurance premiums may shoot up in the next few years, Senate Democrats have laid a foundation for federal regulation of rates legislation that would give the secretary of health and human services the power to review premiums and block any rate increase found to be unreasonable .The federal government could regulate rates in states where state officials did not have &8220;sufficient authority and capability&8221; to do so. A similar proposal was in the original healthcare bill, but was omitted from the final measure for procedural reasons. Reviving the proposal, Senator Tom Harkin said: &8220;Rate review authority is needed to protect consumers from insurance companies&8217; jacking up premiums simply because they can. Protections must be in place to ensure that companies do not take advantage of current market conditions before health reform fundamentally changes the way they do business in 2014.Currently 22 states in the individual market and 27 states in the small group market do not require a review of premiums before they go into effect. This is a gaping hole in our regulatory system, and it is unacceptable.&8221; Under the new health care law, starting in 2014, most Americans will be required to have insurance. Insurers will have to offer coverage to all applicants and cannot charge higher premiums because of a person&8217;s medical condition or history, and there will be other controls affecting price and cover. Responsibility for regulating insurers has traditionally fallen to the states, but insurance commissioners' ability to control rate increases varies widely from state to state. Harkin says that the aim is not to put artificial caps on premiums or impose price controls, but rather consumer protection &8220;from insurance companies&8217; jacking up premiums simply because they can. Protections must be in place to ensure that insurance companies do not take advantage of current market conditions before health reform fundamentally changes the way they do business in 2014.&8221; Should this bill become law, it may encourage those seeking US business of the need to move away from the negative marketing that concentrates on the failings of US healthcare and insurance, and towards more positive incentives and promotion of why an American medical tourist should come to their country/hospital.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=197682Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:57:49 GMT20100428035749Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:56:38 GMT20100428035638Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:57:49 GMT20100428035749The Philippines Department of Tourism (DoT) is urging British businessmen to invest in Philippine tourism, citing the many advantages offered by the country, such as increased government incentives and the opportunities arising from medical tourism. The DoT has pitched to property developers, and travel and tourism companies. Tourism Secretary, Ace Durano says, &8220;With a long established mutual relation with the British stakeholders, we are now focusing on expansion and exploration into other forays of tourism investment which is a priority category for foreign investments in the Philippines.&8221; DoT expressed optimism about the prospects for foreign investment in Philippine tourism, citing the comparative advantages enjoyed by the country. The presentation highlighted Central Philippines, which accounts for more than half of tourists visiting the islands, with Cebu leading the main destinations in the area, the others being Boracay, Bohol, Camarines Sur, Camiguin, Mindoro, Palawan, Romblon, Siargao, and the provinces of Western and Eastern Visayas. The government is committed to promote investment for tourism by relaxing investment regulations and providing incentives, investing in infrastructure development and marketing activities; and easy access to and from major international cities in the region. The Tourism Act of 2009 is a measure designed to make the Philippines more globally competitive by making tourism one of the country&8217;s engines of investment and employment, of growth and national development, in particular the provision for tourism enterprise zones to be established in strategic areas throughout the country to attract foreign investors. The DoT highlighted Philippine medical tourism for combined health, wellness and leisure vacation packages. The Joint Foreign Chambers (JFC) has unveiled recommendations for the government on how to increase inbound medical travel-&8226; Eliminate taxes on foreign airlines.&8226; Implement 24/7 operations in international airports and seaports.&8226; Develop and implement national and destination plans.&8226; Promotional resources should highlight international medical travel and promote transparency of medical packages.&8226; Develop and implement national policy on wellness and medical travel.&8226; Offer seamless travel of medical travellers by issuing longer medical tourism visas for patients and their companions and streamlining procedures. The Philippines, while having had foreign patients for more than three decades, has only recently launched a concerted effort at medical tourism marketing. Medical tourism continues to grow, with the number of patients rising from 60,000 foreign patients in 2007 to about 100,000 foreign patients in 2008 and 2009.The DOT expects 200,000 foreign patients arriving annually by 2015. The Medical City (TMC), one of the local pioneers of medical tourism, has assumed the management and operations of the Great Saviour International Hospital (GSIH) and the Global Medical Network (GMN) in Iloilo, and in anticipation of a full purchase of these facilities planned before year&8217;s end. At the same time, TMC has acquired existing sister sites in Luzon, including the Mercedes Medical Center (MMC) in Pampanga and a network of outpatient clinics in Dagupan, Olongapo and Cavite.TMC is increasing its presence in Luzon and Visayas as part of a national expansion strategy, aimed at offering its distinct brand of health care to a broader patient base.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=197678Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:56:38 GMT20100428035638Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:54:59 GMT20100428035459Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:56:38 GMT20100428035638The International Cellular Medicine Society (ICMS), a physician and researcher guided nonprofit organization for the advancement of adult stem therapy, has published its second Off Shore Stem Cell Clinic Survey Report. This study of 22 stem cell clinics in 13 countries is unique in that it is the only survey of the global stem cell market by an independent, medical organization. ICMS represents medical doctors and researchers from over 20 countries on six continents, and published this report as a follow up to the original 2009 survey. The 2010 edition has doubled the number of clinics reviewed and provides a new level of comparative analysis based on how stem cells are processed and implanted by specific clinics. David Audley of ICMS says, &8220; Stem cell clinics are everywhere. From Guatemala to Thailand, from Peru to Germany, clinics have responded to increased demand. While exact numbers are hard to verify, it is believed that there are between 100 and 200 clinics offering stem cell therapies. The issue is that clinics in Costa Rica and the Dominican Republic can both claim to treat congestive heart failure, but there has been no way to compare these clinics. As a patient, how are you supposed to make an informed health care decision with little or no information?&8221; To build a model to compare clinics, patient volunteers for the ICMS contacted over 30 clinics worldwide and inquired about treatments for conditions ranging from congestive heart failure to Parkinson&8217;s disease. The patients asked each of the clinics to furnish information about their treatment procedures. Out of the 30 clinics contacted by patients, 22 provided sufficient data to be analyzed and included in the report. Dr.Christopher Centeno of ICMS adds, &8220;We recognize that medical tourism is growing, and that transparency about what is going on in these clinics is only way to separate out the wheat from the chaff. The combination of data provides significant insight into the landscape of the global stem cell treatment market to help patients and physicians make more informed healthcare decisions.&8221; The report seeks to inform patients by providing multiple levels of comparison from cell type (adult versus embryonic) to procedure price to conditions treated. Additionally, the report provides an analysis of clinics based on the complexity of their cell processing and implantation procedures. ICMS plans to publish the report annually as a guide for patients and physicians to compare the treatment options available by stem cell clinics worldwide. ICMS is dedicated to the advancement of safe and effective adult stem cell therapies through research, education and oversight by peers. The report concludes that the stem cell landscape remains problematic for patients. While new clinics have appeared across the globe to offer treatment, it remains nearly impossible to accurately compare and contrast treatment, much less make an informed decision about which procedure may be best for a patient&8217;s condition. With 22 reporting clinics, 88% of procedures utilize autologous stem cells. There appears to be a growing level of procedural complexity about the method by which stem cells are processed and injected.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=197675Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:54:59 GMT20100428035459Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:53:19 GMT20100428035319Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:54:59 GMT20100428035459Korea is hoping to show employers and insurers that they can save money on healthcare, by flying a patient to Korea for medical treatment, rather than to pay for a comparable procedure in the United States. One Korean health insurance provider is piloting a plan for around 350 employees of three American subsidiaries of Korean companies - Woori America Bank, Daewoo Electronics America and Daewoo International America. The Korean insurance package will send American workers to South Korea for medical treatment for serious illnesses, according to the Health Ministry and the Korea Health Industry Development (KHIDI). Woori America Bank, a wholly owned US subsidiary of Woori Bank, Korea, is a community bank offering financial services to the ethnic Korean community. It employs around 230 people in 18 branches in New York, New Jersey, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. Daewoo Electronics America is an importer of electronics products made by parent Daewoo Electronics in Korea. It only has a handful of employees in Miami and New Jersey. Daewoo International America is a subsidiary of multi-faceted Daewoo International, and operates in New Jersey, Detroit, Houston and Los Angeles. All three companies combined have some 350 employees in the USA, so the number expected to travel will be very small, if any do. But it is the concept that is being piloted; even taking in to account travel expenses to get to Korea the cost is expected to be half as much U.S. hospital treatment. The pilot hopes to test the concept, and the willingness of American workers, to travel to Korea for serious surgery. Although some of the employees are Korean or of Korean ancestry, it is believed that most of the 350 are American. It is the first time a health insurance company has offered a package specifically designed to bring foreigners into Korea for treatment. The package covers major medical costs associated with 14 illnesses including cancer, heart disease and spinal deficiencies. The companies will pay about 30 to 40 percent less for the Korean coverage than they would pay to American insurance companies offering coverage for fewer surgeries. The insurer says that upon enrolling in the plan, workers can chose between Korean and local medical treatment; those who pick the Korean option will pay 30 to 40 percent less in monthly premiums. The Korean option covers not just medical costs, but all associated travel expenses. The package is being offered through an American health-insurance agency. The insurance plan is seen as giving a boost to medical tourism in Korea, which is competing against other Asian nations, including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, in offering affordable medical care to Americans. In development is a similar health insurance plan from an American insurer that will probably offer Asians temporarily working in the United States the same option of flying to Korea for major medical care.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=197672Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:53:19 GMT20100428035319Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:51:12 GMT20100428035112Wed, 28 Apr 2010 15:53:19 GMT20100428035319New dates for the Destination Health event which was due to be held in London last weekend have now been confirmed. Destination Health, is a consumer event for the growing numbers of people planning on and interested in travelling abroad for health and medical treatments. The event was originally due to be held last weekend at London&8217;s Olympia but the organisers had no choice but to reschedule the event for the weekend of 26th and 27th June as over 90% of the exhibitors were unable to get to London as a consequence of the Europe wide flight ban. All the original exhibitors will be attending the event, which will give potential medical tourists the opportunity to meet doctors and personnel from around the world, compare treatment options and attend seminars on a wide range of subjects. Apart from featuring over 60 exhibitors from all over the world there will also be a mini trade conference featuring a wide range of speakers talking about all aspects of the business of medical tourism including marketing, sales, the law and medical tourism, the EU directive, working with facilitators and more.Event organiser, Nav Mann, of Bluewater Events remains positive that; &8220;despite this huge upset caused by the flight ban exhibitors remain upbeat and are understanding of the situation. The interest from exhibitors and consumers in the event indicates that we expect a high turnout and hope that Destination Health will become a popular annual event for the medical tourism businesses and consumers alike&8221;. www.destinationhealht.co.ukhttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196371Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:52:35 GMT20100427115235Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:16:10 GMT20100421041610Tue, 27 Apr 2010 11:52:35 GMT20100427115235What may surprise the medical tourism industry is that the British national health system, the NHS, has a new initiative that could eventually see it using spare NHS capacity to attract medical tourists. Much may depend on whether or not the initiative survives after the general election on May 6th, as whoever wins will have to implement substantial public spending cuts. Health Secretary Andy Burnham says the NHS could generate additional funding from other countries and organisations using its knowledge. As the largest publicly funded health system in the world, the NHS is home to groundbreaking treatments, cutting edge research and a hub of innovation. It is now looking to explore new international opportunities to export its knowledge, skills and services. There is increasing demand from Governments and organisations abroad to share knowledge, provide services, or even replicate parts of the NHS. A new organisation, NHS Global, will help NHS organisations to make the most of the global opportunities on offer. NHS Global will build on the success of NHS organisations already sharing their expertise internationally, such as the NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement, and Moorfields Eye Hospital. The Department of Health has begun preliminary work with NHS organisations and will launch a call across the system for further ideas to be submitted for consideration by NHS Global. It will also consult with NHS staff and stakeholders on how to ensure that NHS Global maximises benefit for patients in the UK. Andy Burnham said,&8221; Every year we invest over &163;100 billion in our NHS. The NHS uses that money to provide high quality healthcare at home, but there is great potential to benefit from the exceptional knowledge and intelligence within the NHS. NHS Global demonstrates that the NHS now has the confidence and capacity to play a greater role on the world stage. However, there is still much more that we can do and demand for NHS knowledge far outstrips supply. The NHS must make the most of these international opportunities. A key part of responding to the economic challenge that the NHS faces will be realising the full potential of innovation, not only making effective use of our knowledge and skills at home, but also making money abroad that can be reinvested back into the NHS.&8221; Sir David Nicholson of the NHS added,&8217; The NHS provides high quality health services to patients every day. International demand for knowledge, skills and services developed in the NHS is growing. What we need is a more systematic approach to supporting NHS organisations in making the most of these opportunities and bringing benefits back to the NHS and the taxpayer. NHS Global provides us with the opportunity to take a significant step forward in making this happen.&8221; NHS Global will be able to remove barriers, provide technical and commercial support and help the NHS to get best value for the knowledge and skills it holds in a way that does not affect frontline services at home, by acting as a central contact point for countries interested in doing business with the NHS. It will support the NHS in a range of business functions, including:&8226; Identifying commercial opportunities in the NHS;&8226; Generating demand in international markets;&8226; Brokering partnerships between NHS organisations and overseas customers;&8226; Identifying potential legal issues and risks;&8226; Marketing and communications. The Department of Health will consult on an operating model for NHS Global in the coming months and subject to the outcome of this consultation, expects to launch NHS Global in the summer.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196135Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:07:12 GMT20100420020712Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:05:16 GMT20100420020516Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:07:12 GMT20100420020712The Cayman Islands Government has entered into an agreement with Indian surgeon, Dr Devi Shetty to build a major medical facility there. Dr Shetty, Chairman of the Narayana Hrudayalaya group of hospitals in Bangalore, India, revolutionised medical care in that country by implementing business practices that resulted in high-quality, yet cost-effective care at state-of-the-art facilities. Over the next decade, he plans to recreate a similar health city and medical university that also will revolutionize tertiary health care on the islands, providing medical procedures at half the cost of US facilities. Shetty has responded to criticisms that high local labour costs means he could not offer Indian prices on the islands, by arguing that the cost-effectiveness of his methods is from increasing the output of each doctor, which also increases their skills. The outcomes from his hospitals, therefore, are superior to many US hospitals, which also bear artificially inflated costs. The cardiac surgeon expects, as a result, to draw the majority of his patients to Cayman from the US. The first phase of the project, expected to begin in January 2011, will be to construct a 200-bed hospital and open during 2012. As the project develops, eventually to a 2000-bed hospital, doctors will be trained in the Cayman Islands at the medical university that also will be built there. Dr Shetty argues that the Cayman Islands is a good location with its political stability and proximity to the US. It also is a pleasant place to live, which will make it easier to attract highly qualified surgeons, he hopes. Concessions made by the Cayman government to attract the hospital include waivers of certain work permit fees and duties imposed on the medical equipment, but not on the construction of the hospital. Dr Shetty and his partner investors, including local business partner Gene Thompson, have personally inspected several potential sites, but the final location of the proposed facility has not yet been decided. Although the government hopes to smooth the path, it has not promised to automatically give planning permission to any site chosen for Cayman&8217;s biggest ever development. While the venture is a completely private partnership, it still requires government approval. Narayana Hrudayalaya heart-hospital in Bangalore performs 32 open heart surgeries a day, almost eight times the average at other Indian hospitals, and the highest in the world. It is the centre of the rapidly developing Narayana Health City in Bangalore. This campus will consist of eight other hospitals and research institutes, ranging from a 1000-bed cancer hospital to a 500-bed eye hospital to institutes for neuroscience and thrombosis. Other health cities in India are in the planning stage. Premier McKeeva Bush wants the hospital, as it would be a significant boost to the local economy that has suffered from a drop in the two key economic activities of tourism and offshore financial services. Not everyone on the islands is sold on the huge new medical tourism project. Some doubt that costs can be kept low enough in a high-wage economy to attract enough Americans. Others are concerned that Shetty&8217;s high-throughput conveyor belt business model that was developed for poor Indians, will not work on medical tourists who want a high standard of care and personal doctor time.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196131Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:05:15 GMT20100420020515Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:00:59 GMT20100420020059Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:05:15 GMT20100420020515Overseas tour operators have urged the Indian authorities to provide long-duration multiple-entry ayurveda visas for tourists who seek wellness and curative packages, requiring longer stays. Gerard Bogrand of France-based Ayurvedic Voyages, argues that the current form of single-entry two-month tourist visas actively discourage medical tourists seeking traditional medicine, and would instead go to other destinations in Asia, &8220; In view of the increasing clientele for ayurveda and the country&8217;s efforts to put the traditional system on the international circuit, the federal government should remove all hassles and proactively introduce long-duration multiple entry visas.&8221; Other foreign tour operators back the demand, saying this would lead to a quantum jump in the arrival of medical tourists. The federal government is pursuing an international cooperation scheme to propagate the country&8217;s traditional systems of medicine, including yoga, siddha and unani-but on the question of visas, is not prepared to promise any help. In Bangalore, the state government is planning to develop the hub near the Bengaluru International Airport (BIA) in Devanahalli, as part of its initiative to make the city one of the preferred destinations for medical tourism in the world. The Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation (KSTDC) will develop the hub, as per its 10-year tourism master plan, in coordination with city-based private hospitals, and syurvedic and naturopathy centres. The government is acquiring 12,000 acres of land to develop the area near the airport, and the medical hub will occupy 300 acres of this land. Private hospitals, diagnostic centres, ayurvedic resorts and centres offering alternative systems of medicine including naturopathy and yoga will all be included. Ayurvedic resorts would be set up to attract tourists heading for Kerala for naturopathy and ayurvedic treatment. Many private hospitals are already involved in projects in the area. Some plan new hospitals for three years time, but progress will depend on how fast the hub and transport links are developed. Karnataka State Tourism Development Corporation was set up by the government of Karnataka state in India to promote tourism within the state. The aim of KSTDC is to provide infrastructure, transport and other facilities to tourists visiting Karnataka. Part of mission is also to promote unknown tourist spots in Karnataka. The KSTDC owns hotels, guesthouses and a taxi fleet, and is the largest tour operator in the state.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196130Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:00:59 GMT20100420020059Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:58:36 GMT20100420015836Tue, 20 Apr 2010 14:00:59 GMT20100420020059With the recent changes to the way that Irish patients can claim money back on dental treatment, the cost of treatment for many is rising. Government budget cuts at the end of last year effectively removed access to subsidised and free dental treatment Philip Boyle from RevaHealth looks at what treatments Irish patients have been enquiring about over the last year. Statistics about the different types of treatment that Irish dental patients are interested in, are based on where they are having the treatment performed. Irish people having dental care in the Republic of Ireland -&8226; Braces and orthodontics top the list, with new treatments like Invisalign helping to increase their share of the market. Optional cosmetic treatments including teeth whitening and veneers are still prominent despite the downturn. It will be interesting to see if they remain so prominent over the coming year. Patients from the Republic who consider dental treatment in Northern Ireland-&8226; An even greater proportion of patients looking for treatment in Northern Ireland are interested in braces, not surprising given that it is one of the more expensive treatments available &8211; starting prices for treatment in Dublin are close to &8364;4000.&8226; Root canal treatment also accounts for a far greater share of the market in Northern Ireland than with Irish dentists. It is a necessary precursor to many other treatments, but can be quite costly, especially as it is done as needed per tooth. Patients from the Republic who consider dental treatment abroad-&8226; Dental implants jump to the top of the list. Price is their primary concern, and with implants starting around &8364;1500 at home and around &8364;600 in Hungary it is no wonder that they are asking about treatment abroad. Surprisingly the relatively inexpensive teeth whitening is also very popular, as is the other cosmetic favourite, dental veneers. Even more surprising though is that braces abroad are so popular. With regular visits needed to tighten and adjust most braces, travelling abroad each time can prove to be very expensive. A recent study showed that operating costs for Irish dentists are much higher than their equivalents in Northern Ireland. The Irish Dental Association says that dentists have frozen or reduced their professional fees in recent months, but cannot absorb all the costs of the reduced payment from the government. Fintan Hourihan of the IDA said, &8220; It is a disgrace that people are being made pay the same level of social insurance from their wages but are receiving less in benefits. If a regular insurance company tried it, they would be run out of town but the Government has got away with yet another stealth tax, which is set to cause serious damage to the dental health of the nation. Dentists are trying to keep costs as low as possible but inevitably some of the costs previously borne by government will end up being borne by patients.&8221; Ireland was one of the first EU countries to take tough economic action with wage and health benefit cuts. Greece needs to dramatically cut government spending and the Spanish government, having already cut government spending and raised taxes, has promised even more austerity. Health spending by government is not immune to these cuts, and people will be forced to rely on their own resources when they have less to spend. European health tourism may benefit in the long term, but in the short term people are less likely to spend on health at home or abroad.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196129Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:58:36 GMT20100420015836Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:56:44 GMT20100420015644Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:58:36 GMT20100420015836Recognizing that medical tourism is here to stay, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) has produced consumer guidance. It urges American patients to ask the right questions when considering traveling internationally for surgery Dr.Amrik Singh at the University of California Davis Health System advises, &8220;Patients who have decided to go abroad must be vigilant in considering all the variables of their medical care abroad. They must carefully consider their preoperative and postoperative treatment. They must be comfortable with the physicians and facility administering the procedure, as well as feel secure in the urgent hospital care available if complications occur. Patients must ask tough questions, check accreditations and success rates and work closely with their health care provider at home.&8221; Professor Joseph Antognini of the University of California Davis Health System adds, &8220;Patients should know and research the potential risks of traveling abroad for medical treatment. These risks include exposure to infectious diseases prevalent in the host country, possible substandard quality of care at certain facilities and travel-related health complications.&8221; The ASA offers the following checklist - &8226; Have I involved my local doctor in my decision-making? o You should work with your local medical provider when preparing for the procedure, as he/she will likely play an important role in both your preoperative and postoperative care. &8226; Are the physicians who will be performing the procedure licensed specifically for the procedure, and is the hospital accredited by a reputable organization? o Find out what professional memberships, training and qualifications the physicians Choosing an accredited facility ensures the hospital proved it met certain standards of care intended to keep patients safe. You should also research mortality rates, infection rates and other performance measurements. &8226; What is the pain culture of the country? o Different cultures have different views on what are acceptable and unacceptable levels of pain. Find out specifically whether the anesthesiologists will take into account your wishes, providing it is safe to do so. Make sure the anesthesiologist will provide pain evaluations before and after surgery. &8226; Is the facility performing my procedure at the same facility that would care for me if I needed extended care as a result of complications? o If not, where would I stay, and what is my comfort level with that facility? Understand the potential complications associated with the procedure, and be prepared for an unexpected hospital stay. &8226; What access will I have to preoperative and postoperative medications with the physician performing the procedure? Are the medications safe? o Have a list of existing medications you are taking and find out which ones you will be given before, during and after the procedure. It is also important to find out what the procedures are in order to gain access to those medications you will need before and after the procedure, as well as where they are made. &8226; Have I considered working with a medical tourism company? o Medical tourism service providers can guide you through the process by doing everything from transferring your medical records to coordinating your travel logistics. It is critical that you research them carefully because, as is the case with hospitals, they can vary in quality of service. &8226; Have I spoken with patients who have had similar surgeries conducted at the hospital chosen for my procedure? o Ask to talk to other patients who have had similar surgeries conducted at that hospital. In addition to asking if the surgery was a success, ask about the care received before and after surgery, and what experiences they had accessing medications. &8226; Who will be traveling with me for this procedure? o A companion can play a significant role in the overall outcome and experience associated with having a medical procedure abroad. If possible, identify a family member or friend who can accompany you. In addition to ensuring that you are receiving the best care possible, they can also play a motivational role, which can make the experience more comfortable and decrease recovery times. Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with 44,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196128Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:56:43 GMT20100420015643Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:54:55 GMT20100420015455Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:56:43 GMT20100420015643Following on last year&8217;s survey of American health customers, the Deloitte 2010 Survey of Global Health Care Consumers from the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions looks at similarities and differences in health care behaviors, attitudes and unmet needs among consumers in the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The US report is the one from last year. There is one new global report and five new reports, one for each of the other countries. Paul Keckley of the Center for Health Solutions comments, &8220;We found that consumers across Europe, in Canada and United States shared common ground in assessing their health care. Many don't really understand how their systems of care work.&8221; Deloitte researchers contacted 1,000 consumers each in Germany, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom, and 2,300 people in Canada. In the global report, one conclusion is that proximity and reputation are the most important factors in choosing hospitals. The Switzerland report is not yet available. The Canada report says-&8226; 2% have traveled outside Canada for health care in the last two years.&8226; 23% would travel outside Canada for any treatment if they had to pay 100% of expenses.&8226; 17% would travel outside Canada for elective treatment if they had to pay 100% of expenses.&8226; 23% would travel outside Canada for necessary treatment if they had to pay 100% of expenses. The German report says-&8226; 1% have traveled outside Germany for health care in the last two years.&8226; 10% would travel outside Germany to have a necessary medical or surgical procedure if the health insurance provider paid the cost of standard treatment.&8226; 3% would travel outside Germany for necessary treatment if they had to pay 100% of out of pocket expenses.&8226; 89% are fully insured with a health fund and 14% have private health insurance. The France report says-&8226; 2 % have traveled outside France to consult a physician, take a test or receive treatment in the last two years.&8226; 17% would travel outside France for treatment if the public health insurance provider paid the cost.&8226; There is no figure for the % if private health insurance paid for treatment.&8226; 10% would travel outside France for necessary treatment if they had to pay 100% of out of pocket expenses.&8226; 86% have top-up private health insurance as well as public health insurance. The UK report says- &8226; 3 % have traveled outside the UK for healthcare in the last two years.&8226; 24% would travel outside the UK for treatment if the NHS paid the cost.&8226; There is no figure for the percentage if private health insurance paid for treatment.&8226; There is no figure for the percentage that would travel outside the UK for necessary treatment if they had to pay 100% of out of pocket expenses.&8226; 35% have private health insurance as well as public health insurance. (This figure does cast some doubt on the accuracy of the sample. The true figure is around 13%.) For European countries, the main reason that people travel from the UK, France and Germany is for dental treatment. Most of those who travel for dental treatment are happy to repeat the experience. So when 1, 2 or 3 % travel abroad in the last two years, repeat travel means that it is likely to be less than 1, 2 or 3 % a year. Using the same questions and categories for the UK as for France and Germany causes problems, as the NHS in the UK is a public healthcare system; it is not state insurance as in other EU countries. The British do not have to pay for care and seek refunds, as the NHS is free to use. In their global report, Deloitte correctly say that only about one in ten Brits has private health insurance, so suggesting in the UK report that one in three have private insurance seems to have escaped the eagle eye of the report writers. Much more misleading is the suggestion that one in four Brits would want the NHS to pay for care outside the UK. For the British public, they have more chance of winning a major prize on the national lottery, than getting the NHS to pay for treatment overseas! There is a double missed opportunity of not asking those with private health insurance if they would go overseas if the health insurer paid or asking how many people would go overseas if they paid 100% of the costs themselves. Minor quibbles aside, the reports show that there are major differences between Europe and the Americas on medical tourism. It suggests that Europeans may consider medical tourism if someone else pays for it, but their keenness drops dramatically if they have to pay all or some of the costs.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=196125Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:54:52 GMT20100420015452Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:49:44 GMT20100420014944Tue, 20 Apr 2010 13:54:52 GMT20100420015452The planned medical tourism exhibition at London&8217;s Olympia on 17th and 18th April has been postponed following an historic event. For the first time ever, European air traffic has been badly disrupted by volcanic ash spreading from Iceland. It is moving east and airspace over Belgium, Germany and Scandinavia have been closed. Airports in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Ireland, Russia and the Netherlands have all been closed. UK airports have been brought to an almost complete standstill in the biggest shutdown in history. The grounding of nearly all non-emergency flights - which began on Thursday morning - will stay in place until at least 1300 on Saturday, with further delays probable. The air traffic control body National Air Traffic Service (NATS) imposed the restriction because of the danger the ash poses to aircraft Planes cannot fly through it because it contains tiny particles of rock and glass that can wreck jet engines, choke ventilation systems and sandblast windscreens. Ash can cripple jet engines and does not show up on radar. Flying into an ash cloud can stop all four jet engines instantly. Exhibition organizers say,&8220; Destination Health has been postponed due to the closure of UK airports. As 90% of the exhibitors are coming from overseas, we are unable hold the exhibition without their participation. New dates for the exhibition will be announced shortly and all tickets issued will be valid for those dates. We apologise for any inconvenience caused. Tens of thousands of passengers have been stranded in one of the most disruptive events to hit air travel in years.&8221; Eruption of the volcano beneath Iceland's Eyjafjallajokull glacier has resulted in six-mile high clouds of toxic ash rolling toward Northern Europe.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195508Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:06:10 GMT20100416030610Fri, 16 Apr 2010 14:49:46 GMT20100416024946Fri, 16 Apr 2010 15:06:10 GMT20100416030610The Health & Medical Tourism Business Conference Olympia, London Saturday 17th April 2010 Book your free place now for the Destination Health business conference at London&8217;s Olympia this Saturday. The event is a forum for medical tourism professionals to attend seminars, meet, network and hear some of the industry&8217;s leading business experts talk about the opportunities in today&8217;s rapidly growing international medical tourism market. Entrance to the conference is free and seminars will be held on a wide range of subjects including, the future of medical tourism, marketing, the EU Directive on Cross Border Healthcare, Legal issues in medical tourism, how to promote your business online and working with medical tourism facilitators. To book your free place go to www.destinationhealth.co.uk. Speakers at the conference will include: Rob Dickman: Senior Policy Manager Department of Health who will discuss the impact of the ratification on the EU Directive and how it may affect medical tourism. Keith Pollard: Managing Director of Intuition Communication will talk about the future of medical tourism. Intuition Communication publishes a number of leading health information portals which include; Treatment Abroad, Private Healthcare UK, Harley Street Guide and the International Medical Travel Journal. Keith will talk about the future of medical tourism. Philip Archbold: Sales Director, Treatment Abroad will talk about how to effective market your medical tourism company. Zahid Hamid: Chief Executive Euromedical Tours, talking about working with medical tourism facilitators. Laurence Vick: Head of Clinical Negligence Team, Michelmores Solicitors LLP will discuss medical tourism and legal issues. Alison Hope: MD of Visit Poland Ltd will discuss how to raise your clinic&8217;s profile in the UK. Destination Health, www.destinationhealth.co.uk, the medical tourism show running alongside Destination London has attracted more than 60 healthcare providers from overseas who are targeting UK patients and patients from London&8217;s traditional markets such as the Middle East. Confirm your place at www.destinationhealth.co.ukhttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195341Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:19:16 GMT20100415041916Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:17:25 GMT20100415041725Thu, 15 Apr 2010 16:19:16 GMT20100415041916Medical Tourism Training Inc, a Massachusetts based company, delivered its specially created two session training program, &8220;Caring for the Medical Tourist: Training for Hotel and Resort Employees&8221; to more than 250 staff at the Ramada Plaza Herradura, San Jose, Costa Rica. The customer service oriented program addresses the unique demands of international health travelers who are at the crossroads of hospitality and hospitals. &8220;To be a leader in the medical tourism sector, our employees must be ready to deliver top quality customer service that meets the needs of our guests receiving dental and medical care in Costa Rica&8221;, according to Gustavo Araya, President of the hotel. &8220;This training program sensitized our staff to the physical appearances and many of the specific requirements of our medical tourism guests. Our trained staff gives our hotel the competitive edge over other hotels and resorts vying for business in this increasingly dynamic sector&8221;. Medical Tourism Training offers a series of customer service training programs that address the various issues that are crucial to achieving success in the medical tourism sector. &8220;Our research shows that health care providers are losing customers every day because the customer service expectations of international health travelers are not being met. Prompt and polite communications are essential to success in this sector that is relationship driven&8221;, says company President, Elizabeth Ziemba. &8220;Every phone call or email that goes unanswered or employees that react poorly to foreign customers lose business. Our programs train staff, instilling effective, proven skills that can transform relationships with medical tourists&8221;. Created specifically to address the obstacles and opportunities faced by medical tourism businesses and organizations, Medical Tourism Training&8217;s team of experts from the health, travel, hospitality, training and business sectors understand what is needed to succeed in this nascent industry. The company is dedicated to tackling the unique needs of medical tourism organizations by providing specialized programs based on best practices and real-life situations.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195294Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:48:04 GMT20100415124804Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:39:46 GMT20100415123946Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:48:04 GMT20100415124804Cebu&8217;s spa and medical-tourism players are hoping that medical tourists from Canada, where the health system has problems, will consider the island province as it seeks to promote itself as the wellness capital of Asia. The Cebu Health and Wellness Council (CHWC) is visiting Mabuhay Festival in Toronto and set to meet the Asian Canadian Business Association in Vancouver as well as meeting medical practitioners and business organizations. The aim is to get their help in promoting Cebu as a wellness destination. Cebu offers high-class spas, resorts and tourism destinations. The objective is to promote health and wellness tourism, and to a lesser extent, medical tourism. Canada could be a lucrative market as there are many Filipinos living and working there. The Philippines tourism authorities say the country gets 100,000 medical tourists a year. Cebu gets more than 600,000 foreign tourists annually, or around 20 percent of the entire country. A medical tourism facility is planned in Roxas City, Capiz, courtesy of local private investors with several doctors coming from the Philippine General Hospital (PGH).Capiz governor Victor Tanco who expressed optimism over the benefits that the P600-million project will be bringing to Capiznons.Tanco said the facility is similar to that of St. Luke&8217;s Hospital where the patients will not feel that they are inside the hospital but instead experience the feeling of being inside a deluxe hotel. The facility will have a restaurant, sports facilities, and other wellness equipment.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195272Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:12:35 GMT20100415111235Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:10:29 GMT20100415111029Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:12:35 GMT20100415111235Health tourism has been a strong selling point for Thailand, focusing not only on Bangkok but also other areas with a high concentration of foreign tourists, such as Pattaya, Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Samui and Phuket. Zadok Lempert of Medico Management & Travel Services International says, &8220;The good exchange rates between the Thai baht and the US dollar or euro make medical treatment an outstanding value-for-money service for foreign patients. For example, average treatment costs in Singapore are 5-20% higher than in Thailand. Cheaper medical costs mean family members and friends will have more money to accompany the patient. They can find accommodation near the hospital." However, Dr Lempert argues that Thai medical tourism lacks good marketing and promotion as co-operation between hospitals and travel agents is limited,&8221; Travel agents view the 3-6% commission rates offered by hospitals as too low while hospitals are confident that they already have their own markets and need not depend much on medical tourism agents. Only six to eight hospitals in Thailand are serious about medical tourism but the number should increase in the future. Language skills of hospital staff are another obstacle.&8221; Some in Thailand forecast that 1.4 million medical tourists will visit Thailand for treatment this year, up from 1.2 million in 2009. Popular treatments are hip and knee operations, cosmetic surgery and dental services. Other local figures suggest the number of foreign patients in Thai hospitals has grown from 500,000 in 2001 to 1.4 million in 2006. Some websites promoting Thailand argue that it had 750,000 American medical tourists in 2009 and Thailand will have 6 million medical tourists in 2010.There are significant doubts surrounding these claims by those who argue that hospitals counting visits rather than actual patients, and other distorting factors, artificially inflate the figures. Either way, these are not official figures, just widely used estimates. Many countries have two separate figures, one for medical tourism, and one for health and wellness tourism. Including the latter is a nightmare for statisticians: do you count a tourist who goes to a spa-hotel as a medical tourist or a holidaymaker? Thailand has 743 spas, half of which are hotel/destination spas. The health tourism figures include those going to:&8226; Hospitals - conventional medicine, invasive treatments, state-of-the-art technology&8226; Wellness and Spa - complementary medicine, traditional natural preventive medicine, organic additives addressing the mind, body and soul&8226; Destination spas - body and mind treatment backed with medical knowledge and hydrotherapy tubs, wet-rooms, steam baths, sauna, therapeutic message, etc. The Tourism Authority of Thailand says that Thailand attracts 14 million visitors a year. The majority are leisure and business travellers. The current country distribution of visitors coming to Thailand with the primary motive of healthcare, according to the Tourism Authority is:&8226; U.A.E - 43.6%&8226; Qatar - 8.9%&8226; Oman - 6.0%&8226; Japan - 5.3%&8226; Myanmar - 5.0%&8226; Bangladesh - 3.6%&8226; U.S.A - 2.5%&8226; U.K - 2.5%&8226; Germany 1.2%&8226; France 1.1%&8226; Australia - 1.0%&8226; Canada - 0.8%&8226; Others 18.5% Thai tourism bodies have recently been heavily promoting the potential in the Middle East, and their own figures suggest Americans and Europeans are increasingly nervous of the continuing political unrest and violence. The latest recommendation from the UK&8217;s Foreign and Commonwealth Office is: &8220;We currently advise against all travel to some specific areas of Thailand and all but essential travel to other specific areas of Thailand. The situation in Thailand remains volatile. British Nationals should exercise extreme caution throughout the country.&8221; The Thai Government invoked the Internal Security Act and implemented additional security measures, but the situation worsened. Thailand declared a state of emergency in the capital, Bangkok, after protesters stormed the grounds of parliament, forcing government ministers to flee by helicopter. Agencies sending patients to Thailand need to check what is happening daily.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195271Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:10:16 GMT20100415111016Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:07:09 GMT20100415110709Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:10:16 GMT20100415111016American citizens living full time outside the USA will not be required to purchase health insurance. While health care reform will affect many expatriates, the mandate to obtain insurance coverage, and the penalties imposed upon people who do not insure&8211; will apply primarily to US citizens who live within the 50 states. The law adds a new provision to the tax code, which mandates that every US citizen obtain minimum essential coverage, or be fined. The complex legislation has some specific exclusions. In the new Section 5000A (f)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code, expatriates shall be treated as having minimum essential coverage. So if you are an American expat, it doesn't matter whether you actually have health insurance or not. The law says you do. But of course, life is never that simple. Only full-time expatriates are excluded. To avoid the insurance coverage mandate, an expat must qualify for the IRS' foreign earned income exclusion that says that expats do not have to pay federal income taxes on up to a set amount of overseas income. The IRS has tight rules for who qualifies: an expatriate must establish a tax home in the new country and must either be a bona fide resident of the adopted country for an entire tax year or spend a minimum of 330 days per 12-month period outside of the United States. The actual tax limit will vary in every tax year and the limit is most likely to go up, but could come down. This year&8217;s limit is around $91000, so as it stands any American employee earning more than that overseas could be required to buy US health care. If the person runs a business, it gets much more complex and there could be various tax and insurance requirements on the business. What is of particular uncertainty is that as the plan to tax companies offering high value health insurance plans has already been amended since the original healthcare reform bill, lawyers and tax specialists are unclear as to whether it does or does not apply to employees and subsidiaries overseas. As some of the new rules do not apply until 2014 and some until 2015, companies employing American expatriates have time to take legal and tax advice. It is a foolish company that does not have extensive international health insurance that will include many types of treatment including preventative, dental and check up care. But unless an agreement can be made on ensuring that any long spells of medical treatment and recuperation back home in the USA, will not count as days spent in the county for tax purposes, than employers and insurers will have to devise alternatives to repatriating injured, sick or recuperating American expats back home to the USA. For residents of the United States' Asian territories -in order to avoid the health insurance requirements, residents of Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands (as well as Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands) need reside in those territories for only 183 days per tax year while having no other tax home.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195267Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:06:11 GMT20100415110611Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:00:55 GMT20100415110055Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:06:11 GMT20100415110611The largest German health insurance fund Techniker Krankenkasse (TK) is a pioneer in enabling its members to seek treatment abroad. A 2008 survey found that around 1% of its members had care abroad in 2007, of which 7% went for scheduled healthcare, rather than for acute and emergency care while travelling. The insurer multiplied its sample to suggest that 272,000 booked ahead for care. This figure excludes spa visits and dental care not claimed back from insurers. A survey of those who had treatment abroad in 2009 suggests that 40% planned to do so, and of these 90% went for dentistry or spa treatment. For as spas and dentistry, the German customer has to pay a high proportion of the cost out of pocket. For those getting dental treatment abroad, the insurer pays out the same amount, so the balance paid by the customer when the cost is lower, is much less. As the overall cost of treatment is much lower, their own share of the costs will be much lower. Grossing up a small survey is statistically hazardous, so the insurer merely suggests that 1% of the TK&8217;s 7.2m customers, or 72,000, had treatment abroad, but only 30,000 went for planned treatment. Multiplying this to the total population is dangerous, as TK tends to insure technicians who are generally wealthier, but with a population of 82million, a third of a million Germans had planned treatment abroad. Before hospitals and agencies rush to seek deals with TK and other German health funds, or their customers, it is worth pointing out that no insurer shows any inclination of allowing treatment outside the EU, and the customer can only get treatment within the EU in a facility within TK&8217;s network. TK and the customer also share the costs of treatment at an accredited health spa, including room and board as well as travel to and from the health spa. TK members can choose a health resort outside Germany, but only one in TK&8217;s network of 26 partners in Italy, Austria, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary that TK pay on a direct basis. All facilities are inspected on site by TK for their compliance with quality standards. The health insurance reform of 2007 requires everyone living in Germany to be insured for at least hospital and outpatient medical treatment. 85% of the 70 million population are mandatory or voluntary members of one of the statutory health insurance schemes while the others have private health insurance. And since 2009, everyone in every health fund gets charged the same premium. TK also pays for certain costs of benefits when received in an EEA country, but only if the treatment would have been paid for in Germany e.g. no cosmetic surgery or cosmetic dentistry. And for planned treatment abroad, to get reimbursement after treatment and after they have paid the hospital/clinic themselves; the customer has to supply detailed bills/medical prescriptions. TK reimburses those costs that would have resulted from that treatment in Germany, limited to the amount of the bill, minus the additional contribution/co-payments stipulated by German law, and with other deductions. TK does not pay for travel or accommodation costs for non-emergency treatment. TK and fellow insurer AOK also have a small network of 70 private hospitals and clinics in Austria, Belgium, Italy and The Netherlands, and others in the process of joining, where the insurer pays the bills on a direct billing basis. A key requirement to being in the Europa Service network is that the hospital must have German speaking medical and non-medical staff. The network was set up in 2004 just for AOK Rheinland/Hamburg, and in 2009, the AOKs of Berlin, Brandenburg, Sachsen-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Westphalia-Lippe joined this EuropaService. AOK has contracts with clinics on the North Sea coast of Belgium and the Netherlands and in Austria to guarantee good medical care, simple procedures and expert service to customers in additional EU member states. It also collaborates with partners in Austria, the Czech Republic and Italy, and is developing partnerships in Poland, Spain and Turkey.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195265Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:00:55 GMT20100415110055Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:55:54 GMT20100415105554Thu, 15 Apr 2010 11:00:55 GMT20100415110055Healthcare will soon become more patient-friendly and tailored in an attempt to encourage more people to take responsibility for managing their health and as new tools, technology and health information give consumers power to take charge, according to the latest in the HealthCast series of reports on health industry trends from the Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The trend will be reflected in significant healthcare business model changes, regulatory health reforms and realignment of financial incentives over the next five years. In response to the global recession and pressure to reduce rising national health costs associated with chronic diseases, government and health leaders recognize that individuals must play a bigger role in managing their health and overall health spending. &8226; 86 % believe the prevailing attitude in their country is that government will continue to be responsible for basic healthcare.&8226; The consensus is that individuals have the greatest influence over their own health and outcomes.&8226; 97 % agree that patients should have some responsibility for managing their chronic conditions such as obesity, asthma, diabetes and heart disease.&8226; Patients&8217; lack of willpower is the biggest barrier to individuals actively managing their health.&8226; 74 % believe that unhealthy behaviour will become increasingly unacceptable in their country.&8226; 76% agree that lack of knowledge and access to health information keeps individuals from managing their health. &8226; 74% believe that patients do not understand the health information and choices available to them. &8226; 84 % agree that compensation to hospitals, physicians and other providers should be based on quality health outcomes.&8226; 74 % expect that health funding and financing in their countries will be redistributed from treating sickness in acute care settings to keeping people well and outside of hospitals, nursing homes and doctors&8217; offices.&8226; 49 % expect medical tourism to increase by 2015, as health systems compete for consumers by offering personalised care, access to medical innovation and the greatest value for consumers. Current health systems are difficult for consumers to understand or influence. These systems typically are based on an acute care model focused on the treatment of illness after a patient becomes sick or injured, with care usually taking place in a hospital or physician&8217;s office. This model is heavily dependent on hospital infrastructure and the availability of an appropriate medical workforce. These factors lead to inefficiencies, waste in health spending, poor outcomes, long wait times and patient dissatisfaction. PwC says health leaders can work together to achieve solutions for customised diagnosis, care and cure by:&8226; Developing incentives that encourage partnership.&8226; Working on regulatory reforms that reward competition and innovation.&8226; Planning for redistribution of funding from sickness to wellness.&8226; Providing individuals with better information to understand their options and share in decision-making with their providers. David Levy of PwC says, &8220;There is growing recognition that if the patient is left out of the equation, it is impossible to adequately manage care, consumption and spending. Transforming the internal focus of the health system will mean re-engineering virtually all components of the health infrastructure &8211; communication systems, doctor-patient roles and responsibilities, and perhaps even the most challenging aspect of care, habits and traditions.&8221; PwC surveyed 590 leaders of health plans, providers, government, employers, physician groups and pharmaceutical/life science firms in 20 countries and conducted more than 200 in-depth interviews in 25 countries with thought leaders and executives representing government, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, insurance companies, clinicians, academics and the business community. 3,500 consumers in seven countries were researched to identify preferences and attitudes about the health system.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195262Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:55:54 GMT20100415105554Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:41:51 GMT20100415104151Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:55:54 GMT20100415105554The European Union (EU) has been exploring how best to legally protect and educate their citizens on cross-border healthcare. After extensive external surveys and analysis, they drafted a directive in 2008, outlining proposals for cross-border healthcare. This draft directive aims to ensure a clear and transparent framework with the goal of safe, high quality, and efficient medical care for Europeans travelling within the 27 countries in the EU. There are social and political issues surrounding the implementation of the Directive, including the right of the EU to intervene in health matters, the dangers of enhanced patient mobility, and the additional cost to the public health system. Some of the proposals in the directive including a legal framework for the reimbursement of medical treatment when it takes place outside of the EU are not universally popular. To become policy, the proposed directive on patients&8217; rights in cross-border healthcare must be approved by the EU's legislative bodies - the Council of Europe (the 27 health ministers) and the European Parliament. A series of rulings by the European Court of Justice, beginning in 1998, found that healthcare could be sought in any member state, with patients entitled to have their costs covered by their own health systems. The proposals would allow citizens to seek treatment anywhere in the EU and claim reimbursement in their home countries under certain circumstances. Patients can seek non-hospital care, such as dental treatment and medical consultations, without prior authorisation. However, prior authorisation is required for in-patient procedures, such as surgery. Organ transplantation and long-term care are not in the directive. For anyone covered by a national social security scheme, if planned surgery is the reason for travel to another European country, the law already says that these costs can be met if they obtain prior authorisation. The dispute is about which country pays for what and about the rules for pre-authorisation. Although very few state-funded Europeans travel outside their country borders for treatment, and most pay out of their own pockets with a small number paid for by their private insurance company, often forgotten are the millions of EU citizens who work in or retire to a different country and wish to use the health care system of the country where they are living. Although the vast majority of patients receive healthcare in their own country, sometimes the care is best provided abroad. This can be the case for example for highly specialised care or in border areas where the nearest appropriate facility is abroad. A new generation of Europeans, accustomed to crossing borders with ease and able to purchase goods and services from any part of the European Union, are proving less willing to accept constraints on where their healthcare may be obtained. This is often due to perceived advantages relating to quality or favourable cost, the availability of different treatments or where patients have close cultural, family or linguistic links in another country. Rules for receiving cross-border healthcare and for reimbursement of costs are now not always completely clear or easy to understand. That is why the EU has developed the proposal for a legal instrument that will provide more clarity about possibilities to seek healthcare in another EU country. The proposal will also make clear who is responsible for quality and safety of care in cross-border settings. Hopes that the directive would be agreed in 2009 were dashed - the directive was delayed and nine countries (including Spain and Hungary) voted against the draft directive in December 2009. The debate over this directive continues, and only time will tell if the issue will be resolved by the summer. But as Europeans continue to seek healthcare in other EU countries, the EU must continue to assess how responsible they are for cross-border healthcare and what measures they will take to protect EU citizens. Opinions differ, but the consensus seems to be that 2011 is more likely a start date now than 2010http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=195259Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:41:50 GMT20100415104150Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:30:20 GMT20100415103020Thu, 15 Apr 2010 10:41:50 GMT20100415104150The Mediterranean island of Malta has launched a new initiative to coordinate the way in which the island is promoted to the world. Incorporating public and private organisations across the country, Malta is seeking to alter its position as it seeks future inward investment, tourism revenue and international business talent. 18 leading business, financial and tourism organizations back the initiative, &8220;Creating the Malta Story&8221;. It aims to create a compelling identity based on Malta&8217;s unique characteristics. London based consultants, The Communication Group, were appointed to undertake the initiative and have spent several months researching and evaluating the Malta story including interviews with Malta&8217;s business, finance and tourism chiefs. Initiative leader Michael Refalo says, &8220;A unified, authentic identity for Malta will help us to stand out in an increasingly competitive market. The Malta Story capitalizes on our rich and diverse 7000 year history, passionate, well educated people, internationally recognised centres of excellence and its position at the most southerly point of Europe. With this initiative, we are securing Malta&8217;s place as a destination where people want to live, work, and invest. All participants are in agreement that Malta needs a collective message to promote itself in the future, to complement the government of Malta&8217;s vision for 2015 and further develop Malta&8217;s competitive position in the world.&8221; Texas based consultancy firm Angelou Economics has recommended that Malta should target seven industry sectors as it charts its course towards Vision 2015 and Beyond. To identify economic development opportunities towards higher value economic growth, job creation and wealth creation. Tourism is one of the seven industry sectors, as is life sciences. Tourism includes educational, health, and eco-tourism, short duration travel, high end tourism and arts and culture. Life sciences includes rehabilitative care and high-end health services. The seven industry sectors are the same as laid down in the government&8217;s original Vision 2015 in 2007. The country is suffering badly from unemployment and recession. In health, Malta&8217;s private hospitals will serve as the basis for healthcare tourism. Malta has undertaken various national promotions on health tourism, but has yet to make significant progress in the market. Plans and initiatives have to be backed by money and resources from the state. So far, Malta has outlined what it wants to focus on, but has provided little information about what it actually plans to do and how it intends to fund those plans.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=194017Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:38:23 GMT20100408113823Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:36:36 GMT20100408113636Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:38:23 GMT20100408113823Turkey could earn $8 billion from health tourism annually starting from 2015 provided the government introduces tax incentives for the sector, a report by the Foreign Economic Relations Board (DE&304;K) has said. The government has not yet made any response. DE&304;K&8217;s health tourism report says the sector needs a value-added tax incentive for a sustainable rejuvenation in the years to come. It argues that Turkey is among the few countries that offer vast opportunities in health tourism, and could attract one million patients a year if the necessary infrastructure is established. The introduction of a tax refund on health tourism services would boost this promising industry, and would ensure sustainable growth in the long-term, injecting new life into the sector. DE&304;K argues that Turkey, India, Israel and Singapore will be the global health tourism market leaders by offering affordable prices in health care services. Turkey currently attracts 30,000 to 40,000 international patients. According to the report, India, Turkey, Thailand, Singapore and Taiwan lead the current global health tourism industry, based on price comparisons rather than numbers of medical tourists. The report suggests that a unit must be formed within the Ministry of Health to promote health tourism. According to the Turkish Health Tourism Organization (TUHETO), of the 27 million tourists who visited Turkey in 2009, some 871,000 where nationals of Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Ibrahim Artukarslan of TUHETO hopes health tourism in the future will attract as many tourists as normal tourism attracts to Turkey,&8221; Our message is that Turkey is not only about sun, sea and sand, but it is also a health destination, which has the facilities to receive many more patients from overseas.&8221; At present the share of health tourism of all arrivals to Turkey is small. However, there are numerous travel agencies in the United States, Germany and Central Asia that market health tours to Turkey, including laser eye operations and IVF treatment. TUHETO held a workshop in Almaty, Kazakhstan, and plans to organize workshops in several other locations overseas, including Brussels, Frankfurt, Dubai, Azerbaijan, Russia, Croatia, Ukraine and Libya. TUHETO was founded in 2009 and has some 60 members, including private hospitals, thermal resorts and spa hotels as well as four and five star hotel chains. There is a revival in health tourism activities in Turkey&8217;s southeastern cities, according to Dr. Azmi of the Universal Hospitals Group. Wealthy Middle Easterners, who might face trouble getting visas for Western countries, are choosing Turkey as a health care services destination, he says. For health care tourism, Turkey has all the appropriate facilities. Antalya, Ankara and Istanbul have many health care tourism attractions and destinations. Afyonkarahisar city also has many thermal springs. DEIK argues that the factors that make Turkey attractive in terms of health care tourism are:&8226; Large-scale private sector investment in health care. &8226; Rapid increase in number and variety of hospitals, medical centres, clinics and thermal spas. &8226; Trained qualified medical staff. &8226; The latest technology.&8226; Substantial price advantage. It also lists factors that restrict growth:&8226; Legal regulations prevent the use of foreign doctors in Turkey. &8226; International accreditation is essential.&8226; Professionals and auxiliary staff need to speak foreign languages.&8226; There is a need for more hospital beds.&8226; Overseas Middle Eastern investors need incentives to develop thermal tourism.&8226; There should be organized overseas marketing, with hospitals working together.&8226; Greeks find it very difficult to get visas to go to Turkeyhttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=194016Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:36:35 GMT20100408113635Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:28:25 GMT20100408112825Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:36:35 GMT20100408113635The Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) of Jordan&8217;s comprehensive accreditation programme has been granted accreditation by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). HCAC has become the third health care accreditation organization in the world to gain all three international accreditations set by ISQua. The only other two countries that have received this prestigious international recognition are Australia and Netherlands. ISQua, the world's only accrediting agency for health care accreditation bodies, acknowledged HCAC's accreditation program as a formally benchmarked, internationally recognized accreditation body, ranking among the world's top-tier health care accreditation bodies. ISQua launched its International Accreditation Programme (IAP) in 1999. It is the only international programme that accredits the accreditors. The ISQua international accreditation standards are intended to verify that the accrediting organization is able to measure the quality of its services and performance against internationally recognized standards. The ISQua accreditation process involved self-assessment by HCAC, as well as a thorough review by the ISQua's expert surveyors, who themselves have extensive experience in the health care accreditation field as well as meetings with HCAC accredited hospitals and the HCAC certified surveyors. HCAC staff spent a year preparing the detailed self-assessment report required for submission prior to the arrival of the survey team. In January ISQua surveyors from Australia, Canada and South Africa conducted an intensive on-site survey at HCAC, evaluating every department and its function within the organization based on HCAC's accreditation programme and the HCAC mission. May Abu Hamdia of HCAC explains,&8221; Obtaining ISQua accreditation is a lengthy, but worthwhile process, and we are proud of everyone in our organization, who worked diligently to fulfill the complex requirements set by ISQua."Triona Fortune of ISQua adds, "Three accreditation awards for such a young organization is an incredible achievement." Said Darwazah of HCAC stated that this international accreditation signaled a new era, "ISQua's international accreditation is recognized as the highest standard of achievement for health care accreditation bodies worldwide, and accredited agencies such as HCAC are committed to quality and continuous improvement through rigorous and comprehensive peer review. International accreditation by ISQua is a symbol to our stakeholders and clients that HCAC has committed to providing high-quality services. It sends signals of confidence to the community it serves and increases an organization's competitive edge in the marketplace."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=194014Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:27:59 GMT20100408112759Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:23:35 GMT20100408112335Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:27:59 GMT20100408112759The number of people in Europe looking to receive dental health care outside their own country has grown significantly in the last two years and the global economic crisis has only strengthened this tendency. The difference between dental care prices in the UK and Eastern European countries is as much as 70 per cent. A recent conference on dental tourism in Bulgaria aimed to popularize the experience and good practice of dental tourism in Europe both among Bulgarian dentists and among Bulgarian tourism organisations. There are 8000 dentists and 3000 travel agents in the country. Ventsislav Stoev, chairman of the Bulgarian association for health tourism said, "Bulgaria can become the Mecca of dental tourism, if we manage to develop attractive holiday packages with included dental services. Latest statistical data show that the prices of these services in Bulgaria are seven times lower than in England." Some tour operators in the coastal city of Varna offer one week or fortnight packages that included premium-class dental services. Travel agencies in Bulgaria have joined forces with the dental clinics to attract more tourists to the crisis-hit country. Romanian development and tourism minister Elena Udrea says she will grant support and campaign for the development of the country&8217;s health tourism by extending easy terms to access European grants. At a meeting with local travel agents of the Dornele region, the agents raised the problem of co-financing for European projects, indicating that bank interest rates are high and the ministry should find solutions to allow for special loans to health tourism on easy terms. Udrea toured the Vatra Dornei spa complex and said she was pleasantly surprised by the equipment and facilities of the resort that meet the existing European health tourism standards. Vatra Dornei is a famous spa for all ages, recommended for healthy people who want to fortify their bodies through mountain climbing or winter sports, and those who want to repose in a tonic bio-climate that has a soothing influence on the nervous system. In the Balkans, Turkey has already won a position as a destination for medical, spa and wellness tourism. Other Balkan countries see it as a role model to emulate and help counter local economic problems. Bulgaria and Romania have taken steps in the last few years to attract tourists with offers for affordable quality dental care. Croatia and Serbia have developed a network of health services that they offer to medical tourists. Bulgaria is already seeing more Greek medical tourists who cannot afford treatment at home due to salary cuts and a collapsing economy.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=194013Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:23:34 GMT20100408112334Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:22:30 GMT20100408112230Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:23:34 GMT20100408112334Moves to combat transplant tourism, in which patients from rich countries pay large sums to have organ transplants in poor ones, are gaining pace, said experts at the Madrid international conference on organ donations and transplants. The European Union is to approve a law to control organ transplants throughout the 27-nation bloc by June. Spanish health minister Trinidad Jimenez said,&8221; The aim is to save 20,000 lives a year and encourage cooperation between European countries.&8221; The EU directive could be approved by the European Parliament as early as May. The directive will clearly establish the free and voluntary nature of organ donation, a principle on which there is unanimity throughout Europe. The measure also aims to fight organ trafficking and transplant tourism. The aim of the European Directive on the quality and safety of human organs intended for transplant, is to double the number of donations and to ensure that all transplants carried out in the EU are done to the same quality and safety standards. An Action Plan has also been drawn up in addition to the directive, which sets out 10 actions to be carried out between 2009 and 2015, including the exchange of information and good practices between countries. The World Health Organisation and the European Union have led the way in tackling the problem. Spanish health minister Trinidad Jimenez said, "Stopping the illegal trafficking of organs and ending transplant tourism is an objective shared by all countries. The European Union has a harmonised model in which no one puts a price on an organ, and the WHO is making a great effort to spread this model." Rafael Matesanz, the head of the Spain's national transplant organisation, said efforts to curb transplant tourism began in 2005 with the very decisive action of the World Health Organisation and the international Transplantation Society to establish laws in the countries where it does not exist. Spain has included the illegal trading of organs as a crime in the current reform of its Criminal Code. Dr Luc Noel, a coordinator of the WTO on the subject, said a common front was now emerging in the battle against the practice. Laws against the trafficking of organs had been adopted in five countries considered among the worst offenders: China, the Philippines, Pakistan, Egypt and Colombia. In all these countries, many poor people sell their livers or kidneys to patients in rich countries in need of them. Although organ transplant tourism continued in China, legislation passed there in 2007 had already led to the arrest of a gang of traffickers. China's deputy health minister Dr Huang Jiefu attended the Madrid conference to emphasise his country's efforts in this regard, "Since the beginning of this century, organ transplantation has become a booming health industry in a country where over 90 per cent of the organs still come from executed prisoners. The trading of human organs emerged in China in an under-regulated environment, forming a tremendous profit chain that is against the principles of equality and the goal of building harmonious society in China." The Spanish newspaper El Pais recently reported the case of a Spaniard, Oscar Garay, who paid &8364;135,000 ($198,000) to receive a new liver in a hospital in the Chinese city of Tianjin in 2008.Huang Jiefu admitted that since the 2007 law, "We still have some hospitals trading with illegal organ agencies and selling organs to foreigners for profit.But seven hospitals have had their licences withdrawn for carrying out transplants.&8221; The head of the Transplantation Society, Professor Jeremy Chapman, said, "China is working very hard to stop the trade" in organs. But such work must go hand in hand with efforts in the countries of origin of the tourists. To stop the trade you must stop the need."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=194012Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:22:28 GMT20100408112228Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:20:04 GMT20100408112004Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:22:28 GMT20100408112228India&8217;s leading hospital chains Fortis, Apollo and Max Healthcare have each agreed health deals with American companies. All three companies decline to reveal the numbers or identities of the partners, citing confidentiality agreements. However, this does not necessarily mean that more Americans will be travelling to India from the USA for low cost surgery. The deals may well relate to the treatment of American expatriate workers who are based in India or other nearby countries, where India is an appropriate choice of healthcare provider for the expatriate American. It raises the question of how any country defines a medical tourist. India is not alone in counting heads by nationality and claiming X number of medical tourists from Y. An American medical tourist does not have to come from the USA. Thousands of Americans work and live outside the USA. India is not alone in being faced with the question of how you classify medical tourists. For example, do you count an American working in say Pakistan who comes to India for treatment, as an American medical tourist or a Pakistan one? Do you count an American living in India as a medical tourist if they have elective treatment while in India? The argument may sound pedantic, but is crucial to the debate as to whether or not US businesses will in future send people overseas for treatment, or only consider non US treatment for Americans who are already expatriates. The American tax definition of an expatriate is much tougher than most countries, as the main qualification is that they have to spend a minimum of 330 days a year outside the USA. Someone who is a tax expatriate will not have to buy insurance under US healthcare reform. The rules can also mean that if an expatriate has already been home during the year, they could face a tax bill if they have to then return for surgery and recuperation. The need for local care and the complex tax rules, are why US companies with American employees often have a mixture of insurance and deals with hospital groups overseas, and this is completely different from arranging medical tourism for American employees living in the USA. Pervez Ahmed of Max Healthcare says,&8221; India is still at a disadvantage when it comes to receiving patients from the West, largely due to the distance factor. So patients from the US are eying destinations closer to home such as Canada or even South America. Despite the direct deals with corporates, we expect most patients will come from their subsidiaries in Asia and other nearby locations.&8221; According to several Indian newspapers, Fortis says it has already treated 20 patients after entering into the partnerships. Half of its international patients are American, and in total it gets 2,000 international patients from developed countries. Vishal Bali of Fortis explains, &8220; We have been getting 2 to 3 such patients every month for six months now. The corporate healthcare market in the US is the largest contributor to healthcare spending there. If opportunities open up there, then it will significantly contribute to the entire phenomenon of medical tourism.&8221; Apollo says its deals have triggered a near 100% growth in the flow of US patients, that a large percentage of its 4,000 overseas patients, including corporate executives, were Americans; while half of its international patient base comes from developed markets. Indian hospitals say the tie-ups will build their credibility in the developed markets and ensure a bigger penetration in the lucrative US market. The deals may help India compete against other South-East Asian nations such as Singapore and Thailand. Although the tourism ministry still insists that India&8217;s medical tourism market will be worth $2 billion a year by 2012, Vishar Bali of Fortis argues that recession means that the target will not be reached before 2015.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=194011Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:20:02 GMT20100408112002Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:06:28 GMT20100408110628Thu, 08 Apr 2010 11:20:02 GMT20100408112002The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions has teams of people studying US healthcare reform. Deloitte has yet to provide a view on how the reforms will affect medical tourism, but has offered an independent and balanced view of the overall impact of healthcare reform in the USA. Paul Keckley of Deloitte&8217;s Center for Health Solutions comments;&8221; Health reform&8212;HR3590 and HR4872&8212;is now the law of the land. It features expansion of coverage to 32 million currently uninsured, regulatory changes to control premiums and competition for insurance plans, delivery system reforms to coordinate care and reward value instead of volume, and mechanisms to bridge gaps between human services programs and health care especially for underserved populations.&8221; &8220; The impact of insurance reforms combined with new industry taxes will likely increase premiums above the underlying cost of health for most Americans. And the physician fix is not fixed even as economic recovery is slower than hoped. Curve-bending resulting from delivery system reforms&8212;integrated health systems, evidence-based medicine, the medical homes, pay for performance, primary and preventive health&8212;combined with a dose of personal accountability for healthier living and adherence to recommended treatments&8212;are delayed in the bill so we&8217;ll likely not know until after the decade is past. Though promising and logical, unknowns prevail.&8221; &8220; Will quality of care improve? Conceivably the deployment of health care information technology, implementation of comparative effectiveness, transparency of outcomes and satisfaction will increase its likelihood. And the promise of widespread use of electronic health records with personal health records is worth serious pursuit.&8221; &8220; Health reform requires finding middle ground on complex issues for which trade-offs are necessary. It means changes for everyone including regulators, industry leaders, and consumers.&8217; &8220;The events of the past year hopefully will lead us on a path to fundamental improvements in the U.S. health system that improve quality, rein in unsustainable costs, and eliminate disparities in access. The health care industry will thrive because it&8217;s too important to fail.&8221; The 2010-2011 changes most noticeable to consumers include:&8226; Medicaid expansion: States may increase eligibility threshold to 133 percent of the federal poverty level (mandated by 2014)&8226; Tax credits for small businesses: Businesses with 25 or fewer employees and average wages of less than $50,000 can qualify for a tax credit of up to 35 percent of the cost of their premiums&8226; Dependent coverage: Parents are allowed to keep children on their health insurance until age 26 if the child is ineligible for coverage through an employer&8226; High-risk pools: In the next 90 days, individuals with pre-existing conditions that left them uninsurable for the last six months may enroll in a new high-risk insurance program subsidized by the federal government and administered by the states&8226; Risk assessments and preventive health plans for seniors: Effective 2011, Medicare enrollees will be provided a comprehensive risk assessments and personalized prevention plans as part of the program&8226; Insurance industry regulatory changes: Lifetime caps eliminated, rescission of coverage for other than fraud eliminated, mandatory reporting of medical loss ratios, and elimination of pre-existing condition as a basis for coverage for children under two years of age (begins for adults in 2014)http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=192955Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:30:40 GMT20100401113040Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:27:03 GMT20100401112703Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:30:40 GMT20100401113040Indian hospital operator Fortis Healthcare&8217;s purchase of a stake in Singapore-based Parkway Holdings is a clever move as it combines two distinct competitors in medical tourism, the cut-price surgery of India and the more expensive high-tech approach of Singapore. Also the deal means Fortis now owns or has a share in hospitals in many countries. Fortis Healthcare has completed the acquisition of a 23.9 per cent strategic stake in Parkway Holdings from American investment group TPG Capital, for $685.3 million. Parkway, with a network of 16 hospitals and 3400 beds spread over six countries, including India, is one of Asia&8217;s premium healthcare providers. The acquisition of Parkway gives Fortis a springboard for international expansion. This is the company's fourth acquisition after Malar Hospitals, Escorts Heart Institute and Wockhardt Hospitals. Though it is not acquiring a majority stake, being the largest shareholder in Parkway will help Fortis to take management control. ParkwayHealth offers healthcare services through its chain of 16 hospitals in Singapore with 1022 beds, Malaysia (1900 beds), Brunei (20 beds), India (425 beds in a joint venture with Apollo Hospitals), UAE (260 beds) and China (14 beds). The Fortis management believes that the Indian operations will benefit from the skill sets, technology and capability of Parkway in addition to the opportunity of healthcare tourism market in the region. Fortis could exchange patients based on complexity of healthcare needed as well as affordability. The deal makes Fortis a leading player in Asia, with a network of 62 hospitals and 10,000-plus beds, giving them a Pan-Asia platform. Fortis chairman Malvinder Singh is relocating to Singapore, as it plans to use the acquisition of hospital chain Parkway Holdings as its vehicle for global expansion, &8220;Parkway is a reputed brand and its size is three times of Fortis Healthcare. The next phase of our growth will be beyond Asia .Our ambition is to strengthen our brand at a global level. First step in this strategy was to penetrate the Indian market, which we have done through Fortis Healthcare and Fortis Hospitals. The next step is to establish a footprint in Asia that will be done through our acquisition of Parkway. This gives us a strong platform to leverage our partnership to position ourselves for the next phase of growth outside Asia. We are evaluating a bunch of international acquisition opportunities.&8221; Malvinder Singh said, &8220;Singapore is renowned as an international medical hub for high-quality healthcare services, with access to a ready pool of experienced nursing staff, specialist medical practitioners and the latest medical technologies and treatments. Parkway's strong presence in Malaysia with the Pantai Group of Hospitals gives us great confidence. This acquisition will significantly expand our footprint across the region and place us strategically for geographical and clinical leadership in Asia, a big step closer to our vision of establishing a global healthcare delivery network. We are long-term players in the healthcare business and we understand this business. We will support the management of Parkway in achieving their growth objectives and work together to enhance shareholder value.&8221; The deal transforms Fortis to a strong leadership position in Asia. The plan is to use this capability to deepen businesses in the existing market, get into new markets in Asia and then go beyond Asia. This is a well thought out global play, and recognition that domestic health and/or medical tourism is a simplistic notion that is only part of the wider global healthcare opportunity.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=192950Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:26:07 GMT20100401112607Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:19:56 GMT20100401111956Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:26:07 GMT20100401112607Recent comments from within the medical tourism industry celebrating the opportunities opened up by healthcare reform have given the impression that reforms will be almost instant. That is far from the case. Most of the major reforms will not begin until 2014, some will not begin until 2016, and the consensus is that the full impact will not be felt until 2019. There has been much information and misinformation on what happens. US consultancy, Deloitte, has been producing a weekly newsletter on healthcare reform. The timetable below shows edited highlights from a recent newsletter, supplemented by other independent sources adding extra detail: 2010&8226; Catastrophic pools: Establishes temporary national high-risk pool for individuals with pre-existing medical conditions uninsured for at least six months. &8226; All individual and group insurance plans must offer dependent coverage for children through age 26; insurers are prohibited from denying coverage to children because of pre existing health problems. &8226; Insurance companies can no longer put lifetime dollar limits on coverage and cancel policies&8226; Tax credits for small businesses that provide insurance.&8226; New national strategy for health care quality improvement. 2011&8226; Funding for community health centers increased to provide care for many low income and uninsured people. 2012&8226; Hospitals, physicians, and payers encouraged to band together in accountable care organizations. 2013&8226; Exchanges: creates consumer operated and oriented plan (CO-OP) program to operate non-profit, member-run health insurance companies in 50 states and District of Columbia offering a specified set of health insurance plans. 2014&8226; Exchanges must accept and renew individuals and groups on insurance, with tightly controlled premium limits and no refusals.&8226; Increased enrollment for Medicaid to cover low-income people - covers16 million.&8226; Insurers banned from denying coverage to people with pre existing conditions, or charge higher rates to those with poor or chronic health conditions. &8226; Insurers must cover maternity care as they do other medical procedures.&8226; All legal residents must have health insurance, except in cases of financial hardship, or pay a per person fine to the taxman $695 (up to $2,085 per family).&8226; Employers with more than 50 workers and no health insurance get very heavy tax penalty. &8226; Employers with 200 employees to automatically enroll employees into health insurance plans offered by the employer. Employees may opt out of coverage. &8226; Tax credits to small businesses that provide insurance&8212;with 100% credits for businesses that employ 10 or fewer employees.&8226; High-risk pools close.&8226; Government to define minimum health insurance benefits by cover and amount on all health insurance plans offered through health exchanges and commercial plans targeting the individual and small group markets. 2016&8226; Tax fines for having no health insurance increases to $750 per person and increases every future year with inflation.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=192954Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:25:13 GMT20100401112513Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:23:27 GMT20100401112327Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:25:13 GMT20100401112513Two medical tourism groups of business executives and their families from China will go to Taiwan in April and are expected to bring in substantial revenue. Walter Yeh of the Taiwan External Trade Development Council (TAITRA) says that with the average cost for a physical check-up ranging from US$1577 to US$4730) the 64 people from those groups are expected to spend a lot of money during their five- to seven-day visits. The Guangzhou-based Xian Health and Medical Center, a new clinic funded by several Taiwanese businessmen operating in China, organize the medical tour groups. There is a membership fee for joining the centre, and every member is entitled to a six-day trip to Taiwan, including a one-day physical check-up. TAITRA advise that Southern China's Guangdong province enjoys the highest GDP in the country, and it is targeting its capital city Guangzhou with a population of 20 million, to promote medical tourism to Taiwan. With the assistance of the TAITRA, the centre, that already has over 1000 members, reached agreements with 18 medical centres and hospitals in Taiwan last year to organize the visits. As Taiwan has a good reputation for hip replacements and knee and heart surgery, the centre can also help introduce those services to potential Chinese clients. The Zion Health Management Institute in China is building the first top-quality medical centre in the country, while strategically allying with 16 hospitals in Taiwan, including Shin Kong Wu Ho-Su Memorial Hospital, Cathay General Hospital, Changhua Christian Hospital, and Eonway Health Maintenance Center, as well as three hospitals in China, including Zhongshan Hospital. It will offer comprehensive physical checkups, treatment and upgraded services in dentistry, gynecology, psychiatry, Chinese medicine, anti-aging and chiropractic. It is linking with the World Society of Anti-aging Medicine (WOSAAM), an international non-profit organization based in Paris in that promotes anti-aging medicine through research. A stem cell therapy centre built with donations from local business tycoon Terry Gou was inaugurated recently at the National Taiwan University Hospital. It has been named the Tai Cheng Stem Cell Therapy Center in memory of Gou Tai-cheng, the donor's younger brother, who died of leukemia in Beijing in 2007. Gou wants to help others suffering from the same disease. The centre has 14 stem cell transplant wards and is only the first part of a US$472.56 million project financed with donations by Gou, that will include a 249-bed oncology center- as Gou&8217;s wife died from cancer.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=192951Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:23:27 GMT20100401112327Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:21:05 GMT20100401112105Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:23:27 GMT20100401112327Riga is the capital of Latvia, and hoping to attract tourisms that want cosmetic surgery. Cosmetic surgery can be 40 per cent cheaper in the Baltic state than in Western Europe. The authorities see encouraging the industry as a quick way of getting a new image for the city, which has suffered heavily from Latvia&8217;s economic collapse. Nils Usakovs, the mayor of Riga says, &8220;We want more tourists, more British, coming here for cosmetic surgery or for dental services, and the prices will be considerably lower.&8221; The drive for medical tourists is being led by Dr Janis Zarzeckis, one of Latvia&8217;s leading cosmetic surgeons, who says that the move has the extra bonus of keeping doctors and nurses in the country, rather than seeing them follow those who have left to earn more. Wages in Latvia have been dramatically cut and taxes raised as the country struggles to reduce spending and repay its national debt. Cosmetic surgeons are now getting fewer local patients, so badly need foreign ones. Dr Zarzeckis specialises in facelifts, eye surgery and breast implants.; from treating one foreign patient a month five years ago, he now has one a week, one in three from Britain. Whether cut-price cosmetic surgery and dental treatment is enough fot Latvia to compete with established medical tourism destinations,and the host of newcomers and hopefuls, is an open question. There is nothing wrong with the price, or the qualifications and expertise of the health professions. But the U.S. Department of State reports that medical care in Latvia continues to improve, but falls short of Western standards. According to the Department of State, it is not lack of trained medical professionals, but that economic problems mean clinics lack state of the art equipment and facilities. It does say that dental care is good in Riga. Funding from the Riga city authorities has enabled a group of eight medical companies to join together and form Baltic Care that has opened an office for consultations in London, and plans another in Stockholm. Baltic Care is an alliance of leading private healthcare clinics, which will effectively and professionally create individual healthcare programmes in Riga. The alliance consists of top specialists from Latvia and the other Baltic States using state-of-the-art diagnostic and treatment methods that comply with European Union standards. It uses a local travel company and the national airline to offer travel and accommodation packages.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=192949Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:19:50 GMT20100401111950Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:17:44 GMT20100401111744Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:19:50 GMT20100401111950The government of Barbados wants to encourage health and wellness tourism, but with the money coming from the private sector. The government role should be to provide the legal and regulatory framework for expansion and private investment. Establishing a National Health Care Quality Council will help to ensure that growth is from a secure base. This basis, says the Ministry of Health, is among several recommendations made last year to the government by an inter-sectoral task force that examined the development of that segment of tourism on the island. It sees opportunities to target the US and Europe with a range of wellness offers. The target market is seen as &8220; An aging population with increasing demands for cosmetic surgery, spas and retirement communities. There is also growing affluence amongst the younger population, particularly in the US who rate vacations that offer spa facilities, fitness and addiction treatment as highly desirable." The island&8217;s established tourism infrastructure with good transport and hotels is seen as a platform on which a health and wellness tourism market could be built. It has a good climate, low labour costs, reliable communications and transport infrastructure, first class hotel and tourism services, an educated population, and well-trained practitioners in an established health and medical service in both public and private sectors. The task force recommends that the government seeks technical assistance to undertake a study and development plan; draft a Health and Wellness Tourism Development Incentives Act; develop new legislation to address this aspect of tourism; and establish coordinating bodies to manage the six sectors of wellness promotion, complementary and alternative medicine, healthy food alternatives, assisted living, universal access to tourism products and services, and conventional medicine. One recommendation, a wellness council to act as the regulating body for wellness professionals such as Reiki experts, reflexologists and massage therapists- has already been acted on. Barbados wants to create a health and wellness tourism product that is distinct from others in the Caribbean. The establishment of a National Health Care Quality Council is needed as in order to attract health and wellness tourists, high quality standards are paramount and there is a need to ensure that health care standards are at world-class levels. It will be established to be the national co-coordinating agency for quality management in the health sector. The council will provide annual reports on the quality of the sector, set benchmarks by which performance can be measured and establish performance standards and protocols. It will have measurable indicators and evidence-based tools that should be applied in every aspect of the health services, as well as audit the performance of institutions and develop links with reputable international agencies to help with benchmarking, peer review and accreditation. Wellness tourism needs to be expanded within Barbados. Across the island, there are numerous hotels that offer spa packages, but there is a lack of other well-being facilities that package accommodation and treatment together to attract long-stay visitors. Ministry of Healthhttp://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=192948Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:17:38 GMT20100401111738Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:15:37 GMT20100401111537Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:17:38 GMT20100401111738June and July 2010 will see thousands of soccer fans descend on South Africa for the World Cup tournament. Although fans will be from many places, the majority will be from the USA, England, Germany and Australia. At the World Cup there will be no British fans &8211;only those supporting England, as Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland did not qualify. Several South African agencies and clinics optimistically hope that while they are in South Africa fans will also become medical tourists. Packages include cosmetic surgery, spa treatments, plus accommodation while they recover and guided tours. Cape Town based Surgical Bliss has several World Cup packages on offer, breast augmentation, eye lift, tummy tuck and in vitro fertilization. Spa treatments, golf and shopping trips, and tours in and around the city can be added at extra cost. Particularly targeted are England and USA fans. Africare Health, a Sandton company mainly gets custom from African countries including Equatorial Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria and Kenya. The company&8217;s World Cup package includes accommodation and local transport, with a choice of a safari, heritage or golf tour. Johannesburg based, Medi-Sculpt clinic has launched a World Cup face-lift and safari package that includes interaction with lion cubs and giraffes. Another Johannesburg based agency, Serokolo Health Tourism is planning special health packages. Dr Tshepo Maaka of Serokolo Health Tourism says .We made our prime target sub-Saharan Africa, with long-haul destinations a secondary consideration. West Africa has become our biggest market but we are now receiving enquiries from the UK, Asia and Canada, which indicates the need to expand to include the overseas market. The World Cup soccer event may be their primary reason for coming here, but we have so much more to offer on the lighter side of medicine, from basic medical check-ups to spa treatments, eye checks, dental reviews, teeth whitening and so much more.&8221; Football fans traveling to South Africa will be mostly male, under 35 and with two pre-occupations - football and drinking! A few may even act as tourists, but with long distances between the various locations they are unlikely to have the time. Stadiums are spread far apart; the distance between Cape Town and Johannesburg is 880 miles. Much will depend on where, when and how the local police allow fans to travel; this will depend on how peaceful the fans are and whether historic rivalries such as Germany versus England flare up as they have at previous events. Most people who go to watch World Cup soccer support their own country and doing anything that is not football related is hard to plan. Fans will know where their country is playing in the first round, but which city they will be in depends on how far their country progresses in the competition. South Africa is mobilizing an extra 25,000 police for security, and the official police advice is for fans to stay in groups, and not to go anywhere individually. The inclinations and young ages of the fans suggest that few will be interested in cosmetic surgery, fertility treatment or spas. But even if the agencies get very little actual business, it is probably a good advertising and marketing opportunity that raises the country&8217;s profile.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191742Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:40:11 GMT20100329094011Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:08:06 GMT20100325010806Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:40:11 GMT20100329094011President Barack Obama has signed the most sweeping U.S. health policy legislation in five decades into law. Although details are to be finalized, Obama says that local state opposition will not be able to stop it. The Republicans will fight the detail, but have accepted it will be impossible to untangle even if they win future presidential elections. The law will extend health insurance to 32 million Americans who currently have none. It will bar practices including insurance companies refusing coverage or renewal to people with pre-existing medical conditions, expand the Medicaid government health insurance program for the poor, and will require employers and individuals to obtain health coverage. There will be tax rebates for those who obey, heavy tax fines for those who refuse, and help for the poor and low paid. Health reform will offer major changes in the arena of dental care with a lasting effect on the type of dental care that people receive. Millions more will have dental insurance- and this could have an impact on dental tourism. There promises to be a huge expansion of coverage for individuals in need of dental care. The healthcare reform bill looks very promising for people who have long awaited adequate coverage for their dental needs. The passage of President Obama&8217;s health care reform will make a difference in the lives of tens of millions of people. The subsidies will make insurance affordable to millions of families who could not pay the unsubsidized rate. By prohibiting insurers from discriminating against people with serious health conditions, people will no longer have to worry that a serious illness will cause them to lose their job and then their insurance. The effect on medical tourism will not be immediate, as the major measures only take effect in 2014. But overseas governments, promotional bodies, agencies and overseas hospitals whose business model is based on attracting some of the 47 million uninsured Americans, and based on the belief that US healthcare reform would fail just as it has in the last 40 years will need a dramatic rethink. It will certainly not be the end of US outbound medical tourism, but it is worth noting that even the latest scaled down medical tourism forecasts from Deloitte had the very important qualification that these figures assumed healthcare reform would not happen. Using figures produced for the legislation illustrating where the US will be in 2019:&8226; 159 million covered by employer health insurance plans&8226; 44 million on state programs&8226; 25 million covered by individual or small business insurance &8226; 24 million covered in the exchanges&8226; 22 million left uninsured. The uninsured category has gone from the second largest to the smallest, and as the fines by 2019 will be around $800 for each person in the family, the numbers may be far smaller. This uninsured segment will not be a medical tourism target as it includes 8 million illegal immigrants. The rest will mostly be those excluded from cover as they earn too little, or opted out, so have no money for any medical treatment anywhere. Insurance exchanges will be created in which small businesses and individuals without employer-sponsored coverage can shop for coverage. Plans offered on the exchange have to meet minimum benefit requirements. There are already guidelines on the pre-agreed range of insurances on offer, with no mention of allowing overseas treatment. The reforms do not solve the basic problem that health care in the United States is expensive. Suggestions that reform will fail as demand will outstrip available resources are just ridiculous. There will be strict controls on what insurers can exclude and new minimum standards on cover and benefit levels. These in turn will drastically reduce the number of uninsured and underinsured Americans. Initial optimistic reactions from the medical tourism market have been on the basis of the headlines, rather than detailed proposals that are still emerging. There are many views on how reform will affect medical tourism. Some argue it will increase medical tourism, others that it will decrease medical tourism. A few even suggest it will increase the volume of medical tourism from Europe to the USA. Reform will change the ground rules for those targeting Americans, and anyone looking for US business will have to study the reforms in detail and show that they understand the implications. The American insurance industry will become more powerful with an extra 32 million customers by 2019. Anyone hoping to convince insurers that they should pay for medical tourism will have to be armed with detailed figures, quality outcomes, employer and employee incentives, aftercare proposals and answers on how insurers can avoid medical malpractice suits. A simplistic approach based on cost savings overseas will achieve very little.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191951Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:38:02 GMT20100329093802Fri, 26 Mar 2010 12:15:28 GMT20100326121528Mon, 29 Mar 2010 09:38:02 GMT20100329093802Malaysia is keen on promoting medical tourism in Brunei. Ooi Say Chuan of the Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council advises, &8220;In 2008, we had 370,000 foreign medical tourists so this actually speaks a lot of the number of tourists who placed their trust in Malaysian healthcare services. We want to discuss with the Bruneian government the use of Malaysian hospitals as an option. I think it is more than just the price. The patients who come want to feel at home and in Malaysia we are multilingual. Our staff speak Bahasa Malaysia, English, Chinese or Tamil so people in the region are actually quite comfortable staying in Malaysia hospitals. Also, being an Islamic country you can have halal food. All hospitals can accept international patients but the government has taken a stand to promote 35 hospitals whom we feel will be able to meet the demands of international patients well. We want them to have accreditation under the Malaysian standard for quality in health, so when they market to our clients abroad they can be assured that these hospitals are accredited.&8221; The aim is to establish an understanding between the two countries similar to the one that Brunei shares with Singapore. Recently, the Singapore government made an announcement allowing Singaporeans to use their national insurance to pay for healthcare. This allows them to go to Malaysian hospitals that are referred through Singaporean facilities. It is an initiative taken by the Singaporean government. Bruneians who go to Malaysia often seek treatment for cancer, heart bypass and orthopaedic according to hospitals. Pantai Hospitals recorded 100 Bruneian patients seeking treatment in 2009 all its 10 hospitals. TMC Fertility Centre had eight Bruneian patients and is looking to increase the figure Gleneagles Intan Medical Center in Kuala Lumpur is among the 12 Malaysian private healthcare providers to benefit from Singapore's Ministry of Health (MOH) move to allow its citizens to use their compulsory medical savings or MediSave, to pay for private care aboard from March. Previously, Singaporeans, permanent residents and their immediate families could only use the MediSave for emergency hospitalisation. But it can now be used for hospitalisation and day surgeries but not for outpatient treatment. The MediSave scheme will start off with two healthcare providers, Health Management International (HMI) and Parkway Holdings.HMI has set up its local MediSave accredited referral centre at its Balestier Clinic and Health Screening Centre. It will work with its two overseas subsidiaries, Regency Specialist Hospital in Johor Bahru and Mahkota Medical Centre in Malacca. Parkway Holdings has established a MediSave accredited referral centre at East Shore Hospital. It will partner nine hospitals of Pantai Holdings in various Malaysian states, as well as the Gleneagles Intan Medical Center. Gleneagles will tie up with FireFly and Holiday Tours and Travel, to provide further cost savings and coordinated medical travel for Singaporeans seeking treatment at the hospital. Patients interested in making use of the scheme can approach the two healthcare providers direct. Currently, Singaporeans makes up to 10 percent of health tourism for all hospitals in Malaysia.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191739Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:16:20 GMT20100326041620Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:04:46 GMT20100325010446Fri, 26 Mar 2010 16:16:20 GMT20100326041620Two hospitals, Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) and the Psychiatric Hospital, and all twenty-two primary healthcare clinics owned by the Bahrain government have received an Accreditation Canada international certification. The accreditation exercise is part of implementing and fulfilling Bahrain's Vision 2030. Vision 2030, the official plan for Bahrain&8217;s economic future, demands that the government invests increasing amounts in healthcare to bring the kingdom up to international standards. Bahrain wants to become a regional centre for medical tourism. The country is looking to use its reputation as a Gulf leader in medical education to bolster its credentials as a medical tourism destination. The use of international accreditors is seen as part of the process of improving quality. The Ithmaar Development Company is progressing a health and real estate development on reclaimed land dedicated exclusively to promoting and enhancing the kingdom's health and well-being. The manmade island is Dilmunia at Bahrain. Reclamation work on the $1.6 billion island was completed last May, and a new island was added to the shores of Bahrain. IDC&8217;s Mohamed Khalil Alsayed explains, "Dilmunia at Bahrain is a development positioning itself as a global leader in the promotion and enhancement of health and well-being. It aims to enrich Bahrain's tourism offerings. Dilmunia will be the destination for harried citizens of the Middle East and the world, in search of an environment that strives to prevent illness and only a few minutes away from Bahrain International Airport. It will promote healthy and active living through a combination of beautifully landscaped serene surroundings, health-oriented leisure amenities and world-class conventional, aesthetic and alternative medical facilities. Inspired by ancient Dilmun, widely believed to be the Garden of Eden, the Dilmunia at Bahrain Island will be a lush green oasis. The island will include three five-star hotels offering alternative therapeutic services and a four-star hotel, in addition to the island's anchor theme; the central health and wellness cluster in Dilmunia Health District. It will be a mix of residential, hospitality, leisure and commercial developments, surrounding a core of comprehensive health and wellness amenities, which will together offer an alternative balanced perspective towards life and living. IDC has signed agreements with a prestigious international hotel chain and is now finalising negotiations with a partner on the Dilmunia Health District that will include specialist clinics, hospitals, spas and other wellness facilities including treatment options through alternative medicine, physical therapy, as well as through diagnostic tests, dietary control and conditioning for the body, mind and soul.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191741Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:08:05 GMT20100325010805Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:06:37 GMT20100325010637Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:08:05 GMT20100325010805Despite the world&8217;s financial crisis, which had a severe effect on the international tourism sector, the number of Gulf states tourists selecting Turkey as a destination has increased in 2009 by 16.45%. 27m tourists from around the world visited Turkey during 2009. Out of the entire world, Arab tourists have made the biggest increases, led by Kuwait, and followed in order by United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Turkish tourist authorities are running advertising and promotional campaigns in the Arab world for 2010.These will focus on introducing and marketing Turkey as a health and medical tourism destination. Turkey has a reputation of being one of the countries that has advanced medical services with relatively reasonable rates and the ability to carry out complex medical operations such as open-heart surgery. The Turkish Government has recently offered a number of investment opportunities and facilities to invest in the medical and health tourism sector for both Turkish and foreign investors where they can build health and spas near natural and thermal springs. According to official statistics, over 200 health and spa centers will be built as per this plan. Afyon City has five resorts by mineral springs and has been selected as a model city and future capital for mineral springs&8217; tourism. A new government long-term plan from 2010 to 2023, aims to sustain health and medical tourism in order to make best use of the unique natural wealth that the country has. The government wants to attract more Arab tourists, particularly as a health and medical destination. The cultural and geographical closeness to these countries means these tourists prefer to come to a country that appreciates the Islamic culture. Favourite cities are Istanbul, Yalova, Bursa, Bodrum, and Antalya. Turkey is also seeing more outbound health tourism in a special niche sector. With more Turkish parents wanting their child to be born in the USA, tourism companies are starting to offer birth tourism packages to US cities. Many women say giving birth in the USA has benefits including cheaper education and fewer visa worries. Some Americans want to restrict the practice, citing fears of illegal migration.12, 000 Turkish children have been born in the USA since 2003.The numbers are significant enough to draw the attention of tourism companies and inspire them to pursue birth tourism. The Turkish-owned Marmara Hotels group has a new birth tourism package that includes accommodation at their Manhattan hotel. Levent Ba&351; of Gurib Tourism says, &8220;We have been involved in medical tourism since 2002, but we were also receiving so many demands about this issue that we decided to sell birth packages. We first started our research in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago and Orlando and we only contacted Turkish doctors. We are preparing a package that covers everything from the flight and city tours to accommodation for several months and hospital expenses.&8221; The minimum cost is $25,000, which rises to $40,000 if the destination is New York. Many women abroad wish to give birth in the USA, as according to the U.S.&8217;s 14th Amendment, the country grants citizenship to anyone born on its soil. But right-wing politicians want to change the law. Republican Congressman Gary Miller is co-sponsoring a bill that seeks to abolish birthright citizenship for children born in the country to illegal immigrant parents,&8221; They come to this country and have babies. The children are citizens. The children are eligible to go to school. They receive food stamps and social programmes. The American taxpayers are paying for it," While it can be controversial, birth tourism is legal in the U.S. and not just popular in Turkey but also in Asian countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Many South Korean parents-to-be have chosen to give birth in the U.S. for many reasons, ranging from a desire to enroll their children in American schools to enabling them to avoid South Korean military service. The birthright citizenship formerly applied in other countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia but both countries modified their law in the mid-1980s. India maintained a birthright law until 2004, but ended the right to prevent continued illegal immigration from neighbors Pakistan and Bangladesh.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191738Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:04:45 GMT20100325010445Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:03:14 GMT20100325010314Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:04:45 GMT20100325010445In less than six months, an America online health pricing service has grown from a small local pilot to a national system that allows American consumers to compare prices in every state. It is encouraging US domestic medical tourism. The map of locations covered includes hospitals on the borders of Canada and Mexico. It plans to add Canada very soon as Canadian consumers are already using it to compare hospitals across the border. Mexico is likely to be next on the list. PriceDoc, a free transparent health care pricing service, says that US patients have performed over one million searches for medical and dental procedures listed on the website. It empowers health care consumers to negotiate the cash price of quality medical procedures. Both patients and providers are integrating transparent pricing into their health care exchange, as over 2,500 providers from across the country have become subscribers and posted more than 50,000 medical and dental procedures available for cash prices. With more than 47 million Americans without health insurance and an additional 100 million without dental insurance, there is an obvious need for greater access to affordable health care. PriceDoc launched nationally in November 2009, empowers consumers who are uninsured, underinsured or seeking elective procedures to view and reserve prices with qualified providers for cash or credit card payments. More patients are participating in health savings accounts and other flexible spending plans that allow patients to choose which doctor to go to, and how much to pay for their care. In February 2010, PriceDoc received a patent for its online bidding system for health services, rendering it the only online site where patients can make an offer for health care services at their desired price with verified providers. Patrick Bradley of PriceDoc says, &8220;U.S. healthcare consumers have sent a clear message. They want an easy way to access transparent and negotiable pricing for quality affordable health care. Based on our record market growth over the five months since our national launch, it is evident that both patients and providers believe in transparent medical pricing." By listing their services and prices, health care providers gain access to cash-paying patients who optimize their office scheduling, secure fees-for-service and offer cash payments that reduce paperwork and overhead costs. Consumers can identify local providers and review provider experience, credentials and patient referrals, ensuring they receive high-quality health care. Community members can also identify other users with similar health care concerns and ask questions, share experiences and provide support. A powerful option on the website is the name your price feature. If the patient is not able to find a price within their budget, he or she is then able to post the price that they can afford. PriceDoc then searches for a provider that will accept their offered price and notifies the consumer.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191737Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:03:13 GMT20100325010313Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:01:18 GMT20100325010118Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:03:13 GMT20100325010313The Indian Medical Travel Association (IMTA) has welcomed the government of India&8217;s recently announced Tourist Visa-on-Arrival for citizens of five countries - Finland, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand and Singapore, in an effort to promote tourism. This will help some of the foreign patients who now find it convenient to plan a visit to leading Indian hospitals for advanced health check up and medical treatment, and use a normal tourism visa rather than the complicated medical visa system. Pradeep Thukral of IMTA said, &8220;IMTA welcomes the Indian government&8217;s new guidelines on visa on arrival and we have strongly recommended to the government to open up the facility to citizens of a larger number of countries. Most of our member hospitals have reported higher volumes of patient arrivals and also enquiries from potential patients who wish to use the visa on arrival facility.&8221; Medical tourists spend more money and their time of stay is longer than regular tourists. Each visiting medical traveller to India spends an average of US$ 5000, which makes this segment a special target for India's medical and tourism service providers. Until the recent recession, terrorist attacks and tourist visa clampdowns, the volume of foreign patient arrivals at Indian hospitals had been estimated at growing at a healthy pace of over 40 per cent every year &8211;although these are purely trade estimates rather than actual figures. The new tourist visa on arrival scheme for citizens of New Zealand, Japan, Finland, Luxembourg and Singapore costs US$60 on arrival at the country's main airports: Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai and Kolkata. The scheme, according to home affairs minister Shri Mullappally Ramachandran, has the objective of promoting tourism. But many of the markets that India targets, including the USA and UK, still face problems in getting entry visas. Thousands of prospective UK visitors to India have had their plans upset by the sudden change to visa rules and subsequent delays in the system, recently outsourced in the UK to VFS.The change in rules affects holders of multi-entry visas. The Indian Ministry of Home Affairs has decreed that anyone who intends to enter the country twice in less than two months must seek additional permission from the High Commission of India in London or the Indian Consulates at Birmingham and Edinburgh. To get permission to visit more than once in two months, travellers must take a full itinerary with hotel and flight bookings. The Indian government claims that the extra red tape can take three or four working days, but VF Services recommends a minimum of one month to ensure a visa will arrive before departure. The 2010 Commonwealth Games will be held in Delhi in October, which is likely to add pressure to the system.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=191733Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:01:18 GMT20100325010118Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:50:36 GMT20100325125036Thu, 25 Mar 2010 13:01:18 GMT20100325010118RevaHealth is looking for help from clinics, hospitals and agencies that receive dental tourists from the Republic of Ireland. Philip Boyle explains the background, &8220;Dental tourism is a very divisive topic. On the one hand the advocates of dental tourism espouse the financial savings that can be made, while on the other hand its opponents often talk about poor quality work being carried out abroad. Unfortunately for everyone involved hard facts are very difficult to come by. Last August the Irish Times reported on a Consumer Choice magazine report that said &8220;Dentists were found to be 29 per cent more expensive in Dublin compared to Belfast&8220;. A couple of weeks later the Irish Dental Association released the results of their own survey, which said that &8220;More than three out of four dentists have had to treat patients for problems linked to treatment received abroad&8221;. A previous dental tourism survey carried out by us here at RevaHealth.com showed high levels of satisfaction with the treatment received, but worrying levels of education when it came knowing in advance exactly what treatment was needed.&8221; He continues, &8220;Ideally we would like to see everyone involved in dentistry in Ireland, whether at home or abroad, publish information and minimise spin. Putting the facts in the public domain should help everyone involved; patients will be able to make better informed decisions on where to be treated, and dentists will be able to make better informed decisions based on what patients want and need. Luckily, we are in the position of being able to ask thousands of patients both before and after their treatment about their expectations and their experiences. We already ask patients on an ongoing basis about their post treatment satisfaction levels. We intend to expand this into other areas of questioning and share the results as soon as we can.&8221; The results of surveying all RevaHealth users from Ireland who had dental treatment outside of the Republic in 2009 on levels of satisfaction with Irish dental outbound tourism; &8226; Satisfaction levels (%)&8226; 80.9% communication &8226; 84.5% friendliness&8226; 79.6% price &8226; 80.0% location &8226; 81.3% overall The company admits that there is a natural tendency for people who have travelled abroad to slightly inflate their satisfaction scores as a means of self-justification. In future surveys they intend to add a question on quality of work. So what does Philip Boyle want from you? &8220;Satisfaction levels are one thing, but what questions would you like to see answered by Irish dental patients? Over the coming months we intend to publish the results of our survey of Irish patients who were treated in Ireland, as well as continuing to publish more information from Irish, British and overseas patients in general. If you have questions that you think would add to the overall quality of information available about the Irish and British dental industries, or another international market, please contact RevaHealth.&8220; One reply makes the excellent point that customers want far greater transparency when it comes to dental fees. So if dental professionals in the Republic feel that their prices are justified for the service they provide, they should publish their rates for standard procedures to allow customers to make true comparisons.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=190305Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:57:01 GMT20100318115701Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:55:16 GMT20100318115516Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:57:01 GMT20100318115701While the government of Pakistan seeks to improve hospital quality in the hope of attracting medical tourists, a leading local expert warns that it may all be in vain. Terrorism in Pakistan is scaring away potential health tourists despite the fact that the country has great scope for becoming a health tourism destination, says Professor Tipu Sultan of Bahria University Medical and Dental College. He argues that Pakistan could offer services to foreigners, especially Americans and Europeans of Pakistani origin, in orthopedic, eye, ENT, heart, and urology treatments besides providing them with investigation facilities in endoscopies, X-rays, MRI, CT scan, cardiology and arthroscopy.&8221; Americans of Pakistani origin usually cannot get a visa for India and staying in India is more expensive." Sultan says that expert manpower, including surgeons and doctors, is available in Pakistan. The availability of airline tickets and large number of incoming and outgoing flights and affordable expenses could attract foreign nationals to visit the country for treatment purposes; &8220; Pakistan excels in non-emergency orthopedic surgery, including its diagnosis and treatment. Treatment in Pakistan is cheaper than in India because of the downward slide of the rupee in terms of the dollar.&8221; However, the professor points out that national initiatives are needed to attract health tourists. Health tourism packages should be introduced that include investigation, expert opinion, treatment and post-operative rehabilitation, as well as accommodation for the patient and any traveling companions. Sultan says there are good national hospitals that could be used in Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi, rather than the small private clinics currently on offer, but at present these hospitals show not the slightest interest in medical tourism. The professor blames investors in Pakistan who want to get returns within a year&8217;s time and therefore they opt for investment in sectors other than health tourism. The Federal Ministry of Health has a working party developing national standards for delivery of health services by public and private hospitals across Pakistan and that plans to grant accreditation to hospitals in line with their respective service levels. The ministry will be responsible for nationwide monitoring of the performance of hospitals as a prelude to improved service delivery and provision of optimal care to patients in both federal and provincial hospitals. Legislation will be needed to create a unit empowered to grant accreditation to hospitals in accordance to their service levels.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=190303Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:55:15 GMT20100318115515Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:47:53 GMT20100318114753Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:55:15 GMT20100318115515A team of local healthcare workers in Hong Kong has been appointed by the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) as qualified hospital accreditation surveyors for assessing the quality and safety of local hospitals. Appointees will have the same professional status as their counterparts in Australia and worldwide. ACHS is an Australian-based, international accrediting agency designated by the pilot scheme on hospital accreditation in Hong Kong as the accreditor. The 21 newly qualified local surveyors will conduct organisation-wide accreditation surveys of pilot hospitals together with other surveyors from the ACHS. Dr Gloria Tam comments, "Hospital accreditation is adopted worldwide as a measure to enhance service quality in hospitals and patient safety. The aim of the pilot scheme is to derive a common quality assurance system that will find international recognition for introduction to public and private hospitals in Hong Kong. The participation of public and private hospitals in the scheme will ensure a level playing field for both sectors.&8221; Five public hospitals and three private hospitals have joined the three-year pilot scheme, which is expected to complete by 2011, Hong Kong Sanatorium and Hospital has become the first Hong Kong hospital to receive accreditation from the ACHS. Four Philippine medical institutions have signed up with Accreditation Canada International to raise the bar in health care services making health care delivery safer and more effective for Filipinos and foreign patients. Philippine Heart Center, Manila Doctors Hospital, Asian Eye Institute and Clinica Manila have all signed contracts with the organization that specializes in exporting health accreditation expertise worldwide, to participate in the organization&8217;s pilot implementation program in the Philippines. Working with Accreditation Canada allows the four medical institutions to participate in Qmentum International; the new programme that establishes the highest international healthcare accreditation standards that benefit from more than 50 years of Canadian and international expertise. Wendy Nicklin of Accreditation Canada comments, &8220;The challenge today is that many internationally recognized accreditation bodies exist around the world. While their standards are generally high, their processes are all quite different. The Philippines is a great opportunity to share ideas and develop clear, sustainable benchmarks regarding quality improvement and measurement.&8221; Accreditation Canada has been active all over the world, and is a partner in current quality improvement initiatives in the Middle East, South America, Europe and the Caribbean. The organization continues to increase its presence in the Americas, North Asia, and Southeast Asia. These two organizations and others are successfully competing with the biggest international accreditor JCI that has no accredited hospitals in Hong Kong and only three in the Philippines. Hospitals argue that smaller competitors are more flexible in adapting standards to local conditions, while JCI has a tendency to impose US standards. This is significant for some US medical tourism agencies that will only offer JCI hospitals, as they are not offering customers the option of treatment in hundreds of hospitals that are accredited by other reputable international accreditors.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=190299Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:47:52 GMT20100318114752Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:34:17 GMT20100318113417Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:47:52 GMT20100318114752GHAN, an online professional network only for hospital and clinic executives, continues its membership growth around the world with expansion into Canada and the USA. Hank Kearney of Florida based health consultants PHM International that owns GHAN, says, &8220;GHAN&8217;s growth is due to the open exchange of ideas and information necessary to help meet the unique challenges faced by healthcare executives The challenges faced by these executives, administrators, and managers range from financing and regulatory issues, to information technology expansion planning, the critical shortage of workers, and everything in between. It empowers hospital and clinic executives to stay connected to other thought leaders. In doing so, they are better positioned to establish the thriving, well-managed facilities that attract patients, qualified talent, and investors. " As a member only network, GHAN helps hospital and clinic executives to stay current of new trends and developments around the world. In addition, select members have the opportunity to earn money by participating in one-on-one briefings with business clients in medical device manufacturing, finance, IT, insurance and pharmaceutical sectors. GHAN has its foundations in Global Health Access an online system of referrals for hospitals, patients, insurance companies, and medical tourism. Founded in 2000, Global Health Access evolved into GHAN, with a focus on emerging markets. Hospitals in emerging markets face unique challenges as they strive to improve healthcare, often with limited resources. Despite the challenges, many of these healthcare facilities offer medical services and expertise to rival that found in developed countries. Many are, or want to be, involved in medical tourism. The online community already has 3000 members from private hospitals and clinics in emerging markets such as Russia, Brazil, India, China, Africa, and Eastern Europe. Offering an interactive, confidential environment, the system allows healthcare leaders to network with other executives, participate in teleconferences and online chats with industry experts, search an extensive online research library, and find job openings. PHM International offers GHAN members direct access to PHM International advisors who specialize in a variety of relevant areas, including hospital expansion, finance, business development, and medical tourism- at a price. Membership is available to executives, administrators, and managers at the world's emerging market hospitals and clinics-for an unlimited number of members for each hospital or clinic.Annual charges:&8226; Clinics and hospitals will 50 beds or less: Free.&8226; Hospitals with 51 to 100 beds: $250&8226; Hospitals with 101 beds: $1,000 The network charges business customers for access to targeted hospital executives for online focus groups, conducting surveys, other market research, product testing and other opportunities. There are now many associations and organizations offering membership to hospitals and clinics interested in medical tourisms. All offer networking. Some are genuinely member focused, while others are more concerned with selling members a range of services. Like the rest, GHAN offers an annual conference. Whether GHAN is primarily a hospital driven information network, or mainly a device for PHM to market consultancy services to hospitals and health related businesses across the globe, is an interesting question.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=190297Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:34:16 GMT20100318113416Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:26:23 GMT20100318112623Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:34:16 GMT20100318113416A new health care medical tourism project by the Kadeco group and Iceland Healthcare is finally set to get underway in the second quarter of 2010 at the Asbru Enterprise Park in Keflavik, Iceland. The location for the health care facility was chosen mainly because of the area&8217;s knowledge and experience of tourism. The Asbru Enterprise Park, located next to Keflavik International Airport, includes a former military hospital on the campus that is being renovated. The hospital will be run by Iceland Healthcare and specialise in medical treatment including cosmetic surgery, fat-removal and joint replacements. It will have three operating theatres, 35 hospital beds and the ability to treat up to 4000 patients per year. Initially patients are expected to number 2000 a year, and the first clients are likely to arrive in the second quarter of 2011. Initially the company will focus on marketing in Norway and Sweden, and soon afterwards in the United Kingdom. Future plans include service offering in the United States. The rise in health care and medical tourism will be a precious source of income for Iceland, having suffered crashing banks and a collapsing economy in 2008 and 2009, and put a hold on all projects. 2010 sees travellers from the UK flocking to Iceland due to the favourable currency exchange rate. Iceland&8217;s leading airline, Icelandair, has seen an increase in UK sales over the past year since the Icelandic economic situation, where voter refusal to allow the government to compensate British investors in failed Icelandic banks has ironically brought increased attention to the country. World travel guide Lonely Planet has chosen Iceland as the best value destination for 2010. UK customers are seen as a key market for medical tourism. &193;sbr&250; is a new name to a former Nato military base near Keflavik airport. After Nato evacuation in 2006, the base was re-invented as a community of entrepreneurs, students and business. Housing facilities on the former military base will be used to accommodate patients and their families. Kjartan Thor Eiriksson of Kadeco says, &8220;The project is definitely one of the most exciting innovative ventures in Iceland at the present time. It will constitute an important aspect of the build-up and development at Asbru. The cluster of health related services at Asbru will be strengthened through the operations of the hospital, and this will attract even more diverse companies involved in medicine, treatment, health promotion, research, education and the production of various health related products.&8221; Kadeco manages the renovation venture. The real estate company Seltun, of which Kadeco is majority owner, will own the hospital, lease it out to Icelandic Healthcare, and oversee the financing of that aspect of the venture. Salt Health, which holds an 85% share in the company, owns Iceland Healthcare; Otto Nordhus holds an 8% share, and various other parties with a combined total of 5%. Robert Wessman and Otto Nordhus hold majority ownership in Salt Health. They own the operating company but are not directly involved in financing or investment of the reconstructed hospital.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=190296Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:26:20 GMT20100318112620Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:23:32 GMT20100318112332Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:26:20 GMT20100318112620The government of Seoul, the capital city of South Korea, has introduced an enhanced plan for its medical tourism offering, as part of its effort to increase tourism revenue through its advanced medical services. Under the plan, the city government will focus on developing five medical areas, including health checks, skin care, cosmetic surgery, herbal medicine, and dental services, while partnering with local clinics and hospitals to establish one-stop services where the patient can receive comprehensive medical services. The official statement says, "In order to develop Seoul as Asia's leading medical tourism city, we are planning to enhance measures in both quality and quantity while strategizing ways to effectively promote our services overseas. Medical tourists spend more money and their time of stay is longer than regular tourists, which make them a very special target audience. Each person spends US$3,250 per visits&8221; The government of Seoul will finalize the list of partners for this plan, by the end of March after an extensive evaluation process. These partners will be responsible for promoting the service to overseas markets. Other parts of Korea see the opportunities for medical tourism: Busan, the southern port city, and Gangnam, south of Seoul. Both areas have proved that they are capable of becoming leaders in a local market. Busan has long been visited by Japanese tourists arriving by ferry and flights for overnight shopping sprees and aesthetic therapies. As well as hair transplants, manicures and pedicures, the city is expanding into cosmetic surgery and other medical services. Cosmetic surgery clinics are receiving Japanese medical tourists who want to look like Korean celebrities. Local cosmetic surgeons and medical tourism agencies are now attracting Russian health tourists. The local government is supporting the industry. Gangnam, one of the most affluent areas in the country, contains one in three hospitals and two in three cosmetic surgery clinics in Seoul. Top-class hotels such as the Ritz Carlton, Intercontinental, Park Hyatt, Marriott, fashionable restaurants, shopping districts and tourist attractions are all popular with medical tourists. According to the district office, the area saw a 25 percent jump in the number of foreign visitors to its clinics in 2009. Seoul's Incheon International airport now has a medical tourism information centre with a rest area, information on local hospitals and clinics, and free internet access. One blot on the horizon is a report that Korea's major hospitals charge medical tourists, 2.5 to 3 times more than locals. The hospitals say the pricing is globally competitive but critics argue that dual and discriminatory pricing policy will ultimately scare away foreign patients, jeopardizing the plan to make the medical tourism industry one of the nation's main growth engines. Some hospitals counter that the restrictions they have on pricing to Koreans means that they are under pricing to locals. Another counter argument is that medical tourists are charged more to cover the cost of international patient centres, the longer consultation periods, the costs of marketing, and the need for interpreters. Pricing is subject to local medical laws, but the majority of hospitals claim that foreigners are not subject to medical law. If their argument is correct, foreigners cannot be protected from malpractice and other legal risks. Another problem is that two-tier pricing may also violate the Fair Trade Law, which stipulates that unfair or discriminatory deals can be punished by a fine of up to 2 percent of the gross sales. Jung Eun-Young at the Ministry for Health says that legislators revised the medical laws last May with the clear intent to introduce a two-tier system. Under the revised law, hospitals are allowed to directly market medical services to foreign patients, and are obliged to notify the list of fees for medical treatments not covered by insurance through a booklet and website. Although the deadline for the new pricing rules was the end of January, most of the 1500 hospitals licensed to treat medical tourists have not made a price list available to foreigners. While the pricing debate has raged in the local and national press in the country, the various bodies promoting medical tourism to South Korea have been noticeable by their silence on the issue.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=190284Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:44:36 GMT20100318104436Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:43:07 GMT20100318104307Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:44:36 GMT20100318104436The Mexican federal government&8217;s Tourism Secretariat has a new initiative to rejuvenate medical tourism in the country, expecting 650,000 visitors, who will spend $US50 million by 2020. Secretary of tourism Rodolfo Elizondo explained that the project sought to enlist all private hospitals of international status and create a specific offer that will be primarily promoted within Hispanic communities in Texas and California. Most of this community has no health insurance; so several thousand people living over the border could be interested in the services that Mexico has to offer. Ricardo Haneine, a private consultant who helped the government develop this project, explained that in the first five years of the programme, elective services such as cosmetic surgery, ophthalmology and odontology, as well as basic cardiology and chemotherapy treatments, would be offered. From the sixth year on, more specialized services will be provided in order to attract a higher number of people looking for medical treatment. 40 hospitals have been listed as quality hospitals by national and international standards, eight of which are already certified by JCI. The federal government is currently looking for an agreement with international institutions to enable hospitals in Mexico to be certified nationally and internationally at the same time. The Tourism Secretariat intends to integrate another 50 hospitals into its programme in the next ten years, projecting to invest US$1025 million. The Secretary of Tourism stated that although a few hospitals already welcome foreigners and do their own promotion by themselves, it is the first time that the government has got behind them with plans for a more integrated and targeted marketing campaign. Mexico&8217;s Health Ministry plans to build up the country&8217;s medical tourism infrastructure during the next two years. The initiative includes training a group of bilingual Spanish-English nurses, a pilot programme is being organized. Very popular with Americans are low cost dental procedures in the border towns. Clinics estimate that 40 percent of their patients are foreigners during the tourist high season that spans the months from October to March. Figures would be higher if the epidemic of drug and gang related violence in some border towns could be eradicated. Health tourism is also a main priority for the new Governor of Sonora as Sonora is very close to large populations in Arizona and California, and Hospital CIMA Hermosillo in Hermosillo sees American medical tourists as a lucrative opportunity. Regional initiatives to promote medical tourism are underway in the northern border states of Chihuahua, Baja California and Nuevo Leon. What the government has yet to do to encourage the recovery of the tourism industry after the recession of 2009 is amend and update laws on tourism as a matter of urgency and ensure that the Tourism Secretariat both continues to exist and is supplied with the funds it needs to make the project work. The plan can be seen as a late attempt by the organisation to survive, as late last year the government announced plans to close it and merge it into a new department of tourism and trade .The future is still uncertain as many politicians oppose the merger, so it is still la matter of discussion, lobbying and political maneuvering. Mexican Health Minister Jose Angel Cordova Villalobos wants greater coordination at the federal level. Ultimately, whether or not federal assistance actually happens, is dependent on national and local politicians working together, and putting their individual ambitions and party politics aside- but as we have seen in the US over health reform, this rarely happens.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=189006Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:08:23 GMT20100311100823Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:06:15 GMT20100311100615Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:08:23 GMT20100311100823Jamaica, Fiji and The Bahamas are all islands and have three other things in common. They all rely heavily on the tourist trade, have all suffered in the last year, and see medical tourism as a way of replacing lost revenue and jobs. Whether they are island dreamers or interesting new locations, only time will tell. The Grand Bahama Port Authority's (GBPA) bid to attract medical tourism to the island will be supported by the government, said Minister of Health Hubert Minnis, but only when the plan is properly organized and there are guidelines in place, &8220;The idea of medical tourism is an excellent one." GBPA has identified two areas &8211;cardiovascular medicine and orthopaedic medicine &8211; for specialized hospitals for Grand Bahama and a developer investor kit has targeted the top 10 or 15 hospitals in the United States for the island. The intention is to attract only certain types of medical procedures and to start off with those with a relatively low risk to avoid any accidents that could potentially ruin the business. GBPA chairman Hannes Babak said last year, &8220;We want to lead medical tourism and that will help local practitioners and give them a great facility in terms of a hospital." The GBPA chairman had talked of securing a deal for a $100 million 100-room hospital. It is now unclear if that plan is still on the drawing board as he has not been at the GBPA since his work permit expired on December 31st 2009. Tourism Fiji sees medical tourism as a promising and emerging market for attracting more tourists. Patrick Wong of Tourism Fiji says much needed investment in the area in partnership with an international brand is also important, "Medical tourism would be a boost developing our tourism industry. It would require a very high standard of medical villages investing in the likes of retirement villages, cosmetic surgery, health institutions, health farms and other specialized medically related establishments. Cosmetic surgery as seen on the television series Make Over will encourage people to come to Fiji for this.&8221; Tourism Fiji sees medical tourism as a niche market it would like to pursue in partnership with international hospital groups. Indian group Apollo has, according to Tourism Fiji, shown interest in a site at Lautoka. Indian investors toured the country in 2006 during an attempt by the Health Ministry to attract investment, but none pursued any projects. In Jamaica, health and wellness tourism is now high on the agenda of tourism minister Edmund Bartlett who says he will be pushing that industry full force with the expectation that it will yield large revenues. He says the industry is yet to be fully explored despite all the basic fundamentals being in place. The minister says Jamaica has a major advantage in its dental care based on expertise available and cost of the service. He says the country compares well with developed countries and would fit well with an ideal vacation spot, "We are working with the ministries of health and industry to review and create legalization and regulations. I have been getting a number on inquires about health and wellness tourism, followed by proposals, two of which we have taken on board and are working with."http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=189004Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:06:15 GMT20100311100615Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:04:21 GMT20100311100421Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:06:15 GMT20100311100615Lebanon is now seeking to become a centre for medical tourism. Making Lebanon the hospital of the East is the ambition of the Tourism Council. With 11,505 physicians and 177 hospitals, the country wants to attract overseas customers. According to a report published by the Agency for Investment Development in Lebanon (IDAL), the growth of medical tourism is expected to be around 30% on average between 2009 and 2011. DAL's mission is to promote Lebanon as a viable investment destination. Le Royal Beirut Hotel is an example of a hotel that has made partnerships with clinics, travel agencies and airlines to offer packages for medical tourism. It wants to be at the forefront of the business. Wellness refers to the spa with holistic treatments from mud baths to facials, a concept that has been operating successfully at the hotel for several years. Two years ago the hotel introduced sophisticated slimming equipment and an in-house dietician, designing programmes for travellers who wished to lose weight, change their lifestyle and regain their health. Recently it went a step further and launched a complete health tourism package with a range of partners. Joyce Mouawad explains. &8220;The programme was launched in February and Middle East Airlines will be responsible for the airline ticket, Nakhal will take care of transportation inside Lebanon and the hotel will host the client/patient before and after treatment. The patient will be treated at the Bellevue Medical Centre, a general hospital with advanced equipment, which excels in diagnosis and different types of surgery, including cosmetic surgery. With the country having hit a record number of tourists last year, there is no doubt that non-seasonal medical tourism is set to increase and boost the hospitality industry.&8221; The package is aimed initially at Arab travellers who visit Lebanon for anything from cosmetic surgery and dental care to intestinal bypass operations, but also wants to attract European tourists, particularly from Cyprus and Greece. . There are also partnerships with other specialised medical centres that will be launched soon. The new package has met with official approval from the country&8217;s Ministry of Tourism as an initiative that is set to help Lebanon&8217;s reputation as a wellness and health destination improve even further. Attracting European medical tourists is difficult. Although the situation overall in Lebanon is calm, it is fragile. On several occasions in recent years, the security situation has deteriorated quickly. Several European governments, including the UK &8211;whose lead on travel advice most follow- currently advises against all travel to some areas of Lebanon and all but essential travel to other areas of Lebanon.http://www.imtj.com/news/?EntryId82=189003Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:04:20 GMT20100311100420Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:01:59 GMT20100311100159Thu, 11 Mar 2010 10:04:20 GMT20100311100420Quality Council of India (QCI) &8216;s National Accreditation Board for Hospital and Healthcare Providers, (NABH), has launched a programme of accreditation of wellness centres like gyms, spas, cosmetic and skin treatment centres in the country. Dr Bhawna Gulati of NABH says, &8220;For the ordinary customer, this means that the gym or beauty centre tha