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Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | October 28, 2010
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Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | October 10, 2010
Medical Tourism Impact It’s More Than Obvious by Dr Prem Jagyasi – Medical Tourism Maagzine
Read Original Article at http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/article/medical-tourism-impact-it-s-more-than-obvious.html
The progress of the Medical Tourism phenomenon has had enormous impact not just for the patient alone but it has also influenced economic, social, environmental, business and medical sectors. Dr. Prem Jagyasi, renowned researcher and consultant puts light on both the positive and negative impacts of medical tourism which are more than obvious.
Today, diseases are part of everybody’s existence; however, man still hasn’t accepted defeat at the hands of synDr.omes that afflict him as he continues the battle for living a healthy life in the face of insurmountable odds and healthcare crises. In this quest for existence, distance is a small hurdle and matters least when it comes to resurgence from imminent fatalities, hence traveling to foreign countries for healthcare purposes has been and is predicted to be a rising trend for years to come.
As per recent research, the four most popular reasons given for why patients travel abroad to receive medical treatment were ‘Affordability (costly in home country)’ at 88%, ‘Accessibility (waiting period is high)’ at 66%, ‘Better quality (care and support services are better quality than the home country) at 38% and ‘Availability (not available in home country) at 46% (Download or read complete research online at www.Dr.Prem. com). With these important reasons, the growth of Medical Tourism is inevitable; hence it is important to understand the positives and negatives of this growing trend across all sectors.
IMPACT ON GLOBAL HEALTHCARE Innovation in Healthcare Solutions Innovation for the most part stems from exigencies. When it comes to healthcare solutions, there is a great demand for innovation, a close second only to nanotechnology! The most basic of primary needs, arises during rare medical predicaments that are either not curable in a person’s own country or, are way out of his budget. To meet these innovation requisites, countries are currently meting out a variety of specialized treatment options, irrespective of their development status. So, Americans coming to India, Thailand or Singapore for a cardiac surgery, when similar or even advanced technology is available at home…is definitely not odd any longer.
Enhancements in Healthcare Solutions Hospitals in any region always provide some amount of basic service to local inhabitants. But these therapies remain stagnant for years together without any attempts at amendment or modernization. Enter foreign nationals to avail some frequent treatment, and the entire scenario transforms. The same clinic with barely any essentials now has state-of-the-art medical equipments, advanced diagnostic facilities, a 24-hour emergency service center, customer helpdesks offering international toll free calling, a fully equipped ICU, and advanced surgical amenities etc. Such is the effect of healthcare tourism on a nation’s therapeutics industry.
Enhancements in number of Healthcare Professionals With enhancements in remedial services, comes the demand for people who can administer them. Health tourists constantly prefer to consult doctors of high repute, with well-known prowess in the required medical field, whose skills have already benefited patients with similar medical conditions. The enormous need for proficient personnel breeds more specialists who cater to this escalating requirement. The number and eminence of medical experts and healthcare staff goes a long way in ensuring the success of not just the particular healthcare unit but also the nation that harbors them.
International Standards in Healthcare Solutions Apart from the physician’s status, a potential foreign medical tourist looks at numerous other aspects of the medical establishment, to which he entrusts his wellbeing. Quality as a facet of healthcare is justifiably emphasized today, by the patients who are conversant within the therapeutic sector. As per industry standards, accreditations from authorized bodies are recognized and accepted. Other variations which monitor quality and accountability standards are also improved upon and utilized. National accreditations, which have their own stringent parameters, are also improving upon international standards to meet international patient requirements and expectations.
Improvisation in Knowledge Processes Dispensation, storage & interpretation of available medical records and data files; a process termed ‘Knowledge Processing’ has made the medical system transparent beyond medical authorities worldwide, to respective patients as well. Prior to the global focus on health tourism, the importance of this process was not felt as keenly as it is today. With the advent of the World Wide Web, medical proceedings, subject data and case histories of patients around the world is now available to doctors operating in any country. It provides them with excellent opportunities to interpret, assimilate, improve and enhance the overall health services afforded.
Emergence of supporting/subsidiary Healthcare Infrastructure Globalization of medicine has brought in its wake, the emanation of several other allied international sectors like healthcare insurance, vast selection of tourism getaways, varied choices of traveling and unlimited options for hospitable lodging in the country that one chooses to get treated in. Besides, the banking sector has facilitated advancing of loans, comfortable payback schemes, credit card facilities; easy access to internet payment gateways, abundant foreign currency exchange centers and other painless international banking procedure to help foreign tourists. Such programs have completely ruled out affordability or inaccessibility to capital, as a hinDr.ance to disease alleviation. Besides, obtaining medical visas is now an effortless procedure.
The emergence of global healthcare is incomplete without these associated factors that contribute in equal measure to its accomplishments.
POSITIVE IMPACTS ON A NATION Social Impact When established as an industry, medical tourism is significantly instrumental in molding the society of a nation. It contributes not just in terms of enhanced, speedier or affordable healthcare, but also lends itself to infrastructural betterments, more employment opportunities with an increased propensity towards overall wealth creation. In nations that are still in the developing stages, such improvisations pave the way towards industrial growth to cater to the burgeoning demands of the foreign health seekers. A developed nation, on the other hand gains prominence as a popular healthcare destination and people start thronging in for the medical attention.
Financial Impact Manufacturing industries, foreign investments, business exports, agricultural, mineral products or information technology services, are currently among the most prominent and largest contributors to any nation’s Gross Domestic Products (GDP). Going by recent media reports, medical tourism will soon top the charts as a key money grosser pitching in significant contribution in GDP for a nation which affords such facilities. Plainly, it has enormous potential as a service-sector industry and private hospitals stand to gain the most from it, provided they invest in the appropriate medical infrastructure and adequately promote their capabilities. As more and more foreigners troop into the country to avail cheaper, better and faster remedies for their illnesses, the chances of financial gain with a higher return on the basic investment is then guaranteed.
Industrial Impact Several industries, closely associated with the world health tourism sector are significantly impacted by its growth and development. These closely allied industries which are promoted as a result of the surge in medical tourism get a new foundation and recognition in the global sphere and are forever retained in memories, standing a chance of benefiting through future investments:
•Tourism
All medical tourists do not visit a country with the express purpose of a treatment or surgery. They also intend to tour the country’s other historical or natural attractions. This trend is growing as tourists tend to invest the amount they save in healthcare, during sight-seeing. This serves as significant revenue for the tourism industry and forms a portion of total profits of the industry.\
•Pharmaceutical
The pharmaceutical industry is very closely associated with the field of medical science. When one undergoes treatment or surgery in one country, he is bound to take over-the-counter Dr.ugs sold in the same area. This increases the sale of medicines in a directly proportional manner such that, the number of surgeries or treatment conducted directly adds to the profits of the pharmaceutical company of the country that is a prominent medical tourism destination.
•Medical Tourism Facilitator
Because of the complexity of this decision-making process, some medical tourists seek help from travel agents or the international patient departments of hospitals, or concierge service providers. While all these agencies can act as effective intermediaries, none can offer a comprehensive medical tourism support services in the same manner as a one-stop medical tourism facilitator. This is an agency staffed by a team of professionals who are equipped to offer a seamless combination of what would otherwise be complicated arrangements within medical tourism.
•Public and Private sectors
The medical tourism industry is served both by private as well as public sector industries. While the public sector contributes to the overall infrastructure and associated processes like permitting medical visa, clearing foreign passports, facilitating foreign exchange etc; the private sector totally takes over the comfort & hospitality department as well as the healthcare facilities.
The kind of medical care and amenities provided by private sector industries is generally far more superior to that offered by government establishments. Under such situations, a public-private partnership tends to equalize profits, adds to overall infrastructural benefits and caters to the needs of the foreign medical tourist, in a balanced manner making the overall procedure smooth, rapid and economical.
Intellectual Impact A country that prospers in the healthcare tourism industry will experience less of the ‘Brain-Dr.ain’ phenomenon which commonly portrays the exit of trained professionals from their home country to a foreign nation availing better employment and financial opportunities. This phenomenon quite frequent among the medical community, is easily plugged because medical tourism pays ample impetus to the treatment of rare global disorders, as a lifetime vocation Intelligent or expert medical professionals generally look up to such challenges, as they get the required job satisfaction and financial fulfillment even when stationed in their native country.
Political Impact When one country serves as a major tourism destination for another and there is constant exchange of treatment and revenue between them, the political links between those nations are affected in a positive manner. Stronger bonds between those nations are forged when the host nation provides the foreign tourists with several amenities besides conducive medical treatment.
NEGATIVE IMPACT ON A NATION Healthcare impact With patient travels, there is significant risk of corresponding bacterial travel. Recent superbug research has created significant alert. All industry professionals must understand the negative impact of communicable diseases. Hence, good strategies should be developed by global organizations to protect spread of such diseases. Understanding and control is vital.
Environmental Impact It is true that medical tourism escalates the per capita rates of the host country but it escalates several other detrimental factors as well. For infrastructural growth, the natural greenery or forest cover of a region is compromised in order to accommodate more buildings, hospital facilities, roads, treatment or diagnostic centers etc. To supplement the above, there is a continuous discharge of polluted air, solid -toxic medical waste, litters of sewage consisting of oil and chemicals. Architectural, noise and visual pollution also has a direct negative impact on the atmosphere.
Health tourism also creates a dearth of local resources like power, food stock, fuel and other unredeemable natural resources, which could already be in short supply within the host country. Water, another non-replenishable natural resource, is commonly misused in hotels, spas and swimming pools through careless personal use by tourists. This not only generates large volumes of waste water but also leads to water shortages and depletion of natural water sources.
Treatment Impact With an increased number of health tourists, the hospital adopts the policy of being paid in accordance to an overseas system. Such a structure, even though economical to a foreigner, tends to be expensive for the native. As a result, all sections of people within a particular nation are not able to avail the advanced treatment options available within the country. This creates a negative impact on the health infrastructure of a country.
Economical Impact Healthcare tourism in most countries runs through private institutions. Currently the private sector in most developed countries accounts for a larger number of surgical procedures, treatment operations, and ultimately in the overall number of patients from all over the globe. Thus the revenue generated by this sector is much greater compared to that generated by the government or the public sector. The latter shows low expenditure in healthcare sector, poor management of resources, corruption, infrastructure shortfalls, slower growth, etc., to name a few. The uncontrolled growth of the private sector leads to inequalities and profit imbalance across both sectors.
Ethical & Legal Impact There are significant chances that many medical tourism hospitals would tap into unethical practices to grab international patients, such as organ transplants, restricted regional treatments or several other medical services which are restricted, regulated or controlled in one region.
Legal issues are also likely to rise as this industry presents unique problems and challenges for both consumers as well as providers.
CONCLUSION Medical Tourism doesn’t only provide benefits to international patients; it extends a wide spectrum of benefits to many industries such as the healthcare industry, travel & tourism, commercial sector, government relationships, international accreditation sector, amongst others.
Both positive and negative impacts of medical tourism on healthcare, economic, social and environmental sectors creates opportunities and challenges for this growing industry which require cohesive collaborative work between various stakeholders.
About the Author
Dr. Prem Jagyasi is a Chartered Management, Healthcare Marketing and Medical Tourism Consultant. Providing high-profile consultancy services to Government Authorities and Private Healthcare organizations, he is noticeably leading medical tourism consultant. He also serves Medical Tourism Association, as an Honorary Chief Strategy Officer. He can be reached at Prem@Jagyasi.com | www.DrPrem.com
Posted in Articles | Tags: Dr Prem Jagyasi, Medical Tourism Impact
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | October 7, 2010
Book reccomendation Me 2.0 by Dan Schawbel
Book recommendation ME 2.0. Just spoke with author Dan Schawbel, recognized as a “personal branding guru” by The New York Times. Wonderful person.
His blog personalbrandingblog is award winning blog.
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Dr Prem Jagyasi
Prem@Jagyasi.com | www.DrPrem.com
Work Profile:
MD & CEO – ExHealth, Dubai HealthCare City, UAE | www.ExHealth.com
Chief Strategy Officer – Medical Tourism Association, USA | www.medicalTourismAssociation.com
Founder – Global Healthcare Network | www.GlobalHealthcareNetwork.com
Chief Editor – HealthFirst Magazine | www.HealthFirstMag.comChartered
Consultant – Government & Private Healthcare Organizations | www.DrPrem.com
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | October 1, 2010
Social Media Marketing for Global Healthcare & Medical Tourism industry.
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | September 29, 2010
DHA strengthens its medical tourism strategy for 2011
DHA strengthens its medical tourism strategy for 2011
DHA strengthens its medical tourism strategy for 2011
http://www.zawya.com/story.cfm/sidZAWYA20100928110929
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | September 29, 2010
Healthcare Insurance Industry in Gulf (Arab Countries) and Middle East – Research, Facts & Figures Points
Healthcare Insurance Industry in Gulf (Arab Countries) and Middle East – Research, Facts & Figures Points
Insurance Industry Insight Report
• Insurance is increasingly understood as social and economic necessity in the Middle East
• The field of providers is fragmented and industry structures are heterogeneous across MENA countries
• Underwriting activity in markets across the region is projected to expand at double-digit growth rates until 2012, accelerating the trend from the past five years
• Mandatory insurance schemes for health and motor covers are leading drivers of premiums growth
• Earnings of insurance companies depend greatly on investment returns
• Shortcomings in regulations, manpower, and general awareness are potential bottlenecks for the insurance industry
• The insurance industry is needed in preparing for and meeting the region’s changing socioeconomic needs.
• The insurance industry is a new focus point for economies in the Middle East and North Africa. Following demographic changes in the second half of the last century and a new surge in wealth since 2002, countries in the region have shown growing interest in risk mitigation through insurance.
• In turn, international insurance companies have started to express greater interest in the region, which is one of the world’s least developed insurance markets – or one with the greatest implied potentials for insurance growth.
• The industry faces a combination of significant challenges and great opportunities, which has increased the attention which investors pay to insurance markets and operators. Without neglecting the seriousness of the challenges it has to navigate, growth is the medium and long term outlook for this industry
• Making health insurance compulsory for expatriate workers seems to be becoming the preferred norm in several markets in the Middle East. Some have gone ahead with it with varying degrees of success.
o Introduction of compulsory health insurance will bring about tremendous opportunities and challenges for the insurers in the Middle East markets.
• With greater demand for quality healthcare and state-of-the art technology leading to rising medical costs, players in the field are constantly challenged to seek out solutions to ensure healthcare is available and affordable to all, and at the same time carve a niche for themselves as competition intensifies.
• There is much anticipation on how the industry will transform with the raft of new healthcare initiatives as the regulators draft out health policies and deal with the rise in demand and costs, including challenges ahead as more insurers, TPAs and managed care organizations (MCOs) enter the competitive marketplace to vie for the healthcare pie.
Source: http://www.zawya.com/industryinsight/insurance.cfm?cc
Health Insurance: Reviewing the Trends
http://www.clydeco.com/knowledge/articles/health-insurance-reviewing-the-trends.cfm
• Healthcare, and the manner in which it is financed, is becoming an increasingly important topic for the booming economies of the Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) states.
• A number of compulsory health insurance schemes, principally aimed at the expatriate populations of GCC states have come into operation already, or are in the process of doing so.
o A number of other states have indicated they are in the planning stages of implementing similar schemes.
• As different variations emerge, it ought to be possible to detect a number of trends and for states to learn from each other.
• The focus on healthcare insurance has come at a time when regulation in the GCC states is being radically reformed. Two examples come to mind:
1. Prior to 2003, Saudi Arabia had no formal insurance regulations whatsoever. However, in 2002, detailed health insurance regulations were published in the Kingdom paving the way for the implementation of the comprehensive compulsory expatriate health insurance programme. The market is now more fully geared towards providing the resources for this programme, with around 32 insurers awaiting final registration with the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority (SAMA), which expects to complete the insurance licensing phase by April 2008.
2. The Emirate of Abu Dhabi, in the UAE, launched its compulsory health insurance programme in July 2006. Hardly a hotbed of insurance activity, Abu Dhabi’s state-owned insurer will have close on one million lives insured by the end of 2007. The implementation of the scheme comes at a time when the ageing insurance laws regulating brokers and insurers in the UAE are in the process of being overhauled.
• What are some of the trends that can be picked up from these examples? Can other GCC states learn from the Saudi and Abu Dhabi experiences? Will other states follow the patterns established by Abu Dhabi and Saudi Arabia? What sort of research is being undertaken by GCC states ahead of reform? What are the objectives of the reforms? Are they being met?
1. Time will tell what the answers to a number of the above questions are, and only time will provide a quantifiable yardstick by which to measure results of the various systems that have been put in place.
• However, there are a number of pointers which have been highlighted by experiences to date, that should be taken to heart.
• 6 issues to examine:
1. Effective regulation of the market is key:
Saudi Arabia’s health insurance regulations, promulgated in 2002, were released into a vacuum. There was no insurance regulation in Saudi Arabia at the time.
• Consequently, the health insurance regulations were required to provide detailed provisions describing what insurance was, setting out the solvency margins and capital requirements for insurers, along with a host of other provisions which would ordinarily be the routine provisions of the central insurance laws.
• Since detailed regulations were published in Saudi Arabia 2003, one would expect that SAMA will assume primary responsibility for regulating health insurers in the market.
The Abu Dhabi system has been launched at a time of upheaval and regulatory uncertainty in the UAE market. Although a new insurance law, which will regulate insurers, brokers and all other service providers to the industry, has been passed, there is presently no sign of the newly-created Insurance Commission, which is intended to take control of the regulation of the UAE industry.
• In the meantime, the regulatory framework within the UAE remains relatively rigid, and not flexible enough to accommodate new and innovative means of providing insurance services.
2. Establishing boundaries for health authorities and financial service regulators
It is vital that the extent of control which the health authorities and insurance regulators seek to exert in the market is apportioned to reflect the core strengths of each organisation.
In Saudi Arabia, insurers and other service providers are required to go through two authorisation processes:
• registration with SAMA
• And approval by CCHI, the committee charged with implementing the health insurance regime.
In Abu Dhabi, the Health Authority for the Emirate of Abu Dhabi (HAAD) has seen fit to exercise a wide jurisdiction over insurers, brokers and other providers such as Third Party Administrators (TPAs).
• Although the regulation of insurance itself is a federal power, HAAD has imposed a number of additional requirements on participants in the system, including, for example, the need for all service providers to establish a branch office or presence in Abu Dhabi, irrespective of their registration in other emirates.
• This rather inflexible approach is unlikely to promote innovation in the market, nor will it reduce costs for service providers who have to comply with this requirement. One can only expect that these additional costs will be passed on to policyholders.
Health authorities and insurance regulators should certainly aim to communicate effectively into the future, to ensure that each regulator looks after what it does best. If this is not the case, then it is likely that ineffective and prescriptive regulation could stifle the market and lead to increased costs.
3. Involving the foreign market:
One of the key debates for any GCC state concerns the question of involvement of foreign insurers.
In Saudi Arabia, SAMA appears intent on encouraging a well-capitalised, locally-established, and competitive local market.
• Foreign insurers (such as BUPA) have been welcome to join the market, but SAMA has insisted that international players participate through locally-incorporated companies.
• SAMA has also introduced restrictions on the proportion of foreign reinsurance that will be permitted from the Saudi market.
In the UAE, a relatively recent development has seen the local market opening up to applications by foreign insurers to register branches in the UAE.
• However, there are a number of international insurers who are very active in the area of health insurance for whom the UAE represents a small but important market, but for whom the cost and bureaucracy associated with opening a branch office would not be justified.
• The authorities appear to be unanimous in their view that international brands ought to be encouraged in the market. However, there remain a number of significant barriers to foreign insurers being able to operate effectively in the local market.
In Qatar, the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC) actively encourages foreign-owned insurers authorised to operate from the QFC to participate in the local Qatari markets at a direct level.
4. Can One Size Fit All?
Whether a one-size-fits-all approach can be applied to the region is a key consideration. The Saudi and Abu Dhabi systems, whilst sharing the basic characteristics of a core insurance package, differ fundamentally.
The work of the recently-launched Dubai Government’s Health Insurance Committee appears to have a wider remit than simply providing an insurance solution for financing the provision of healthcare in the Emirate.
Recent consultation exercises and think-tanks tend to indicate that the entire manner in which healthcare is provided and financed is under consideration, and could well result in a different model to that of Abu Dhabi. Insurance would provide one of the financing tools for the provision of healthcare generally.
The danger in having a plethora of different systems in a small country or region is the burden that is placed on employers, insurers and service providers to comply with multiple systems, each with their own peculiar requirements.
5. Are employers the key to the financing system?
A fundamental assumption thus far appears to be that that employers and ‘sponsors’ of expatriates should bear the burden of financing the costs of insurance cover for their expatriate employees. The nature of the Gulf’s expatriate workforce encourages this approach.
It remains to be seen whether the private sector will be able and willing to shoulder this burden. One would expect governments to be closely monitoring any trends that would point to the additional burden making the GCC states a less attractive place to do business.
In many states, the tricky aspect of healthcare financing will be to ensure effective cover for the uninsurable, the unemployed, the retired and the local populations. Employers would be justified in objecting to footing the cost of this particular bill.
6. What role should government subsidies play?
The Abu Dhabi system involves a built-in government subsidy on premium for an initial period of five years.
• Further preferential subsidies have been extended to the state-owned insurer in order to ensure that the system can effectively provide cover for the large number of low-paid expatriate workers in the country.
• How long this subsidy remains in place, and the measures implemented by other states to kickstart their schemes, will be interesting to monitor going forward.
• Healthcare insurance, and the financing of the GCC’s healthcare systems generally, is likely to remain a key issue for many years to come. The fact that the problem is being tackled pro-actively in many of the GCC states is encouraging, and observing the trends ought to provide valuable lessons for those charged with formulating and implementing healthcare policies.
Health Insurance fastest growing sector in Saudi Arabia
http://www.gulfinthemedia.com/index.php?m=economics&id=531536&lim=100&lang=en&tblpost=2010_08&PHPSESSID=062
• The Saudi Arabian insurance industry has emerged as one of the fastest growing insurance industries across the world. While the global economic crisis has severely hit other industrial sectors, the insurance industry has marinated its 30-35 percent annual growth rate on the back of compulsory insurance lines.
• According to RNCOS latest report on “Saudi Arabia Insurance Market to 2012”, protection & savings and health insurance are the fastest growing insurance lines in the Kingdom, with health insurance accounted for around 50 percent of the overall insurance market at the end of 2009.
• The health insurance sector is expected to grow at fast pace on the back of increasing involvement of private companies and the obligation for foreign nationals and foreign pilgrims to buy insurance covers.
• In addition, the most recent introduction of compulsory health insurance for private employees, irrespective of the size of the company they are working with, will further boost the health insurance market in the country.
Strong Demand for private health insurance in Middle East
http://www.ameinfo.com/113591.html
• Demand for private health insurance products has risen significantly since the start of 2007, as companies and individuals look to protect their health against a backdrop of a rising level of uncertainty about future provision of coverage.
• Changes in the regulatory framework regarding the provision of healthcare across the GCC have driven a high number of inquiries since the start of the year.
• In Saudi Arabia alone, demand is such that recent estimates predict that the insurance sector will be worth more than SR15 billion by 2009. Saudi Arabia has an expatriate population of seven million, making it potentially the largest health insurance market in the region.
• In the UAE, private health insurance has risen to the top of the agenda with Abu Dhabi recently passing a law requiring all employers in the Emirate to provide minimum cover for their employees. In November 2006, Dubai also announced that similar regulation will follow for the Emirate’s residents.
• Nexus has more than 250 professional and independent advisors in the UAE and Bahrain making it the largest insurance brokerage IFA in the region.
Insurance Markets and Private Health Insurance in Middle East
http://hc.wharton.upenn.edu/impactconference/drechsler_031005.pdf
• The most important insurance markets in the Middle East are found in Turkey, Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, and Kuwait. In 2003, total insurance premium income amounted to about USD 8 billion of which approximately 80 % were spent for non-life insurance schemes (USD 6.5 billion); the remaining USD 1.5 billion can be attributed to the life insurance sector.
• According to these figures, the insurance industry of Middle Eastern countries merely accounts for about 0.5 % of global insurance premium income.
• Private expenditure is an important financial source of health care systems in the Middle East.
• Nonetheless, PHI (Private health insurance) is a relatively new phenomenon in most of the countries in the region. Private funds are predominantly used for out of pocket expenditure (e.g., Yemen, where in 2001 58.4 % of total health expenditure was OOP) while only Lebanon and Saudi Arabia have a sizeable private health insurance industry. Although still at very low expenditure levels, PHI is also gaining importance in Turkey.
• The figures for Turkmenistan, on the other hand, are ambiguous.
o According to WHO data, 7 % of total health expenditure was channeled to PHI in 2001 (as contributions to social insurance that were considered as private social insurance). Conversely, the European Observatory on Health Care Systems (Turkmenistan, 2000) reports that private health insurance was not allowed in the country. Instead, the state would offer public voluntary medical insurance, which covered a large part of the population (approximately 90 % in 1999).
• Table below gives an overview of Middle Eastern countries where spending on private insurance has been recorded.
• Turkey
o In 1996, the WHO considered PHI to be the fastest growing insurance market in Turkey while coverage was still very low at that time.
o Subscribers to private schemes usually obtained higher quality service in addition to their public coverage. In fact, private insurers are the only means through which people can obtain supplementary voluntary health insurance in Turkey.
o Ernst & Young (2003) reports that, in the mid-1990s, about 30 institutions offered PHI, approximately covering 500,000 people. Considering the fact that this number had only amounted to 15,000 individuals in 1990, the private insurance industry had experienced significant growth in the first half of the 1990s.
o Although dissatisfaction about the quality and accessibility of public facilities have further raised the popularity of PHI, private risk-sharing programs still do not constitute a major factor in the country’s health financing system.
o According to recent estimates (Turkey, 2002; Colombo/Tapay, 2004), coverage through private providers remains below 2 % of the total population while approximately 650,000 people are currently insured.
o According to the European Observatory on Health Care Systems (Turkey, 2002), coverage was highest amongst employees of banks, insurance companies, chambers of commerce, and computer companies.
• Saudi Arabia:
o The high share of PHI expenditure relative to total health expenditure in Saudi Arabia predominantly stems from foreign workers (5-6 million) who now need to have mandatory private health insurance.
o Before the reform in 2003, expatriates in Saudi Arabia had been entitled to use public facilities that are not only open to Saudi citizens.
o Other forces driving the development of the private health insurance industry is a rising population, a quick growth of the private sector, the quick pace of industrialization, and high per capita medical expenditure (U.S.-Saudi-Arabia Business Council, 2004).
o This trend materializes in increased PHI spending while total health expenditure declined over the past couple of years. All these factors contribute to the ongoing readjustment of the country’s health care system.
o Due to limited public resources, policy makers in Saudi Arabia are currently searching for alternative ways to finance health care. The five stage program that introduced PHI for expatriates will eventually also allow coverage of Saudi nationals (Sekhri et al., 2004: 8).
• Lebanon
o Another dynamic insurance market is reported for Lebanon, where private health insurance is already well established, largely due to insufficiencies of public health care institutions.
o Lebanon has a highly fragmented health care system, in which more than 70 % of total health care spending originates from private sources. Of this, a remarkable 16.5 % is used for private risk-sharing programs (WHO, 2003).
o Lebanon has a relatively large non-life insurance market with per capita spending amounting to USD 84.70 in 2003 (Swiss Re-Insurance Company, 2004).
o According to these figures, the country’s insurance density is much higher than its Gross National Income (GNI) would suggest. On a global scale, insurance density puts the country in 48th position while the World Bank GNI index only sees Lebanon in 81st position with per capita income of USD 4,040 in 2003.
o In 1998, approximately 70 private companies offered comprehensive and supplementary insurance programs that covered an estimated 8 % and 4.6 % of the total population respectively (NHA Lebanon, 2000).
These companies varied in size and premium income while insurance volumes ranged from below USD 1 million to USD 5-50 million.
o Due to the size of the insurance market, which also includes non-profit providers and mutual insurance funds, supply is very competitive. Nevertheless, there exists anecdotal evidence that high risk/high cost patients are prevented from joining private schemes.
o The Ministry of Health may consequently be burdened with an extraordinarily large share of bad-risk patients (ib.: 6). The government is also the insurer of last resort for all individuals without any health care coverage.
• Jordan
o In Jordan, approximately 240,000 individuals (5 % of the population) are reported to have private health care coverage. Adding to this, another 152,200 people receive coverage through employerbased self-insurance (data: NHA Jordan, 2000).
o Compared to other forms of health care coverage, the number of privately insured is relatively insignificant;
i.e., 81 % of Jordan’s population is reported to have any form of health insurance.
o Furthermore, private health insurance programs do not offer a real alternative to social schemes. Of the 20 companies that are licensed to sell health insurance only one offers full coverage.
o Coverage through PHI may equally be bounded by the small volume of group insurance that is sold in the country. Large companies, which would be the primary channels through which to distribute group insurance schemes, apparently prefer to rely on self-insurance programs.
o The number of uninsured people is estimated to be around 30 % of Jordan’s population while about 20 % of the ones insured are reported to have multiple coverage.
• Iran
o Low coverage rates are also problematic in Iran. Although official statistics (e.g., Medical Service Insurance Organization, Social Security Organization) claim that 90 % of the Iranian population has health insurance, the number of uninsured is estimated to range around 30 %.
o This situation may be explained by considerable overlap between certain insurance categories (i.e., people have multiple coverage), which raises concerns about the efficiency of the specific insurance organizations (NHA Iran, 1998).
o Private funds are the most important source of health care financing in Iran. In 1998, household contributed 53 % of total health expenditure through OOP while 5.5 % where channeled through different insurance organizations.
o Apart from specialized insurance companies, PHI is also offered through banks that insure their employees (including dependents) and the through the radio and TV network. Contributions to specialized insurance companies are shared among firms and employees while insurance packages exclusively cover inpatient services in private hospitals.
The services covered through bank insurance schemes, on the other hand, include physician services, pharmaceuticals, dental and laboratory services, as well as expenses for radiology and imaging.
o Given the large extent to which people are willing and able to co-pay for medical treatment at private hospitals (on average, 65 % of all medical bills were paid by patients) PHI may be able to increase its popularity and mobilize further resources by offering more comprehensive packages.
• A common feature of insurance markets in Middle Eastern countries seems to be a lack of policy co-ordination and institutional responsibility.
o Experience from Jordan suggests that there is little coordination between the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is responsible for PHI regulation and control, and the Ministry of Health.
o In Lebanon, each separate branch of the insurance industry is associated with a distinct supervising ministry. Evidently, such shared responsibilities make public oversight very difficult.
o Strategic planning and policy co-ordination is equally constrained in Turkey as the whole health care sector is highly fragmented. Under such circumstances, it will be very difficult to formulate a national strategy for the future development of PHI.
• Due to insufficient public oversight the industry may produce inefficiencies like multiple coverage as reported for Jordan and Iran.
• Better coordination mechanisms between respective ministries may arguably decrease uncertainty and improve market outcomes. Similar objectives can be attained by clearly defining areas in which PHI may support, complement, or substitute other forms of health care coverage.
• Particularly important is a clear distinction between private and public responsibilities in order to prevent unnecessary overlap between the two.
• Without efficient regulatory instruments, it will be difficult to prevent market failures like cream skimming, cost and premium escalation, as well as fraud, which are basically confirmed for all countries in the Middle East that partly rely on PHI.
• Equity targets will equally be put into jeopardy if the state does not accomplish sound administrative and regulatory capacities.
o In Lebanon, the lack of an effective supply side control is seen to have contributed to the recent cost and premium escalation in the health care sector.
Low Penetration Level Makes Middle East Insurance a Lucrative Sector
http://insurancenewsnet.com/article.aspx?id=219729&type=newswires
• With the total insurance penetration below 10% of insurable population in the Middle East, it is expected that the region will witness rapid growth in near future.
• As per research report “Middle East Insurance Market Forecast to 2012″, takaful will play a major role in the Middle East insurance sector.
o In the past, it has grown at a rate of 135% in the UAE, followed by 69% in Bahrain.
o Young educated population and government initiatives will fuel growth in the insurance sector of the region.
• The report gives details about the market size of these countries and states that Israel was the largest market in the region for insurance premium, followed by Turkey and UAE. Additionally, the report forecasts the future growth rates of the insurance markets in all these countries.
Note: it’s collection of online reserach information. No liability in any way.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | September 8, 2010
Medical Tourism Research – Dr Prem Jagyasi on City 7 TV – Buisness Inside
Dr Prem Jagyasi, MD & CEO of ExHealth, Specialized Medical Tourism consultancy firm spoke with Katie at City & TV in Business Inside Show about his medical tourism research report. Available to download from www.DrPrem.com
Dr Prem Jagyasi answered about Middle East Medical Tourism, Growing demand in medical tourism, steps middle eastern countries and other countries need to take to develop medical tourism. He also spoke about Health care reform.
He emphasized on medical tourism certification program for facilitator, and also expresses happiness on Dubai taking sponsorship at World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress.
links:
Original Video – http://www.youtube.com/user/InsideBusiness01#p/a/u/0/3npc…
www.ExHealth.com
www.DrPrem.com
www.MedicalTourismassociation.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Medical Tourism
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | September 8, 2010
Medical Tourism Sparks Public Private Partnership in UAE
Dubai Health Authoirties recent decision to promote medical tourism will spark Public Private Partnership. The Medical tourism extend many benefits, more than obvious. It just not only brings international revenue, it improves national healthcare services, as more organizations opt for international accreditation. It also opens door for healthcare innovation. What’s most importnat that it creates platform for Public Private Partnership, which is essential for growth of healthcare industry.
Dr Prem Jagyasi
www.DrPrem.com
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | September 8, 2010
Medical Tourism Congress discuss superbug – Saberi, Gulfnews
Dubai: The superbug that has taken the world by storm and its impact on medical tourism is to top the agenda at the World Medical Tourism Congress meeting this month in Los Angeles where Dubai is to be a diamond sponsor.
The so-called “superbug” is an enzyme named the New Delhi Mettallo-1 (NDM-1).
Renee-Marie Stephano, president of the Medical Tourism Association, said a special session on international threats to global medical tourism would be held at the congress from September 22 to 24.
“Though it’s too early to reach to any conclusion, we consider it a important issue,” she said in a statement.
The congress is expected to attract experts from 70 countries and from the Centre for Disease Control in a bid to educate industry representatives about this new threat. It is also expected to discuss expatriate healthcare travel insurance.
Meanwhile, Dubai is keen to promote itself on the global medical tourism map.
“Medical tourism is an integral aspect of healthcare, especially in the context of today’s globalised world,” said Qadi Saeed Al Muroushid, director-general of the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), on the reasons for its sponsorship of the congress.
Dr Prem Jagyasi, honorary chief strategy officer at the US-based Medical Tourism Association, told Gulf News that the “superbug” was potentially a very serious threat.
“The public has to some extent become inured to such pronouncements and have become quite cynical about them,” he said. “My concern is that there will be an equivalent level of cynicism about the NDM-1.”
Normal practice
India has objected to the name of the enzyme, saying it could have serious effects on its medical tourism industry.
“We shouldn’t really get too diverted on issues of semantics or a blame game and instead [we should] look for ways to co-operate internationally to stop this threat [from] becoming a pandemic reality, ” Dr Jagyasi said.
“I think it’s normal practice in bionmial nomenclature to name an organism after the place where it is first identified,” he added.
“Superbugs are present in many countries. Such a threat can originate from anywhere across the globe. It would be more appropriate if researchers and destinations work together to identify threat and take most appropriate course of action to control it.”
He said it was too early to tell whether medical tourism to India would be adversely affected, as regulatory bodies were still gauging their response to the threat.
Read online at www.gulfnews.com
Posted in Uncategorized | Tags: Medical Tourism, Superbug
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | September 6, 2010
New superbug threat can’t be ignored – Asma Ali Zain – Khaleej Times
4 September 2010 DUBAI — Medical tourism from the UAE to India may not be affected due to the emergence of a ‘new superbug’ though the threat should not be underestimated, said an expert.
“It is too early to say whether outgoing medical tourism — that is to say medical tourism that involves patients travelling from the UAE to India — will be directly affected by concerns over the new superbug,” said Dr Prem Jagyasi, a renowned Dubai-based medical tourism consultant who serves the Medical Tourism Association as Honorary Chief Strategy Officer.
“The threat to health that it presents should not be underestimated as this superbug is in reality an enzyme that potentially poses a much bigger problem than if it was just one single organism. It is, in fact, a form of protein that can enter many different types of bacteria, rendering them untreatable with antibiotics,” he said. Modern medical tourism has meant that bacteria carrying the NDM-1 gene can easily be transported to the host country and this could, in theory, mean that they can spread quickly around the world, he added.
“The effect of the NDM-1 virus on global medical tourism will entirely depend on its pattern of spread. Its rapid appearance in India over the past three years and its recently observed transmission to other countries via medical tourism has shocked many scientists and as a result, has garnered a great deal of media attention,” he said.
“Certain other health scares, such as the recent fears of an H1N1 influenza pandemic, have received a similar degree of attention but have ultimately resulted in a great deal of cynicism from the public when the threat didn’t materialise and when it transpired that pharmaceutical organisations stood to make a huge amount of money from it through the selling of vaccines.
“Even though drug companies can’t really profit from this particular threat, my concern is that there will be an equivalent level of public cynicism about it,” he added. According to Dr Prem despite the risks, healthcare treatment in India would continue to be an attractive proposition for many because of the financial savings involved.
“The average cost of heart by-pass surgery in the UAE, for example, is $44,000, compared with just $10,000 in India,” he said.
He opined that medical tourism was now big business across the globe, with estimates of its value to India alone being $2 billion a year by 2012. “The Medical Tourism Association, a non-profit organisation that represents the interests of this sector, is certainly not being complacent in the face of this new threat,” he said.
“The NDM-1 concern is due to be discussed at a special session at the forthcoming Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism Congress, which is taking place this month in Los Angeles.”
Dr Prem, who is also the MD and CEO of ExHealth said that medical tourism providers needed to keep themselves fully apprised of the risks involved and even pass this on to their clients.
“Profits should never be put ahead of patient safety. There also needs to be greater communication and interaction between the health authorities of both countries, so that the UAE government is in a position to give adequate guidelines to its citizens where necessary,” he said. — asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com
Posted in News | Tags: Healthcare Quality, Medical Tourism, Superbug
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | August 30, 2010
Medical Tourism Healthcare Leaders Awards to be Announced at LA Conference
Medical Tourism Association announces Medical Tourism Healthcare Leaders Awards to be presented to organizations and individuals, in presence of world leaders and government representatives from over 60 countries during World’s Biggest Global Healthcare and Medical Tourism Congress, taking place this September 22-24 in Los Angeles, www.MedicalTourismCongress.com
Explaining the notion behind award program, Renee-Marie Stephano, President of Medical Tourism Association said, “It’s a strategic initiative which will work as a stimulator to eventually bring positive results for the medical tourism industry, intended to encourage and promote quality and best practices by industry players, whilst keeping consumer benefits in mind.”
The Awards will be presented to some of the leading Medical Tourism Facilitators and International Hospitals. Awards will also be given to some of the first US and international insurance companies that have or are going to be implementing medical tourism.
“We must recognize how insurance companies have implemented medical tourism and those that understand the quality and importance of this emerging industry” Said Dr Prem Jagyasi, Chief Strategy Officer of Medical Tourism Association. “The efforts of such organization shouldn’t go unnoticed hence we have initiated a process to identify international hospitals, facilitators and insurance companies in the Middle East, Europe, Asia, North America and Latin America who are participating actively in medical tourism growth.” added Dr Prem Jagyasi.
A special award will also be given to those Governments have worked diligently, through public private partnership to develop a brand, setting their country, city or region as a leader in medical tourism.
“The industry has come a very long way since the formation of the Medical Tourism Association. As a trade association, we would like to recognize some of the organizations and individuals that have really made a difference in the industry and have helped it to grow. I think it is very important to recognize those insurance companies, employers and insurance agents who have implemented medical tourism for being at the forefront of their industry with progressive healthcare implementation. It also extremely important to recognize those geographies that have providing relentless support to their private sector providers to assist in their medical tourism program development,” said Ms. Stephano.
The Medical Tourism Association is widely recognized to promote quality practices, has successfully developed & executed educational initiatives for healthcare providers and facilitators through various platforms like international & regional congresses, magazine, workshops, amongst other platforms.“
After establishing best practices, now it’s time to reward healthcare organizations and facilitators who they have implemented best practices. There are medical tourism facilitators that are having terrific success, sending over 100 patients per month for medical procedures. There are hospitals that provide patients experiences comprehensive to establish a loyal and passionate patient base. We would like to recognize their continued efforts towards to establish a high quality continuum of care and focus on patient safety processes,” said Jonathan Edelheit CEO of the Medical Tourism Association.
The Medical Tourism Healthcare Leaders Awards will be released on September 23rd, 2010 at 6:30 pm at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles; individuals participating in upcoming Global Healthcare & Medical Tourism Congress are exclusively invited to join this prestigious event. The awards will be given each year annually at the MTA’s annual event, the World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress.
This year’s conference will feature up to 2,000 attendees, up to 140 exhibitors and sponsors, and over 100 speakers from over 60 countries. The conference is the dedicated annual event of the Medical Tourism Association, the nonprofit trade association in the Medical Tourism industry, http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com, and media partner Medical Tourism Magazine, http://www.medicaltourismmag.com the only dedicated magazine for the medical tourism and global healthcare industry, and by Medical Tourism City, www.medicaltourismcity.com, a social network for the medical tourism and global healthcare industry with over one thousand participants from over sixty countries.
The 3rd World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress will also feature two additional conferences, the Expatriate Healthcare, Travel Insurance and Global Health Insurance Conference, http://www.expatriateconference.com, which focuses on international employers and insurance companies, and the Sustainable Healthcare and Hospital Development Conference, http://www.healthcaredevelopmentconference.com , which focuses on the growth of medical tourism in the healthcare sector and the building and development of healthcare facilities around the world.
Amelia Fernandez
US 001.561.792.6676
amelia@medicaltourismcongress.com
http://medicaltourismcongress.com/
Read online at http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Medical-Tourism-Healthcare-iw-462201784.html?x=0&.v=1
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | August 9, 2010
35 countries identified as important medical tourism destinations in a research
Read complete research and survey report at http://www.drprem.com/medical_tourism_research_and_survey.html
Medical tourism destinations.
Thirty Five (35) countries in total were identified as being medical tourism destinations, which were (in alphabetical order): Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Caribbean, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, UAE, UK and USA.
India, Thailand and Singapore were ranked first, second and third as the most popular medical tourism destinations respectively. The United States was placed at number four.
The top three reasons identified as essential components of a good medical tourism destination were ‘Quality standards of healthcare and wellness services’ which was marked by 51% of respondents, followed by ‘Accessibility of the destination’ at 30% and ‘Technology, facilities & specializations available’ at 27%.
Note:
The survey was completed by 159 respondents, the vast majority (95%) who were industry experts. Not all answered this particular question, so the analysis here should not be considered comprehensive
Do not copy. Please read research report and important notes at http://www.drprem.com/medical_tourism_research_and_survey.html
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | August 7, 2010
Medical tourism research conclusion
Medical Tourism Research conclusion. Read complete research and survey report at http://www.drprem.com/medical_tourism_research_and_survey.html
Conclusion
The medical tourism is going through exciting phase where alongside of international activities, more intra-regional travels are taking places in this sector of the health market. The responses received clearly revealed that there is an overwhelming perception among the industry leaders that there is so much more that can be achieved within this sector. However, there are challenges, which require immediate attention of industry stakeholders.
An overwhelming majority of the respondents felt that there was great deal of potential for medical tourism that at present remains untapped, with the perceived major concern being one of complications following treatment. Confusion and a lack of information were also cited here as being factors and one particularly significant finding was that only 8% of respondents believed that there was a perception that health tourism offered no benefits at all.
The perceptions from the respondents were that participants who actively engage in medical tourism do so primarily because of an economic standpoint, with additional important factors being that they can access a treatment that may not be available in their home countries, or if available, there is an unacceptable delay involved before being able to receive it.
The most popular destinations were believed to be those in the Far East and Asia, with the U.S. coming in at number four – an unexpected finding that could mean that there are good opportunities for this country to create inbound medical tourism. Malaysia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Brazil and Costa Rica also made to list of top ten destinations. The quality of healthcare services at a destination is deemed to be of supreme importance.
It is clear from the replies that the respondents believe that the role of facilitators in medical tourism is significant; with 88% agreeing that they were ‘important/very important.’ It is the compiler’s overall conclusion (based on the survey findings) that the main key to increasing the uptake of primary medical tourist services is to successfully overcome the confusion, lack of accessible information and fear about healthcare services in other countries. Medical tourism facilitators are in a prime position to do this by utilizing their expertise in this area and harnessing their knowledge to media or public information programs to demystify aspects of the sector.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 29, 2010
Medical Tourism Research Released
A survey published today by a prominent Medical Tourism consultant has revealed that 94% of medical tourism industry insiders believe their sector of the industry has yet to reach its full potential. The report, which can be viewed on-line at www.DrPrem.com, shows that confusion, a lack of information and fear about complications following surgery are the main reasons for patient reluctance to cross international borders for health services.
“The medical tourism industry is going through an exciting phase where international and intra-regional activities are taking places within this sector of the health market,” said Dr. Prem Jagyasi, architect of the survey and an experienced consultant in the healthcare travel sector. “The responses received clearly revealed that there is an overwhelming perception among industry leaders that there is so much more that can be achieved,” he added.
The findings are particularly interesting as more than 35 countries were identified as important medical tourism destinations. Of the 35 countries, India was ranked as the number one popular destination, with Thailand and Singapore positioned at second and third places respectively. The United States had a surprise ranking at number four.
“The Asian and Far Eastern countries are well-established medical tourism destinations, so the top three placing were expected,” said Dr. Jagyasi. “The United States came in at number four, which clearly indicate Medical Tourism is not all about low price affairs. The quality of healthcare services at a destination is deemed to be of utmost importance. Latin American and European countries were in the top ten, indicating that medical tourism is not dominated by one continent or geography – it’s a truly global industry” added Dr Prem Jagyasi who is also Honorary Chief Strategy Officer of Medical Tourism Association, world’s biggest non-profit organization of this particular industry, based in Florida US with representative office across the world.
The purpose of the health tourism survey, according to Dr. Jagyasi, was to gain valuable insights into aspects of medical tourism from professionals who are closely involved with the industry. Ninety-five per cent of the survey’s participants identified themselves as being either directly or indirectly involved with healthcare travel in the scope of their work and the resulting information supplied by these insiders revealed many important facts concerning this specialised sector; including its terms, trends, status, opportunities and challenges. The knowledge gleaned from the survey will be used to promote this sector of the healthcare industry and will provide important content for a soon-to-be published guidebook for consumers who are considering undertaking treatment abroad.
“One of the survey questions enquired why the respondents thought that there may be a reluctance in some consumers to participate in healthcare tourism and the main responses we received were that they may have concerns about complications, experience confusion over aspects of available services, be uninformed and find the option complicated,” said Dr. Jagyasi. “This is important information, as it clearly shows that education is a vital component in allowing us to facilitate medical tourism to reach its greatest potential. If we can allay people’s fears about foreign treatments and guide potential health tourists with information on what to expect and important advice on visa and travel issues, then we will be providing a vital service and as well as giving a welcome boost to the region’s health sector,” he added.
Hence, Dr Prem Jagyasi has taken initiative to publish a guidebook. He has high hopes that it will become a handy reference tool for those wanting to know more about the intricacies of travelling across borders for healthcare services. The book is the latest achievement in his specialist interest in medical tourism and he has visited more than 20 countries and spoken at 30 international congresses relating to this sector of the healthcare industry. “Medical tourism can offer huge benefits in terms of quality of service and its affordability, in fact, the survey revealed that industry leaders view these as being its key drivers,” he said. “The industry is set to grow enormously over the next two decades as more and more destinations open up to patients from overseas,” he added.
The medical tourism survey was conducted on-line and contained questions that had been developed over a six month period and based on intensive research. The qualitative assessment was sent to medical tourism professionals in North America, South America, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Gulf regions, Asia and the Far East. It found that medical tourism facilitators are in a prime position to capitalise on the promising opportunities offered by this sector of the health market; with 88% of respondents agreeing that role of facilitator – those agencies providing health-related travel services – are either important or very important in this segment.
Selected Observations from Survey Results (Download complete report from www.DrPrem.com )
– The preferred term from respondents for this particular sector of the
healthcare industry is ‘Medical Tourism’, with 35% selecting this
option. ‘Global Healthcare’ was the next most popular term at 22%, with
‘Health Tourism’ running a close third at 21%. “Medical Travel’ was
identified by 10% of respondents as their preferred description, with
‘Healthcare Travel’ and ‘Value Medical Travel’ both at 6%.
– 35 countries in total were identified as being medical tourism
destinations; which were (in alphabetical order: Argentina, Australia,
Belgium, Brazil, Caribbean, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, France, Germany,
Hungary, India, Israel, Japan, Jordan, Malaysia, Mexico, Morocco, New
Zealand, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South
Africa, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, Tunisia,
Turkey, UAE, UK and USA.
– India, Thailand and Singapore were ranked first, second and third as the
most popular medical tourism destinations respectively. The United
States was placed at number four.
– 94% of respondents agreed with a statement that medical tourism was yet
to reach its full potential.
– The four most popular reasons given for why patients travel abroad to
receive medical treatment were ‘Affordability (costly in home country)’
at 88%, ‘Accessibility (waiting period is high)’ at 66% ‘Better quality
(care and support services are better quality than the home country) at
38% and ‘Availability (not available in home country) at 46%.
– The four most popular reasons given for patients being unwilling to
avail themselves of treatment abroad were ‘Concern about complications’
at 50%, ‘Confusion’ at 46%, patients being ‘Uninformed’ at 44% and
finding the option ‘Complicated’ at 39%
– The top four challenges to the medical tourism industry were identified
as being ‘Accessing reliable information’ at 59%, ‘Too many newcomers
jumping on the medical tourism bandwagon, not experienced or
understanding of the industry’ at 54%, ‘Lack of pre and post operative
care arrangements at 52% and ‘Complicated intra-country laws and legal
procedures’ at 49%.
– The top three reasons identified that are essential components of a good
medical tourism destination were ‘Quality standards of healthcare and
wellness services’ which was marked by 51% of respondents, followed by
‘Accessibility of the destination’ at 30% and ‘Technology, facilities &
specialisations available’ at 27%.
– The survey takers were asked why they thought Medical tourism was a new
‘buzzword’ (or more accurately a ‘buzz phrase’). Fifty-six per cent
(56%) agreed that it was ‘Because increasing numbers are travelling for
healthcare’, with almost the same percentage (55%) also agreeing that it
was ‘Because medical tourism benefits a cross section, including
governments insurance companies, travel/tourism, healthcare and
facilitators’. Fifty-seven per cent (57%) agreed that it was ‘Because it
offers value for money’ and 46% said that it was ‘Because big hospitals
are promoting it’.
– The role of facilitators in the industry was deemed by the respondents
to be significant (an explanation of facilitators being that they
arrange medical tourism either in part or in whole for health tourists).
Sixty-one per cent (61%) said that facilitators were ‘Very important’,
27% said that they were ‘Important’, 10% regarded them as ‘Optional’ and
2% said that they were ‘Not important’.
About ExHealth:
Motivated by a creative vision and committed to an innovative mission, ExHealth offers a comprehensive array of tailor-made, media-related healthcare services, encompassing Marketing, Public Relations, Conference and Event Management, Design & Publication, Healthcare Tourism Consulting and Medical Management Consulting, all of which are located under one roof at Dubai HealthCare City. ExHealth’s key concern is to perform and execute incomparable solutions for healthcare organisations across all sectors of the industry. Aiming to achieve and surpass its customers’ stated goals, ExHealth is focused on ensuring that its clients’ business has the edge in today’s competitive market place.
About Dr Prem Jagyasi
Dr Prem Jagyasi is a successful entrepreneur and experienced strategic professional. He is a renowned chartered management, healthcare marketing and medical tourism consultant responsible for providing high-profile consultancy services to both government authorities and private healthcare organisations. Dr. Prem Jagyasi’s commitment to developing medical tourism has seen him become a leading figure in the international healthcare tourism world.
Currently, Dr Prem Jagyasi is MD & CEO of ExHealth; a Dubai Health Care City-based firm engaged in offering multi-dimensional healthcare solutions across the international domain. He also serves the Medical Tourism Association – a non-profit organization based in USA – as Honorary Chief Strategy Officer. He is also the Chief Editor of UAE’s leading health magazine, HealthFirst, which is published in association with one of the region’s leading English language daily newspapers.
Direct Download Link
http://www.drprem.com/Medical_Tourism_Research_and_Survey_Report_by_Dr_Prem_Jagyasi.pdf
Contact:
Contacts:
Dr Prem Jagyasi’s Office
ExHealth, Dubai HealthCare City, Dubai, UAE
Info@ExHealth.com
To Contribute in Medical Tourism Guidebook Contact
Irene Gaela
Irene@ExHealth.com
www.ExHealth.com – www.DrPrem.com
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 21, 2010
China’s Largest Private Healthcare Group Introduces Traditional Chinese Medicine for Medical Tourism
China’s Largest Private Healthcare Group Introduces Traditional Chinese Medicine for Medical Tourism
Guangzhou, China, July 12, 2010 — Boai Medical Group, China’s largest private medical organization, has commenced international operations that will provide unique medical tourism services for international patients. The move allows for the Group’s specialist treatment modality of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) combined with Western medicine to be provided for a wider patient group. Modern Hospital Guangzhou – a flagship institution within the Boai Group – is spearheading the expansion and has recently appointed an international medical tourism consultancy firm to develop its marketing and improve its patient quality practices.
“TCM has long been established as a mainstream medical model throughout the whole of East Asia, but in the Western world, it is considered an alternative health system,” said Carlos Che, M.D., professor of Oncology at Modern Hospital Guangzhou. “What we offer is a treatment program 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.”
Modern Hospital Guangzhou is one of Boai Group’s 56 medical institutions in China and has pioneered combining modern medical techniques with traditional forms of treatment. The hospital has highly specialized centers to treat infertility, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and is renowned for its advanced cancer treatments. Cancer, in its various forms, remains one of the most significant life-threatening conditions in human history, with the World Health Organization revealing that around 7.6 million people across the globe died of the disease in 2008 — a figure that equates to almost 20,000 per day.
“The established Western techniques to treat cancer involve surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy, but at Modern Hospital we utilize TCM to improve the efficacy of this treatment,” Dr. Che added.
Research appears to validate this particular treatment modality. In one study, Professor Lin Hongsheng, deputy director of the Chinese Journal Professional Association of Integrative Oncology, applied “Fuzheng Anti-cancer Prescription” in conjunction with Western medication for 56 patients with advanced gastric cancer post surgery. The patients were followed up for 12 years, with the results revealing that their five-year and 10-year survival rates were 30.36 percent and 12.5 percent respectively — statistics that revealed that the approach was more successful than alternative treatment options. Similarly, Zhang Wen, M.D., from Shanghai Cancer Hospital, successfully applied the Chinese medicine Kanglaite by injection for liver cancer treatment. This increased the five-year survival rate for liver cancer patients by 15 percent.
Boai Group has recently appointed a leading medical tourism consultancy firm, ExHealth, to develop its practice within Medical Tourism Industry. ExHealth will be partnering with the Group to assist it with aspects relating to international patient practices and to identify new opportunities for them, as well as providing support on ethical, cultural, and legal issues.
Posted in Uncategorized
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 20, 2010
Resilience of GCC Healthcare Sector Fuels Need for Specialist Service Agencies
Resilience of GCC Healthcare Sector Fuels Need for Specialist Healthcare Service Agencies
Dubai, UAE, July 20: The continued buoyancy of the regional healthcare sector is providing ample opportunities for dedicated service industries to capitalise on its growth, according to a leading figure in the healthcare support field. Dr. Prem Jagyasi, CEO and MD of ExHealth, an agency that provides communications solutions for healthcare stakeholders, believes that the predictions of a steady growth for the industry bode well for specialist providers catering to healthcare organisations.
“The healthcare sector in the Gulf region has shown considerable resilience in the face of the economic downturn and the forecast is for this to continue,” he said, speaking yesterday. “It is estimated that by 2025, the Gulf’s healthcare market will increase fivefold and this steady growth has created opportunities for specialist providers offering tertiary services for the industry,” he added.
Dr. Jagyasi says that the growth in the healthcare sector is being underpinned by a maturing of the market, in which both major and minor players are outsourcing aspects of their operations to specialists in order to steal a march on their competition. He cites communications as being one area where stakeholders are keen to maintain their edge.
“Spreading the word about your organisation is a fundamental ingredient for success and effective public relations is vital to get ahead,” he said. “Industry growth equates to much more competition in the market place and you have to make your product or service stand out from the crowd in order to fully capitalise on the prevailing conditions,” he added.
Analysts have valued the GCC healthcare market at being between USD 15 billion and USD 18 billion last year, with a report published by Alpen Capital estimating that its growth would be about 9% annually to reach between USD 47 billion and USD 55 billion by 2020. This expansion is necessary to service an increasing population, with the GCC’s current population growth rate being around five per cent a year – a rate that will see its 39 million inhabitants double over the next 20 years. US management consultant McKinsey & Company predicts that the cost of healthcare in the GCC will increase by 240 per cent over this period.
In addition to the continued relocation of expatriates to the Gulf region, life expectancy among its established population is rising. The average age of a GCC inhabitant is now 76 years, which is just two years less than that of a US citizen. This figure is between 20-50% more than the various Gulf State countries life expectancies in 1970, revealing the great strides forward that have been made in the region’s healthcare provision over the last 40 years.
Although Dr. Jagyasi is sanguine about the opportunities presented to tertiary services through the continued expansion of the healthcare sector, he is also quick to recognise the wider health challenges posed for the region.
“Chronic ailments such as diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease and other obesity-related illnesses continue to place a burden on the GCC health sector,” he said. “A sedentary lifestyle and the popularity of a fast food diet are just two of the bad habits adopted from the west that are causing health issues in the GCC population. When you add to these factors the global shortage of healthcare professionals to provide the necessary services, you can see that there are still considerable challenges to be faced,” he added.
ExHealth is extending marketing services opportunities for international healthcare organizations looking to tap into growing GCC healthcare market.
-Ends-
About ExHealth
Motivated by a creative vision and committed to an innovative mission, ExHealth offers a comprehensive array of tailor-made, media-related healthcare services, encompassing Marketing, Public Relations, Conference and Event Management, Design & Publication, Healthcare Tourism Consulting and Medical Management Consulting, all of which are located under one roof at Dubai HealthCare City.
ExHealth’s key concern is to perform and execute incomparable solutions for healthcare organizations across all sectors of the industry. Aiming to achieve and surpass its customers’ stated goals, ExHealth is focused on ensuring that its clients’ business has the edge in today’s competitive market place.
For more information, please contact:
Irene Gaela
Executive Assitant – Dr Prem’s Office
ExHealth, Dubai HealthCare City, Dubai, UAE
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 17, 2010
Motivational Quotes Collection – Shared by Dr Prem Jagyasi
Below are some good motivational quotes. I just thought to share with my friends.
Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbour. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.
Mark Twain
Let others lead small lives, but not you. Let others argue over small things, but not you. Let others cry over small hurts, but not you. Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.
Jim Rohn
I challenge you to make your life a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk.
Anthony Robbins
The secret of getting ahead is getting started
Mark Twain
For true success ask yourself these four questions: Why? Why not? Why not me? Why not now?
James Allen
Our greatest glory is not in never failing but in rising up every time we fail
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It is hard to fail, but it is worse never to have tried to succeed.
Theodore Roosevelt
Fortune favours the brave.
Publius Terence
Ah, but a man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?
Robert Browning
People often say that motivation doesn’t last. Well, neither does bathing that’s why we recommend it daily.
Zig Ziglar
Desire is the starting point of all achievement, not a hope, not a wish, but a keen pulsating desire, which transcends everything.
Napoleon Hill
People become really quite remarkable when they start thinking that they can do things. When they believe in themselves they have the first secret of success.
Norman Vincent Peale
Learn to enjoy every minute of your life. Be happy now. Don’t wait for something outside of yourself to make you happy in the future. Think how really precious is the time you have to spend, whether it’s at work or with your family. Every minute should be enjoyed and savoured.
Earl Nightingale
Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though chequered by failure, than to take rank with those poor souls who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.
Theodore Roosevelt
We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.
Aristotle
Impossible is a word to be found only in the dictionary of fools.
Napoleon Bonaparte
The only way of finding the limits of the possible is by going beyond them into the impossible.
Arthur C. Clarke
Men are born to succeed, not fail.
Henry David Thoreau
What we can or cannot do, what we consider possible or impossible, is rarely a function of our true capability. It is more likely a function of our beliefs about who we are.
Anthony Robbins
Every human has four endowmentsselfawareness, conscience, independent will and creative imagination. These give us the ultimate human freedom… The power to choose, to respond, to change.
Stephen Covey
All the breaks you need in life wait within your imagination, Imagination is the workshop of your mind, capable of turning mind energy into accomplishment and wealth.
Napoleon Hill
There is just one life for each of us: our own.
Euripides
You can have anything you want, if you want it badly enough. You can be anything you want to be, do anything you set out to accomplish if you hold to that desire with singleness of purpose.
Abraham Lincoln
If you deliberately plan on being less than you are capable of being, then I warn you that you’ll be unhappy for the rest of your life.
Abraham H. Maslow
Remember, happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have, it depends solely upon what you think.
Dale Carnegie
The only man who never makes mistakes is the man who never does anything.
Theodore Roosevelt
The world has the habit of making room for the man whose words and actions show that he knows where he is going – Napoleon Hill
Circumstance does not make the man; it reveals him to himself -
James Allen
The greater danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it
Michelangelo
Your life is in your hands, to make of it what you choose
John Kehoe
Selfpity gets you nowhere. One must have the adventurous daring to accept oneself as a bundle of possibilities and undertake the most interesting game in the world making the most of one’s best.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions.
Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr
The nearest way to glory is to strive to be what you wish to be thought to be.
Socrates
The man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away.
Charles Schwab
Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
At least three times every day take a moment and ask yourself what is really important. Have the wisdom and the courage to build your life around your answer.
Lee Jampolsky
To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
It’s not who you are that holds you back, it’s who you think you’re not.
Unknown
Simplicity is the key to brilliance.
Bruce Lee
There is no end. There is no beginning. There is only the infinite passion of life.
Federico Fellini
Work as though you would live forever, and live as though you would die today.
Og Mandino
If you believe in what you are doing, then let nothing hold you up in your work. Much of the best work of the world has been done against seeming impossibilities.
Dale Carnegie
There is no such thing in anyone’s life as an unimportant day.
Alexander Woollcott
All successful people men and women are big dreamers. They imagine what their future could be, ideal in every respect, and then they work every day toward their distant vision, that goal or purpose.
Brian Tracy
The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.
Mark Twain
There are no accidents… there is only some purpose that we haven’t yet understood.
Deepak Chopra
They can because they think they can.
Virgil
There are those who dream and wish and there are those who dream and work.
Jeune.E. McIntyre.
No man is a failure who is enjoying life.
William Feather
Death is not the biggest fear we have; our biggest fear is taking the risk to be alive the risk to be alive and express what we really are.
Don Miguel Ruiz
You and I are essentially infinite choicemakers. In every moment of our existence, we are in that field of all possibilities where we have access to an infinity of choices.
Deepak Chopra
What the mind of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve.
Napoleon Hill
Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it. No idleness, no delay, no procrastination; never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.
Earl of Chesterfield
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could; some blunders and absurdities have crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; you shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.
Pope John XXIII
Look at a day when you are supremely satisfied at the end. It’s not a day when you lounge around doing nothing, it’s when you’ve had everything to do and you’ve done it.
Margaret Thatcher
You must be the change you wish to see in the world.
Mahatma Gandhi
The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.
Eleanor Roosevelt
You will never possess what you are unwilling to pursue.
Mike Murdock
I’ve come to believe that all my past failure and frustrations were actually laying the foundation for the understandings that have created the new level of living I now enjoy.
Anthony Robbins
If you don’t risk anything, then you risk even more.
Erica Jong
It was character that got us out of bed, commitment that moved us into action, and discipline that enabled us to follow through.
Zig Ziglar
No matter how hard the past, you can always begin again.
Buddha
Everything that is happening at this moment is a result of the choices you’ve made in the past.
Deepak Chopra
Cherish your visions and your dreams, as they are the children of your soul, the blueprints of your ultimate achievements.
Napoleon Hill
Successful people make money. It’s not that people who make money become successful, but that successful people attract money. They bring success to what they do.
Wayne Dyer
Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently.
Henry Ford
Victory belongs to the most persevering.
Napoleon Bonaparte
Dream lofty dreams, and as you dream, so you shall become. Your vision is the promise of what you shall one day be; your ideal is the prophecy of what you shall at last unveil.
James Allen
The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, not to worry about the future, nor to anticipate troubles, but to live in the present moment wisely and earnestly.
Buddha
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is.
Albert Einstein
Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you’ve imagined.
Henry David Thoreau
Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.
T. S. Elliot
All that we are is the result of what we have thought.
Buddha
It is not because things are difficult that we do not dare, it is because we do not dare that they are difficult.
Seneca
It was a high counsel that I once heard given to a young person, “Always do what you are afraid to do.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The best motivation is selfmotivation. The guy says, “I wish someone would come by and turn me on.” What if they don’t show up? You’ve got to have a better plan for your life.
Jim Rohn
It is better to be hated for what you are than to be loved for what you are not.
Andre Gide
Our strength grows out of our weakness.
Ralph Waldo Emerson
Confidence is a habit that can be developed by acting as if you already had the confidence you desire to have.
Brian Tracy
You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing that you think you cannot do.
Eleanor Roosevelt
If a man does only what is required of him, he is a slave. If a man does more than is required of him, he is a free man.
Chinese Proverb
Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is to not stop questioning.
Albert Einstein
The better part of happiness is to wish to be what you are.
Desiderius Erasmus
The whole secret of a successful life is to find out what is one’s destiny to do, and then do it.
Henry Ford
Always bear in mind that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any one thing.
Abraham Lincoln
Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.
Albert Einstein
Are you bored with life? Then throw yourself into some work you believe in with all your heart, live for it, die for it, and you will find happiness that you had thought could never be yours.
Dale Carnegie
The greatest discovery of my generation is that a human being can alter his life by altering his attitudes of mind.
William James
Seize the moment of excited curiosity on any subject to solve your doubts; for if you let it pass, the desire may never return, and you may remain in ignorance.
William Wirt
What you are is what you have been, and what you will be is what you do now.
Buddha
We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world.
Buddha
The highest reward for man’s toil is not what he gets for it, but what he becomes by it.
John Ruskin
A day will never be anymore than what you make of it.
Josh S. Hinds
Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought.
Basho
If you always put limits on everything you do, physical or anything else. It will spread into your work and into your life. There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.
Bruce Lee
There are two rules for success: 1) Never tell everything you know…
Roger H. Lincoln
You were born with potential. You were born with goodness and trust. You were born with ideals and dreams. You were born with greatness. You were born with wings. You are not meant for crawling, so don’t. You have wings. Learn to use them and fly.
Rumi
Disclaimer:
Not sure about authenticity, content, author and editorial details. Content might be copyright material of respected author and owners.Author of Blog takes No responsibility, No liability in any way.
Cheers!!!
Posted in Sharing | Tags: inspirational quotes, inspiring quotes, motivational quotation, motivational Quotes, quotations
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 13, 2010
Essential components of a good medical tourism destination
Today’s health conscious populaces are more than just aware of the glaring wellbeing issues that surround them. Such knowledge triggers a desperate need among nations to fill the essential niche of global healthcare through Medical Tourism.
With privileges such as expanding infrastructure, improvised communication and wide-ranging conduits, the global healthcare industry is all set to develop at an intense pace over the next decades. The power of information at the health-seeker’s fingertips has also paved limitless capacities and shrunk the world into one global village. Small wonder that the number of people in quest of healthcare facilities overseas now runs into millions each year.
As more and more people continue to be convinced about the quality and perceive the advantages of treatment in developing countries, the countries proffering such treatment should keep in mind certain essential components that attract tourists who not just popularize the treatment destination but also add to the national per capita.
Hence, I am doing in-depth research on what are essential components of a good medical tourism destination. Finding of my research reports will be published soon in an international magazine.
Keep reading!!!
Dr Prem Jagyasi | www.DrPrem.com
Posted in reserarch | Tags: essential components, Medical Tourism Destination, medical Tourism research
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 8, 2010
Charging higher prices to international patients, how ethical it is? Inconsistency to price transparency in medical tourism is becoming a concern for industry.
In our recent s
tudy conducted by very efficient team, we discovered that many healthcare organization charges higher prices to international patients, and practice inconsistency to price transparency. While many price studies are conducted based on general prices for national patients, there is a need of new study, which gives a clear picture.
It is extreme important that Medical tourism providers and facilitators should adhere to standard guidelines and ethical practices to provide the best value and quality, inconsistency and escalated prices will lead to drastic damage for medical tourism industry.
Though there is nothing wrong in charging extra price for the international patients to compensate for addition work performed (only if it is) but such thing should be transparent for a patient. Dual pricing system—offering lower prices to domestic patients and unreasonably higher prices to international patients will keep medical tourism at bay.
There is a need of better practices and protocols. Who will bell the cat?
I am working on ethics in medical tourism article, I think price transparency is one of the important topic in medical tourism ethics.
Stay tuned, and please feel free to share your views.
Dr Prem Jagyasi
www.DrPrem.com
Posted in reserarch | Tags: ethics in medical tourism, internationa patient, Medical Tourism, price transparency
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 6, 2010
What is Transparency of Care in Medical Tourism?
Transparency of care in medical tourism is very essential component for overall success. Since medical tourism involves patients traveling to across the border, it might not be possible for patient to collect all necessary information in advance about healthcare indicators at destination. Hence, it’s essential that healthcare service provider should provide necessary information in utmost transparent manners to protect patient and medical tourism industry.
Patients should be made aware of any issues which might not be in knowledge of the international patient, including but not limited to cultural, legal and ethical issues.
Healthcare provider must disclose proper information about qualifications, licensing status and training of the healthcare professionals / surgeons / technical team. The information about the success results of operating teams should not be exaggerated. Medication errors, infection rates and death rates are factors that consumer should know prior to travel to destination. The healthcare provider should make available all destination related healthcare indicator for patients so they can prepare well in advance.
As much possible pre-operative diagnostic procedure should be done at home country of a patient to rule out any doubts, which could lead to non-performance of surgery or complication during / after surgery. There are many cases in which patients were refused by an international hospital because a patient didn’t meet surgical criteria, most of the time such as situation could have been avoided by doing few investigations in advance.
Hospitals should also arrange for information about country’s healthcare indicator including - recent disease outbreaks, prevalent, common communicable diseases or any specific disorder which might be importnat for a patient from a specific geography, etc.
Such practice is essential to create transparency of care in medical tourism. Above points are not comprehensive and are not discussed in complete intensity but provide good nutshell information for both patient and healthcare provider in relation to transparency in medical tourism.
by Dr Prem Jagyasi
www.DrPrem.com
Posted in Update | Tags: Medical Tourism, Transparency of Care
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 2, 2010
Understanding culture in Medical Tourism by Dr Prem Jagyasi – Medical Tourism Magazine
The understanding of cultural issues in Medical Tourism (Global Healthcare) is a two way process argues Dr Prem Jagyasi, a renowned Medical Tourism expert and consultant. Several Medical Tourism organizations believe that Understanding Culture in Medical Tourism is a one way process, and that they only need to understand patient’s cultural beliefs and behaviors. However, it is also necessary for a patient to understand the culture and behavior of the destination. The provider should take the responsibility of making cultural documents related to their destination available to patients.
Educating healthcare providers within a healthcare organization is a unilateral process, while educating patients, on the other hand, is a bilateral process. This will eventually bring comprehensive solutions for issues that arise from cultural diversity. While consulting within a variety of international healthcare organizations, I have realized that they are honestly willing to make an effort to educate their staff about understanding the cultural dissimilarity of international patients. They are also willing to teach providers about key cultural challenges arising from geographies, languages, religion, societies, beliefs, customs, traditions, and individual perceptions.
But, there seems to be a lack of effort on educating patients about what cultural beliefs a healthcare organization is following. Wouldn’t it be a wonderful solution if a healthcare organization also educates patients about destination related cultural activities? I argue that both healthcare providers and healthcare consumers (patient) need to understand cultural dissimilarity. I also emphasize that healthcare providers should arrange for such education for their patients; a small booklet or video demonstration can do wonders in this regard.
Most Healthcare MBA institutes teach Cultural Competency in their program, but so far, this requirement has been limited to cultural diversity within one geography because most of the patients were coming from one geography with different cultures and beliefs. However, Medical Tourism has turned the situation upside down and now patients come from an entirely different geography, which has created a significant need for bilateral cultural understanding.
Moreover, while consulting international healthcare organizations about the cultural understating of patients, my first question always remains the same – “Do you understand the cultural beliefs of your organization in relation to healthcare services? Isn’t it important to understand internal belief system before you start thinking about external belief systems? There is a great need of overall cultural understanding in Medical Tourism and healthcare.
What is Cultural Diversity?
In simple language, cultural diversity can be understood in many different ways. It is often referred to as the mixture of different human groups, societies, or cultures in a specific geography, or in the Globe (as a whole). The diversity could also be understood by differences in race, ethnicity, nationality, religion, or language among various groups within a community, organization, or nation. Individual values, beliefs, customs, traditions and backgrounds also bring cultural diversity.
Why Patient and Healthcare Provider Need Cultural Understanding? What’s Cultural Competency?
The ultimate objectives of cultural understanding in Medical Tourism are to: creating a better outcome which minimizes gaps, understanding and building awareness of applications, avoiding any miscommunication or misunderstanding arising from cultural disbeliefs and providing more positive results with a higher satisfaction rate. Such processes requires meticulous understanding about what impact cultural disbelief could have on a healthcare practice and understanding patient needs and delivery of healthcare services.
One of the key challenges in Medical Tourism is language barriers. It has always been my belief that instead of a general language translator to interpret medical related jobs, it is necessary to have a translator that understands medical terminology.
Unfortunately there isn’t any organization which validates or certifies medical interpreters, and there aren’t any standards for us to follow. Imagine a hospital with high end quality care, with the best equipment, highly professional staff and with the highest standards of practice that relies on the mercy of a translator. If the interpreter is not up to par, the treatment will not be good no matter how good the facilities of the healthcare organization are. What’s worse is to use a family member as an interpreter; just think about the damage this can do to the patient. Unfortunately, many patients rely on their family or a relative with poor language understanding rather than a highly qualified interpreter. Recently, I overheard an argument between two highly qualified medical professionals about renal failure and kidney dysfunction; if such simple words can create very complex situations, just imagine how confusing medical jargons can be to patients.
The use of medical jargon can easily — and unknowingly — lead to misinformation and incorrect Interpretations that may have an adverse impact on a patient’s health. Avoiding medical jargon is essential to ensuring the concise exchange of information between patients and physicians. When a patient does not understand the jargon, the quality of that patient’s care may be jeopardized and the comprehension of the physician’s message is diminished. The responsibility to ensure that patient and physician understand one another rests with the physician. It is often pointed out that physicians with wonderful bedside manners and poor outcomes are sued less frequently than physicians with poor bed-side manner and wonderful outcomes.(MJCC)
The role of gender, dress, practices, religion and food habits or food beliefs also plays an important role in understating of cultural values. For instance, during month of Ramadan, Muslims prefer to fast and they prefer not to consume any oral medications.
An understanding of individual needs based on religion, ethnicity or geography might not be necessary in every case, but this will certainly bring higher satisfaction and an easier healing process as at the end of the day. Also, the comfort of a patient will play an important role with the efficiency of their treatment.
For instance, let’s understand the cultural needs of Muslim patients.
Food Services
All catering staff should be aware that only halal meat (i.e. meat slaughtered according to religious requirements) must be given to Muslim patients. They should also be aware that Muslims do not eat pork or any other pig meat and its byproducts. Also, hand washing before and after meals is particularly important to Muslims.
Clinical or Nursing Care
It is preferable for a female Muslim to be cared for by females and a male Muslim by males. This is most important during confinement when strict privacy is very essential. Only female health workers should be present and exposure should be kept to a minimum.
Alcohol
Alcohol and any other intoxicating substances are prohibited in Islam. Where a choice exists, medicines containing alcohol should not be used. In emergencies, this rule does not apply if an alternate drug is not available, but this should be explained to the patient. If the medication is necessary, then Islam permits its use.
Maternity Services After Delivery
The placenta should be offered to the parents for disposal by burial in accordance with Islamic tradition. Read my article on the Middle Eastern patient for more information on this particular subject: http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/detail.php?Req=321&issue=14 for more details.
Understanding Complex Cultural Needs
Today, there is great receptiveness towards Medical Tourism. When patients are traveling overseas, there is an emergence of new consumers and they show a completely different behavior pattern. As a result of developments in communication tools, information technology, and increased social media exchanges, they have been exposed to different cultures and developed new ideas and viewpoints. For instance, my social network members stand at above 5000+ members across all cultures. From them, I have learned a great deal about their beliefs, understandings and way of communication, just through social networking.
Today’s consumer has been exposed to different cultures, developed new ideas and cultivated modern viewpoints. They have multiple demands, often borrowed from other cultures, seasoned with personal beliefs. The new self-sufficient consumer has become more individualistic and requires more customized and highly developed services; greater choice, quality, and variety and good value. Today’s consumers truly have become global; their demands have multiplied because of broad cultural exposure.
For instance, my Australian Muslim friend based in Dubai may want Italian pizza, fresh local made bread, European mozzarella cheese, and halal meat from Malaysia or a place which provides halal meat. Was that possible few years back? No, it wasn’t. But it is possible today and now she can have such a pizza in Dubai.
Such complex needs require customized solutions; the ‘one size fits all mottos’ can’t work here. There should be a comprehensive system in place to educate patients as well as healthcare providers about cultural beliefs, dissimilarities and needs.
Conclusion
Globalization across all become essential in Medical Tourism as patients arrive with different cultural beliefs and from different
geographies.
Understanding of Culture in Medical Tourism is a two way process as the patient needs to understand the destination’s cultural beliefs as much as providers need to know and understand the patient’s cultural beliefs.
About Author
A successful entrepreneur and experienced strategic professional, Dr Prem Jagyasi is a renowned Chartered Management, Healthcare Marketing and Medical Tourism Consultant. He also serves the Medical Tourism Association—a Non Profit organization based in USA as Honorary Chief Strategy Officer. He is contributed extensively in Medical Tourism and is known for his distinctive thinking and approach in Medical Tourism. He could be contacted at www.DrPrem.com | prem@jagyasi.com
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 2, 2010
Challenges of the Health Reform Bill and the Impact faced by Americans
Challenges of the Health Reform Bill and the Impact faced by Americans
Going through daily media report about healthcare reform challenges is a challenge itself, with so many differences of opinions; no one is sure on which side camel is going to sit. It’s time where America’s left hand doesn’t know what the right hand is doing, but only thing is sure that both hands are not working together.
Below are some research/report about key challenges from some important news sources, I thought to share with my industry colleagues for easy reading, and thought to get opinion on What do you think, will Healthcare reform do what is meant to do?
Research Points with reference link[I].
Experts Talk Health-Care Reform Bill Impact[II]
- Within the Health Care sector, the impact is mixed, the HMO industry is negatively impacted while the hospital companies, along with other beneficiaries of increasing health-care volumes, benefit
- The potential negative outcome for the broader market stems from the tax and deficit impacts of the legislation
- The new taxes are a negative for investors. The legislation imposes a new 3.8% tax on investment income. In addition it adds a 0.9% tax on wages for those earning more than $250,000, set to take effect in 2013
- Another macroeconomic impact is the potential to increase the deficit.
- The bill establishes new insurance exchanges for the purchase of health insurance by those who do not have insurance offered through their employer.
- Under the exchange, the cost of a policy would be subsidized by the taxpayers for individuals and families with incomes up to 400% of the poverty level.
- The long-standing view is that the reform bill will be a net long-term negative for industry profitability
- The benefits of covering more than 30 million uninsured will likely be more than offset by the negative impact of Medicare Advantage payment cuts, industry taxes, and stringent new regulations on underwriting practices.
- Some other negatives of the health reform could be:
- Offset by enrollment gains
- Providing economies of scale
- Leverage over general and administrative cost
- Greater negotiating clout with providers
Americans have negative expectations about health reform’s impact[III]
- 62% of Americans believe that the healthcare overhaul will increase what they pay for medical care
- 47% believe their families will be worse off
- 70% say it will drive up the deficit
Healthcare reform will have negative financial impact on executives’ facilities: AMN survey[IV]
Nearly 75% of health care executives surveyed earlier this month say healthcare reform will have a negative financial impact on their facilit
- 60% note that reform will have a somewhat or detrimental effect on quality of care their facilties can provide
- Only about one in five of those surveyed (22 percent) were greatly or moderately pleased by the passage of healthcare reform, while almost three out of four (72 percent) were either somewhat concerned or very concerned about passage of the new law.
Health Insurance Reform: Good or Bad for Business?[V]
- The health care industry is likely to suffer :
- One of the main targets to cut health expenses is to decrease the layer of administration and bureaucracy within health insurance companies
- This will cause employees in the health industry to suffer
- Many specialists will either lose jobs or see their pay increased
- No other industrialized nation has the burden to provide their employees with health insurance—this puts American companies on at a competitive disadvantage
- Major corporations are anticipating the hit to their profits
- John Deree and Caterpillar predict $250 million combined in charges related to healthcare reform
- To try to control the impact, employers are turning to wellness programs but also making workers shoulder more of the costs of healthcare
- Employers blame shifting of Medicare costs for much of the anticipated increase in their healthcare costs
- The expansion of insurance coverage will dramatically increase the demand for services while at the same time reduce the payments per patient.
- In addition, payments by insurers will now be based on outcomes, with incentives for high-quality care and penalties for preventable errors.
- Health care reform has also greatly emphasized the implementation of electronic medical records (EMRs).
- The implementation of EMRs is both complex and costly for providers who have not already made this adaptation.
- Implementation of the new systems at the patient care level is quite costly, involving the purchase of hardware and software, as well as training.
- Small practices find it difficult to take on the cost of additional staffing, in addition to the expense of setting up an EMR system. This is leading to small practices merging with large systems.
- According to the health reform bill, people who liked their coverage could keep it. Grandfathered plans had to conform to some new rules, but they were exempt from costly mandates such as providing preventive care without co-pays.
- Many small business owners believed grandfathering would preserve their ability to contain costs
- However, the DHHS, the Labor Department and the Treasury issued regulations that would set limits on how much plans can modify their coverage and still be grandfathered.
- If small businesses make changes in their current plans to save money, they risk losing their grandfathered status and will be forced to comply with new mandates that are expected to increase costs.
- Under the new rule, businesses if they want to keep their grandfathered status. would not be able to:
- change carriers
- raise employees’ percentage of cost-sharing
- increase co-pays and deductibles by more than a set amount
- If they lose their favored status, their plans will be considered “new,” and they will have to succumb to the changes of reform.
- The prohibition on changing carriers, takes an important cost-control tool away from small businesses, which already lack the flexibility and leverage of larger companies.
- Many change carriers every couple of years in search of better rates or new offerings as insurers offer deals to drum up new business
U.S. scores dead last again in healthcare study[VI]
· Despite hope coming from the health reform of improving the health care system the US healthcare industry still ranks last
o The United States ranked last when compared to six other countries — Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Fund report found.
· Even though Obama addressed issues of access, quality and safety in the bill:
o “We rank last on safety and do poorly on several dimensions of quality,” Schoen told reporters. “We do particularly poorly on going without care because of cost. And we also do surprisingly poorly on access to primary care and after-hours care.”
Rise in employer healthcare costs slowing: survey[VII]
In the wake of reform, hospitals try doing more with less[VIII]
· Costs are up and money is tight, but rising patient volumes are putting pressure on hospitals to expand.
Health reform’s grandfathering rules likely to raise costs[IX]
[I] Read important disclaimer
[II] http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2010/pi20100322_662113.htm
[III] http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/03/22/americans-have-negative-expectations-about-health-reforms-impac/
[IV] http://www.news-medical.net/news/20100423/Healthcare-reform-will-have-negative-financial-impact-on-executives-facilities-AMN-survey.aspx?page=2
[V] http://www.articlesbase.com/insurance-articles/health-insurance-reform-good-or-bad-for-business-2054176.html
[VI] http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65M0SU20100623
[VII] http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE65D4OZ20100614
[VIII] http://www.djc.com/news/ae/12019117.html
[IX] http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20100623/SMALLBIZ/100629939
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Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | July 2, 2010
Developing Quality Healthcare Practices For International Patients by Dr Prem Jagyasi – Medical Tourism Magazine
Developing quality healthcare for international patients means more than providing advanced and efficient care to the patient during his or her stay in the hospital, states Dr. Prem Jagyasi, a medical tourism expert. Dr. Jagyasi educates organizations in creating and delivering overall delightful services to the patient right from taking the case at the onset till the patient achieves the ultimate objective.
Rapid growth in the field of science and technology has paved the way for witnessing a huge growth in the field of medical sciences. Healthcare organizations are largely benefitting from this development, which has increased the number of international patients. The challenges in catering to international patients are vast as they require a deep understanding of culture, legal and ethical issues of the host country. Establishing a bilateral communication network within the healthcare authorities by a group of professionals is very essential. Skepticism should be identified, evaluated and steps should be taken to resolve them. Exceptional focus should be given to developing pre-operative and post-operative care for international patients.
The following are certain practices that need to be developed to improve quality healthcare practice for the international patients. Though the below suggestions are not comprehensive practice suggestions, and are not discussed in this document at its intensity, they give essential information in a nutshell.
Considering the Patient as an Individual
The medical tourism facility is expected to offer the best healthcare services to the international patient. However, in addition to the healthcare needs, a patient may have non-healthcare needs which should be looked after equally well. The international patient should not be considered just a case or a disease, but as an individual who may have other requirements. The patient may need recreational activities or may want to keep in touch with his family and relatives. These non-health related needs should be equally considered and fulfilled as the health-related needs.
Language Troubles
Most of the international healthcare facilities try to provide the patient with translators/interpreters to help them communicate better with the healthcare team. The glitch here is that the translators/interpreters are language experts and not adept at understanding medical terms themselves and in turn cannot really help the patient understand them either.
This language dilemma may result in a huge communication gap and may have serious consequences to the patient’s health and the facility’s reputation. There are two options at hand—either the translators/interpreters are given some basic training in medical treatment and conditions or the healthcare professionals are trained in language basics. In the case of healthcare professionals, linguistic ability could be considered an additional qualification. The responsibility of bringing about these changes lies with everyone in the industry, especially the promoters of medical tourism. Whatever the solution adopted, the whole objective is to avoid ambiguity, prevent confusion and improve the overall patient experience.
Cultural Sensitivity
Globalization of healthcare has brought all people—be it any country, race or religion—under the same umbrella. As a result, confusion and insensitivity towards the other culture is inevitable. However, culture being a sensitive and important component for an individual, is better handled with care. For example, an Arab woman seeking healthcare in another country cannot be asked to unveil in front of other male members of the health team. In such cases, the international healthcare facility should not be insensitive to her cultural decorum, and should respect this by providing female healthcare professionals or availability of female healthcare professionals in the room. Basic training in cultural sensitivity should be made an indispensible part of medical tourism practices.
Providing Support Through Reputable Facilitators
How troublesome would it be for a patient to obtain medical counseling from one organization, then call another agency for travel inquiries, thereafter contacting an agent for Visa arrangements, calling insurance companies for approval, booking the tickets with another agent and finally calling another for tourism interests—a Herculean task! It would be far more convenient for a patient if the international healthcare facility has facilitators or third parties that would do the logistics and travel arrangement for the patient. Accomplishing this would require the international healthcare facility to have a strong network of agents, hospitals, logistic and travel agencies. Not only would this save time, it would also project medial tourism as a convenient option to obtain healthcare.
Comprehensive Healthcare
A medical tourist may find it discomforting when he is informed that the healthcare facility does not have an MRI or CT Scan facility. What would the patient do if he requires one? By not providing comprehensive services under one roof, it often results in poor inflow of international patients, especially when it is an essential component of selective procedure. Ideally, the healthcare facility should be able to provide all diagnostic and curative services to the patient. If they cannot, they should then prepare the appropriate arrangements for the patient to get it done elsewhere. It should not be the patient’s headache, but rather the facility’s responsibility.
Legal Paperwork
Paperwork is an important component of medial tourism. It includes various kinds of documentation including medical consent, contracts, request forms, patient case papers and other documentation related to visa and travel requirements.
These important documents should be made available prior to the patient’s decision to travel to a particular destination.
Sometimes, there are hidden phrases that hold significant meaning in the patient’s decision making, but go unseen or unattended by the patient. In addition, the patient’s medical case papers may not be available to the patient and if a patient requires it in his home country, this could prove to be an unnecessary problem. The industry requires a robust solution for overcoming the hurdle of paperwork. The healthcare facility should work towards providing simple, efficient and transparent paperwork to avoid any ambiguity. Preferably, a facilitator should be appointed to explain it to the patient and help him complete it.
The documentation should also be arranged for the patients who are covered by insurance or are corporate or government funded. The facility should also help the patient obtain reimbursement, if possible.
Pricey Issues
Pricing and treatment costs are essential components to consider when a patient decides on obtaining healthcare outside his or her home country. Billing an international patient more than the domestic patient for the same procedure is prevalent in all medical tourism destinations, although considered unethical. Owing to the fact that the international patients are offered better quality and additional services, the prices can be increased, but only to a certain level. In some cases, the cost is not explained properly to the patient, and the heavy bill comes as a surprise to the patient at the time of settling expenses. These unpleasant situations can be averted if the pricing is transparent and all hidden costs are duly explained to the patient at the start—that’s called an informed decision in medical care!
Malpractice Coverage
Healthcare facilities should obtain malpractice insurance coverage with special clause for the international patient, especially in case the patient decides to take action in his or her home country. Hospitals should protect their organization and staff against any unforeseen situations. Many hospitals are not aware that certain insurance companies don’t cover malpractice out of their national jurisdiction which could be very difficult for the healthcare facility as well as the healthcare professional.
Pre-Operative and Post-Operative Arrangements
The medical tourist gets skeptical when opting for healthcare abroad—what if he requires elaborate pre-operative work-up before the planned procedure? Where will he go after the procedure? What healthcare organization at the destination will follow up with the post-operative care?
It’s the responsibility of the healthcare facility to answer these questions clearly. Usually, the planned trip includes the pre-operative time. The healthcare facility should make sure that the patient reaches the facility well in advance before the procedure, and it is communicated to the patient clearly that this is the case.
During the course of post operative treatment within the country, this should be coordinated if the patient would like to stay in the hospital or in a hotel. For effectively arranging these services, the healthcare facility should organize with the patient, family and other agencies.
The post-procedure arrangements should also be discussed with the patient; a complete instruction list should be provided to the patient before departure. Healthcare facilities must develop a continuity of care agreement with international organizations; this will reduce the burden and discomfort for the patient.
Consumables and Medication
It is quite possible that prescribed medicine or regular consumable medical products might not be available within a destination; many drugs are not available abroad. Many pharmacies don’t provide a control on drugs for international prescriptions; they need a local doctors’ prescription or endorsement and a healthcare provider must have such information and he should make such arrangements in advance so the patient can travel smoothly through a healing path rather than a bumpy ride once back in his home country.
Back at Home
Follow-up appointments are important after any procedure or medical care is provided. It becomes a challenge if the healthcare is provided in a foreign country. When the patient comes home after discharge, the chances are small that he will want to travel back to the destination country in case anything goes wrong or if he needs continued medical care. He will most likely want to be treated in his home country rather than make another trip abroad. The healthcare facility should provide enough options to keep the communication lines open between the patient, the facility and the healthcare team. The modes of communication could be telephone, video conference or through emails. The objective is to make the patient feel cared for once back in their own country.
On the Records
Patient records are confidential and are considered legal documents. Handling patient records becomes a challenge if the patient has come from a foreign country. The documents from his home country are required in order to have access to the patient’s medical history. These medical documents are further generated in the course of the treatment in the international patient facility. These patient records need to be transported back to the home country where it may be required by the physician attending to the patient in the home country when the patient returns. In such a scenario, the records should contain all necessary information for the other healthcare professional to take the case further. In addition, the transportation of information should be carried out in such a way that the confidential nature of the information is maintained. Electronic medical records have partially overcome this challenge but a lot of work still needs to be done in order to ensure facilitating secure data transfer.
Alternate Plans
All medical procedures carry a certain amount of risk, for which, the patient is supposed to give his consent by signing a form. However, the mere act of signing a form does not complete this work. The healthcare facility should be prepared in terms of resources to handle such a situation. The alternate plan, in case anything goes wrong, should be discussed with the patient prior to the procedure. It may include bearing cost and other arrangements of another surgery, providing compensation or any other benefits in lieu. The main objective is to support the patient in medical crisis to help him get proper care.
Stranded Abroad
Unfortunate incidences may happen when the patient is in the international healthcare facility. These incidences, which may include civil war or natural calamities like an earthquake, may not be favorable enough for the patient to travel back home. Relief plans should be kept ready to handle such situations. These plans may include extended stay at the facility, compensation or special and safe transportation to the home country.
Research and Development
Research and Development are keys to upgradation in any industry, and medical tourism is no exception to it. The international healthcare facility should engage in continuous research for improving patient experience. Based on the research, strategies should be made to overcome the challenges and shortcomings. The first step in this is development of comprehensive case studies which mirror the real situations and formulating solutions for it. All instances should be duly recorded and considered when going through the decision making process. Above all, the patient should be asked to offer feedback, which should be seriously considered, in improving the practices of the facility.
Conclusion
“The patient’s experience” is not judged merely by the time the patient spends in the hospital. It extends beyond that; it is the relationship that hospital staffs are able to build with the patients. It starts the moment a patient visits your website and may continue forever. When a patient opts for medical tourism, they might be consumed with lots of questions regarding the destination hospital, physician, country, treatment etc. It is the utmost duty of the healthcare organization to assure or minimize the stress and confusion associated with medical tourism.
Hence, a healthcare organization that wants to delight all patients should adopt a suggestion to enhance their healthcare delivery for international patients. I mentioned some very basic points above and they are not discussed in detail in this document, however, a healthcare Facility should arrange for a workshop for their healthcare professionals and healthcare management team to better understand International Patient Care.
As I always say, let’s delight the patient and not just satisfy them. They deserve it.
About Author
A successful entrepreneur and experienced strategic professional, Dr Prem Jagyasi is a renowned Chartered Management, Healthcare Marketing and Medical Tourism Consultant. He also serves the Medical Tourism Association—a Non Profit organization based in USA as Honorary Chief Strategy Officer. He is contributed extensively in Medical Tourism and is known for his distinctive thinking and approach in medical Tourism. He could be contacted at www.DrPrem.com | prem@jagyasi.com
Read Original Article at http://www.medicaltourismmag.com/article/developing.html
Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | June 23, 2010
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Posted by: Dr Prem Jagyasi | June 21, 2010
Ibooks 1.1 supports PDF, available now
I just updated iBook application on iPad it can read PDF files now. A great missing tool from all iPhone standard application. Sync from computer or just open via email. It automatically put a PDF folder on ibooks library. One can search PDF document as well. Heads up to apple. I see revolution coming in to personal computer soon. It’s mobile technology which is going to takeover market.
Prem
