UNITED STATES: Chinese summer camp for overweight US teens Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:14:15 GMT Iowa-based China Connection Global Healthcare (CCGH) is spearheading the new Fitness and Culture Experience for Teens, an eight-week summer camp in China for overweight American teenagers. Organised in coordination with China’s Aimin Weight Reduction Hospital, the programme will offer 40 US high school students and 10 of their Chinese peers an international wellness experience integrating diet, exercise and traditional Chinese medicine to achieve significant weight loss. The camp will be held in Tianjin, China from June 10 to August 10. The obesity-intervention plan designed to address the social, environmental and individual determinants of the disease. Based on reports from the Centers for Disease Control, one in six American children is overweight or obese, a rate that has tripled during the last 20 years. Children and adolescents are developing obesity-related diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, that were once only seen in adults. A new study by the World Cancer Research Fund also reports that 34 percent of all cancer cases in America can be prevented simply by eating better, exercising more and maintaining healthier weights. CCGH founder Ruth Lycke said: We are passionate about the Fitness and Culture Experience being a catalyst in changing the lives of these young people. This group will reshape their bodies and expand their awareness of the world and its people in a unique way." CCGH is a medical tourism agency specialises in sending American health tourists to China and...

MALTA: Treatment Abroad appoints first overseas franchisee Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:20:17 GMTIntuition Communications, which runs leading online medical travel portal Treatment Abroad, has appointed In Malta Online Group - its first overseas franchisee - to operate the Treatment in Malta website. The new site will be aimed at inbound medical tourists to Malta. The In Malta Online Group currently operates a number of online services and has invested in the franchise to expand its range of Malta-based web portals into the healthcare market. In Malta Group is the first franchisee that Intuition Communication has appointed. The new web site will follow the successful Intuition business model, and reflect the branding and content of Intuition’s other medical tourism. Intuition Communication will work closely with In Malta Online Group, and will provide web technology, business development, marketing and operational support to set up the website and ensure its success, once it goes live. Keith Pollard, who runs Intuition Communication, said: Franchising our business model and brand is a logical step for us in expanding our business, particularly into overseas markets. We see this as an opportunity to grow our revenues by licensing our technology and business model to web businesses and healthcare operators in other countries who wish to develop health information portals or medical tourism content. Franchising will enable us to benefit from the use of local sales and marketing partners/franchisees to achieve these revenues. We are looking for partners who, like In Malta Online Group want to extend existing...

EUROPE: European medical travel site Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:25:50 GMTA website that offers information mainly to UK and Ireland residents seeking treatment in the UK, Ireland, Europe and elsewhere, suggests that fewer people are going abroad for treatment. RevaHealth.com is a healthcare search engine with information about 60,000 clinics in the UK and Ireland and thousands more in 50 countries around the world. It suggests that the number of Britons looking for health treatment abroad has dropped by over 40 percent in the past six months. But it also says that numbers leaving the UK for treatment has fallen by almost 20 percent between February and March. So if the six-month drop is 40 percent and the monthly drop under 20 percent, then this can either be read as a sign of a continuing fall, or that the fall has dropped by half, which suggests there is a recovery. A truer comparison would be March 2009 compared to March 2008. It is important to factor in that medical tourism does have seasons, that the site traffic for March is over 30 percent higher than February, and that half the site’s business is in domestic health care not medical tourism, so there is no way of knowing if the extra traffic is predominantly people seeking domestic healthcare or the same mix as before. Caelen King of RevaHealth comments, While putting off cosmetic dental and plastic surgery procedures might seem like the prudent thing to do in a bad economy, there...

MALAYSIA: National medical tourism figures for 2008 revealed Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:30:47 GMTAbout 370,000 foreigners sought medical treatment in Malaysia in 2008, according to health minister Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai. Over the years, the country’s medical tourism industry has registered annual growth of 30 percent. The minister spoke at the awarding of the Joint Commission International’s (JCI) hospital accreditation to the Prince Court Medical Centre (PCMC) in Kuala Lumpur. "Being accredited, especially by an international body, would certainly help in benchmarking the quality services provided by the hospitals. The rapid uptake of accreditation activities by hospitals in Malaysia is testimony to the ministry’s commitment to ensure that healthcare is provided in a safe and effective manner to all our clients, local or from overseas. Our own home-grown hospital accreditation body, the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH), has been awarded this coveted international accreditation by ISQua. Thus, the standards set by both JCI and MSQH are of international stature." Besides PCMC, the Penang Adventist Hospital and the International Eye Specialist Centre in Kuala Lumpur also have JCI accreditation. The Institut Jantung Negara is also working towards it. For the MSQH, 113 hospitals have been surveyed. Sixty five government and 18 private hospitals have received the accreditation. MSQH was formed by the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH), Association of Private Hospitals of Malaysia (APHM) and the Malaysian Medical Association (MMA). Only 35 of APHM’s 111 member hospitals are involved in medical tourism and they are the source of...

MEXICO: A million medical tourists each year? Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:35:11 GMTAstonishing new figures from researchers suggest that every year over a million Mexican and non-Mexican US residents travel from the US to Mexico for medical, dental, cosmetic and other treatment. Even on 2001 data, well before the establishment of a US/Mexico medical treatment industry with new clinics and hospitals, and before even more Mexicans settled in the US, it is reported that just under a million crossed the borders for healthcare. So..... if the research is accurate, it is reasonable to assume that 2008 figures are going to be over a million. It is believed that half of these medical tourists are Mexicans who are US residents and are coming home for treatment; this suggests that swine flu will have less effect on numbers than pessimists expect.  According to a new paper Heading South: Why Mexican Immigrants in California Seek Health Services in Mexico." published in the journal Medical Care, by researchers at the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research: Nearly one million Californians cross the border each year to seek medical care in Mexico. The figures do not include anybody travelling from other states such as Texas, Arizona or New Mexico. Cost was the primary factor in seeking health services. Lack of health insurance, cultural and linguistic barriers and immigration factors were also important motivators. Most come to Mexico for prescription drugs and dental care, and a smaller number go for surgery- but the latter may have risen...

USA: Obama promises healthcare reform Tue, 30 Jun 2009 13:56:54 GMTLong-term problems in US healthcare have been a driving force in Americans going overseas for treatment. Many agencies and overseas hospitals have based business plans on this continuing and increasing. If President Obama succeeds in the most dramatic reform of the US healthcare system for forty years, things could change dramatically. Senator Edward Kennedy aims to push Obama’s main domestic priority through Congress. The goal is to provide insurance to most of the nation’s 50 million uninsured, and lower the soaring cost of care. The legislation would require all Americans to have health insurance, prohibit insurers from refusing to cover pre-existing conditions and place other restrictions on the industry including prohibiting insurers from denying coverage or charging more due to medical history. Insurers would be required to cover some preventive services. Annual or lifetime limits on coverage would be prohibited. There would be a sliding scale of federal subsidies for mid- to low-income families to help them purchase insurance. It would establish online exchanges, gateways where the uninsured and employees of small companies could shop for affordable insurance policies. Reinsurance funding would be provided for plans participating in the gateway. A new medical advisory council would establish minimum benefit levels for companies participating in the gateways. Millions of people would become eligible for state Medicaid health plans for the poor. People with incomes up to 150 percent of the poverty level would be able to get Medicaid. Incentives would be...

USA: Hospital accreditation the way it was meant to be Wed, 01 Jul 2009 14:23:13 GMTHighly collaborative annual surveys that don’t dictate policies and templates, but trigger the talent and know-how of hospital staff to find the absolute best way to do things is the message that a new rival to JCI is putting over, initially in the US. And it seems to be working. One problem is that many states only allow their own accreditation or JCI accreditation , but state laws are changing. While the hospitals the group picked up initially tended to be small and/or country ones, it is beginning to take major hospitals from JCI, the latest being Group Health Central Hospital in Seattle. So who is the newcomer? Houston based DNV Healthcare is part of the independent Norwegian foundation DNV that goes back to 1864. Their core competence is how to identify, assess, and advise on how to manage risk, with offices in a hundred countries. The initial focus is on the USA, but the longer-term aim is to make healthcare safer and more effective worldwide. Late last year, DNV’s innovative NIAHO accreditation program passed the rigorous evaluation process of the US Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); DNV Healthcare became the first new US hospital accreditation organization in more than 40 years. Underlying NIAHOSM standards are tightly coupled to the Medicare Conditions of Participation. DNV developed its NIAHO standards for hospital accreditation, building upon ISO 9001, a quality management standard that DNV says enables...

MEDIA: Medical Tourism Talk Radio launched Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:58:16 GMTThe world’s first medical travel and medical tourism radio has launched on the internet. Executive producer and founder Julie Munro explains Medical Travel and Tourism Talk Radio is the voice of medical travel and a voice for patients. We want healthcare consumers around the world to know the advantages of global healthcare and how to access it. Existing information is often misleading or downright wrong, even from hospitals.  MT3Radio.com is a lively, impartial outlet for information about medical tourist options that goes to the source for facts, MT3Radio.com airs for a worldwide audience on the internet via wsRadio.com, worldwide leader in internet talk. It broadcasts live Wednesdays 9.00 am Pacific Daylight Time and is archived for listening 24/7. (9.00 am PDT is 12 noon New York, 5.00 pm London, and 2.00 am Sydney.)It seeks advertisers, sponsors and industry people who want to be guests. Show hosts take listener questions live on air, and talk with people who have been patients abroad or are planning to go, with some of the world’s leading doctors, and with industry leaders. Because the show is on the internet, listeners from any country can call in to ask questions or send emails. Show hosts are Julie Munro and television talk show host Sandra Millar. Curtis Schroeder of Bumrungrad Hospital Group in Thailand was the guest on the first show and he said, Medical tourism has staying power. It is not a flash in the...

KOREA: Medical interpreters and Muslim medical tourists Tue, 14 Jul 2009 15:15:33 GMTThe Korea Tourism Organization (KTO) has offered 40 travel agents and guides a lecture on Islamic culture and introduced a Halal food lunchbox and tour programs tailor-made for Muslims in a bid to attract more Muslim tourists. The biggest obstacle to attracting Muslim tourists is strict rules on food and prayer, and the KTO has found ways of dealing with both. Muslim interest in medical tourism in Korea is growing. Many from Southeast Asia are incentive traveler groups, and they prefer seasonal attractions, such as skiing in winter and flower festivals in spring, she said. Recognising that language difficulties is a real problem, the government has started a program to train medical interpreters to help hospitals avoid language barriers when providing services to foreign patients. The Korea Human Resource Development Institute (KHRDI), part of the Ministry for Health selected 65 trainees for its 200-hour program to develop medical interpreters in English, Chinese, Japanese, Russian and Arabic. Sessions for those selected will take place from July until December. According to the institute, all the interpreters are fluent in both Korean and their own respective languages. Some have graduated from graduate schools of interpretation, others have worked in the medical field before and some are already working as interpreters at hospitals. The curriculum consists of understanding communications in the medical field, methods of consulting specific patients; domestic and international medical laws; health insurance coverage and understanding of major diseases and...

CHINA: Government cracking down on organ trade Mon, 03 Aug 2009 09:13:30 GMTOne of the seamier aspects of medical tourism is on the wane, but sadly not yet killed. While countries are cracking down on legal commercial transplantation, an illegal trade has been taking its place in other developing nations. China will investigate illegal organ transplant operations provided for 17 visiting Japanese and punish hospitals and medical workers involved. China prohibits transplants for foreigners, as it cannot keep up with demand for its own citizens. The country had just a little more than 10,000 donors for the more than one million people who need transplants every year. China performs the second-largest number of organ transplant operations in the world, behind the United States, with some 5,000 operations each year. The United States now has more than 100,000 on the national organ transplant waiting list, with an average wait of five years; the result of an aging and increasingly unhealthy population. Deputy health minister Huang Jiefu said the 17 Japanese had come to China as tourists. China resolutely opposes organ transplant tourism. China prohibits organ transplants for foreign visitors on tourist visas. Medical institutions and staff who carried out the organ transplants against the rules will be severely dealt with according to the law." Last year, China penalised three hospitals for illegally selling human organs to foreigners. In May 2007, China issued the Provisions on Human Organ Transplant. So far, the ministry has granted over 160 medical institutions the license to...

SINGAPORE: Private sector eyes opportunities abroad Tue, 04 Aug 2009 16:33:22 GMTThe private sector of Singapore’s medical tourism industry is looking beyond the Lion City to grow their business. ParkwayHealth, controlled by the US-based private equity firm Texas Pacific Group (TPG), has plans to set up several multispeciality hospitals in India. The group is also tying up with some of the leading healthcare providers in India apart from its plans to build hospitals on its own. Currently, it has an agreement with Apollo Hospitals Group and has bought a 50 percent stake in the Khubchandani Hospital in Mumbai that is jointly owned by the Mauritius-based Koncentric Investments. ParkwayHeath plans to initially invest approximately US$83 million in Khubchandani Hospital. Starting with five or six hospitals in large cities, the former has plans to set up 300-400-bed multispeciality hospitals all over the country. The Khubchandani Hospital, which will be a 1,000-bed facility, is expected to be operational by 2011. The agreement with Apollo Group is intended to help ParkwayHealth develop hospitals across West Bengal. This joint venture currently runs Apollo Gleneagles Hospital, a 325-bed multispeciality hospital in Kolkota. This hospital will cater to Eastern India and neighbouring countries like Bangladesh, Myanmar, Nepal and Bhutan. Another group that believes while some patients will come to you, you can get many more by going to them is Singapore Medical Group (SMG). SMG originally entered the medical tourism market through the Lasik Surgery Clinic (LSC), a specialist centre that treats myopia. The company’s business model,...

UNITED KINGDOM: Second Cyprus Medical Tourism Conference Wed, 05 Aug 2009 08:00:07 GMTThe annual Cyprus Medical Tourism Conference at the Marriott Hotel in London will be a one- day trade event on February 5, 2009. The free conference is organised by three Cyprus government bodies. The conference aims to put medical professionals, travel companies and insurance providers from the UK in touch with medical professionals based in Cyprus working in fertility, obesity, orthopaedics, reconstruction, dentistry, cardiology and optometry. For the first time, the conference will also showcase spa and well-being services with the participation of Cyprus Spa Association. Participants include: Cyprus Dental Association, Ygia Polyclinic, Iasis Hospital, Picture Perfect Medical Coordinators, Blue Cross Polyclinic, American Heart Institute, St Raphael Private Hospital, Vorka Polyclinic, Nicosia Dental Polyclinic, Pedieos IVF Centre, M.D. Medical Centre, Apollonion Private Hospital and Chrysovalatou Clinic. The conference will include presentations, meetings, exhibitions and networking. Presentations include Dr Nicos Maroudias on the health system in Cyprus; Keith Pollard of Treatment Abroad on health tourism in Cyprus and the Cyprus Tourism Organisation on Cyprus as a medical tourism destination. The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry has a tight control on medical tourism providers in the country. Being a former British colony, the main market is the UK. Most Cyprus-based doctors and consultants have been trained in the UK, US, Switzerland, Sweden or Germany. The dental and medical personnel involved in health tourism speak good English.The small island has six public hospitals, more than 80 private hospitals and clinics,...

INDIA: Short-term impact likely for Indian medical tourism Wed, 05 Aug 2009 10:09:24 GMTIndia’s growing medical tourism industry will be adversely impacted in the short-term as a result of the Mumbai terror attacks, a leading healthcare industry official has said. Vishal Bali, chief executive of Wockhardt Hospitals, said: "While foreigners still fear to visit the country there will be a short-term impact on medical tourism. A day after the terrorists attacks in Mumbai, we got calls from US patients asking whether it was safe to travel to Bangalore. We assured them of safety and many came in. Though there is some fear in the minds of foreigners, they also have a lot of confidence in our country. I expect only a short-term impact." The terrorist carnage began on November 26 and lasted for over three days resulting in nearly 200 dead and massive damages to two of the city’s leading five-star hotels. Wockhardt Hospitals, a leading player in medical tourism, is considering raising funds through the private equity route after scrapping plans to raise funds from the capital market for expansion because of a poor response. But world recession has made investors including private equity funds to think twice before investing. Wockhardt want to invest substantially in the next three years by expanding its healthcare infrastructure. The company has 15 hospitals in the country with a combined capacity of 1,500 beds and the plan is to increase it to 4,000 beds in the next three years. Another leading Indian medical...

RESEARCH: Medical travel could be lucrative for hotels Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:24:22 GMTA Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels research study entitled FocusOn Medical Travel said the medical travel sector has the potential to develop into a lucrative niche market for hotel operators and investors. Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and India are developing first-class facilities. International tourists are attracted by the high-quality and relatively low-cost healthcare offered. With destinations such as Eastern Europe, Turkey and Dubai getting in on the act, this market is poised for rapid expansion in the future. As travellers become more discriminating, they will continue to seek out hotels and resorts that offer a complete array of amenities. Medical spas, medical travel and rehabilitation at desirable destinations will play a large role in the new generation of spa resorts. In Dubai alone, there are at least 120 spas, health clubs and clinics offering wellness services. By 2015, the United Arab Emirates could be amongst the top spa destinations in the world with an estimated 200 hotels offering world-class facilities, said Mark Wynne Smith at Jones Lang LaSalle Hotels. The report emphasised that all involved must ensure that the medical travel industry offers accessible, affordable and high-quality care to cement the reputation of this fledgling sector and allow the travelling public to make informed choices about their medical care. There is enormous potential for partnerships between hotel chains, property developers, airlines, insurance companies and financial institutions. These partnerships are vital as medical travellers need the security and peace of...

IRELAND: Two Beacon subsidiaries get JCI status Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:17:26 GMTBeacon Dermatology is the latest clinic in Ireland to get JCI accreditation. Michael Cullen, chief executive of Beacon Medical Group, explained why a group, that has treated a few medical tourists to date, bothered with the expense of obtaining a JCI Accreditation: Beacon seeks to achieve JCI Accreditation to show the clinic’s commitment to providing excellence in safety standards and quality care. He added: We feel this accreditation is testament to Beacon Dermatology’s commitment to safety and hygiene standards. We are the first private dermatology clinic in Ireland to achieve this award. Since obtaining JCI, we have become more aware of patient safety and aim to improve the quality of care at all times. Beacon Dermatology is a dermatology clinic offering an extensive range of medical, surgical and cosmetic dermatological treatments as part of the Beacon Hospital health system in Sandyford, Dublin.  The system is managed through a partnership with University of Pittsburgh Medical Centre (UPMC). The other recent subsidiary with JCI status is Beacon Renal, a state-of-the-art therapy centre offering haemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis for the treatment of patients with chronic renal failure.  It currently treats over 100 patients thrice weekly and has capacity to treat over 200. Professor J Mark Redmond, Michael Cullen and Paddy Shovlin founded Beacon Medical Group in 2002 to advance Professor Redmond’s philosophy and vision of healthcare excellence in Ireland. Its first major initiative was the Beacon Medical Campus. This encompasses Beacon...