Dubai

7 trends to watch in medical tourism in 2016

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7 trends to watch in medical tourism in 2016 – a baby boom, hot new destinations, and ethics – from industry leader Medical Travel Quality Alliance.

March 2, 2016 – Bangkok and Scottsdale – A global baby boom in 2016 is one of seven trends and issues that will affect the medical tourism industry this year, according to industry leader Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA, https://mtqua.org)

“This will be a very interesting year. Prepare for a baby boom in medical tourism and plenty of debate around the kind of treatment medical travelers get in hospitals, and by doctors and agents,” says Medical Travel Quality Alliance president Julie Munro.

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Americans will be looking for baby surrogates in countries from Cambodia to Ukraine; Chinese will be looking to America for surrogates and as a place to give birth; and everyone from Australians to Zambians will be asking for gender selection along with advanced and leading edge fertility treatments.

Some agencies and clinics, especially in Bangkok and California, are already preparing to handle up to 300 patients a month.

Chinese baby boom“Established agents are going bankrupt, there’s talk of corruption and questionable practices. I expect to see hot debates over ethics and medical traveler rights, especially considering the recent treatment of medical tourists by the Dominican Republic,” says Munro.

MTQUA, a key industry player, providing medical travel certification and standards, medical travel advisories, best practices, and medical traveler bill of rights, identifies these seven key trends and issues for the medical tourism industry for 2016.

1. A medical tourism baby boom.

Traditional fertility treatments, commercial surrogacy contracts, and “birthright” tourism will all see greater numbers mainly because Chinese couples now can have more than one child per family. Many Chinese, Brits, Americans and Australians will also be exploring gene editing, three-person embryo procedures, and other emerging ethically-borderline processes.

2. Demand for guarantees by patients and doctors.

Bankruptcies, rumors of FBI investigations, charges of patient trafficking make medical travelers more careful in choosing facilitators and providers.

3. Growing questions about the quality of results.

The first medical travel advisory on the medical tourism industry, from MTQUA, made many people ask if enough is being done to protect medical tourists from higher risk to their safety and lower quality of care and outcomes.

4. Medical travel specialization in degree and diploma programs at universities and colleges.

Gulf Medical University in Ajman, UAE is among the first to offer formal courses in aspects of medical tourism.

5. The next “hot” medical travel destinations.

As Cuba opens up to American tourists, medical tourism promoters and bloggers are already claiming it is a great treatment choice for medical travelers. Not so fast, say the Cayman Islands and Iran.

6. Slowing of outbound government-sponsored medical travel.

Governments sponsoring outbound medical tourists, such as Dubai, Saudi Arabia, Kazakhstan and Nigeria are cutting back medical travel budgets, searching for cheaper alternative destinations and demanding better clinical outcomes.

7. Certification and accreditation confusion.

Certification and accreditation programs generally suggest that industry leaders have arrived at a consensus for standards and best practices. In medical tourism, this is not the case so far, though progress continues to be made.

The detailed trends report may be found here.

Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA, https://mtqua.org/), founded in 2009, is an independent international organization that develops and promotes the highest standards of excellence in delivering treatment and care to medical travelers and health tourists. It certifies hospitals, clinics and medical travel service providers worldwide for safety and quality in support of treatment, care and services for medical tourists, and issues an annual list of the Top 10 World’s Best Hospitals for Medical TouristsTM.

CONTACT:
Caroline Bodanis
Email caroline@mtqua.org
Telephone (USA) +1 602-635-4664, (Thailand) +66 85 902 4500

Medical tourism at crossroads, fails in quality: Julie Munro, MTQUA president in Dubai

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Global medical tourism is failing to deliver quality care to international travelers, Medical Travel Quality Alliance President Julie Munro tells Dubai gathering.

“Medical tourism is at a crossroads,” said Munro. “Because the industry has paid too much attention to the “tourism” part and not enough to the “medical” part, medical travelers have mostly been left without the guidance or information they need in order to get the best results possible.”

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December 4, 2015 – Dubai – The medical tourism industry has failed to live up to its promise of better quality treatment and care for patients seeking to travel to a foreign country for health care, Julie Munro, president of Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA, www.mtqua.org), told an audience of 500 at Gulf Medical University (GMU) last week.

Julie Munro MTQUA DubaiDubai Healthcare Authority, as a recent entrant to the industry, has the opportunity to create a support structure that is more patient-focused, she said. Its new complications insurance product is a good example of government commitment to better outcomes and care for medical tourists.

The new program of instruction in medical tourism at Gulf Medical University will also help steer the industry toward higher standards in quality and support for medical tourists.

“Three UAE hospitals have shown they are committed to quality in patient care and support and have received MTQUA medical tourism certification,” said Munro.

These hospitals, Saudi German Hospital Dubai, Al Zahra Hospital, and Thumbay Hospital Ajman have met the international standard of excellence for care and services to international patients and medical travelers. Other hospitals, clinics and medical travel facilitators in the UAE are presently going through the certification process. MTQUA-certified facilities and agencies are in 16 countries.

“We believe that the risk for medical tourists has become unacceptable, making it necessary for us to issue our first medical travel advisory,” said Munro, speaking at the 2nd Annual Conference on Destination UAE Health and Medical Tourism Hub.

This medical travel advisory, the first ever issued by a major medical tourism industry group, warns medical tourists about dangerous conditions in the Dominican Republic. In addition, MTQUA puts four countries, Mexico, Thailand, India and South Korea on a medical tourism watch list due to higher risks to medical traveler safety and quality.

Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA), founded in 2009, is an independent international organization that develops and promotes the highest standards of excellence in delivering treatment and care to medical travelers and health tourists. It certifies hospitals, clinics, medical travel facilitators and service providers worldwide for safety and quality in support of treatment, care and services for medical tourists; issues the Top 10 World’s Best Hospitals for Medical TouristsTM annually; and authenticates online testimonials.

Contact:
Caroline Bodanis
Email caroline@mtqua.org.
Telephone (USA) +1 602-635-4664
(Thailand) +66 85 902 4500
www.mtqua.org