medical tourism

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

Posted by Julie Munro on December 4, 2015   |   No Comments

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

infographic Commercial surrogacy tourism

Posted by Julie Munro on September 28, 2014   |   Comments Off on infographic Commercial surrogacy tourism

How much do you pay for a surrogate mother in another country?

The 4-part post, Commercial Surrogacy Tourism, begins here.

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Commercial Surrogacy Tourism

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Lemen International Is First Chinese Agency With Medical Tourism Certification

Posted by Julie Munro on May 19, 2014   |   No Comments

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Lemen International is first Chinese agency to receive international medical tourism certification from Medical Travel Quality Alliance.

Lemen International in Shanghai, a leader in China medical tourism, is first to certify its care and services for elite medical travelers from MTQUA.

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April 17, 2014 – Shanghai and Scottsdale – SHANGHAI LEMEN BUSINESS INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL SERVICE CO., LTD. (the core of Lemen International), a global group focusing on private health management, is the first medical tourism company in China to achieve international medical tourism certification from the US-based Medical Travel Quality Alliance.

“After a satisfactory review of the agency’s operations and processes for care and services to medical tourists, we have found Lemen International offers outstanding services to its clients and the partners in its medical network abroad,” announced Julie Munro, President of MTQUA.

Medical tourism certification is awarded to a hospital, clinic or medical tourism agency that meets the international standard of quality in 10 areas that directly impact a medical tourist’s wellbeing and good results.

“With certification, the company is taking the next step in our continuing pursuit of excellence for our clients,” says Mrs. Peng Ling, chairwoman of Lemen International.

“Our corporate mission to improve the quality of life and health of our distinguished clients led us to creating special services such as a private butler for international care. In the coming decade, our clients can expect more unique services and features to help them live healthier and longer lives,” she says.

Seal displayed by medical tourism certified hospitals, clinics and agencies.
The company was reviewed by an evaluation team from MTQUA. They examined how the company manages a medical tourist including the inquiry process, care management while abroad, and problem-solving processes. This involved a study of the company’s website and internet marketing, communication procedures, privacy and security measures, multicultural sensitivity, medical support services, and certain operations and business procedures that have been shown to affect the quality of treatment and care a medical tourist receives.

“Medical tourists are not ordinary patients,” said Ms. Munro. “They need more attention, not only in matters of comfort but more important, in matters of care. They are looking for an international level of health care service. They want to know that they can trust the hospital or the agency to deliver on what they promise in their marketing and communications. We are confident they will get all of this from Lemen International.”

Lemen International (http://www.lemengroup.com) is a global service company based in Shanghai offering high quality health and wellness services for an elite international clientele to the United States, Switzerland, France, Finland, Denmark, Czech Republic, South Africa, Cuba and South Korea.

Medical Travel Quality Alliance (MTQUA, https://mtqua.org), an independent international organization founded in 2009 to promote the special safety and quality concerns in the treatment and care of medical tourists, publishes an annual list of the World’s Best Hospitals For Medical Tourists™ and Best Practices in Medical Tourism.

Contact:
Mr. Liu Zhi
Email lz_002@lemengroup.com
Telephone 0086 137 0197 4088

Contact:
Caroline Bodanis
Email caroline@mtqua.org
Telephone (USA) +1 805-617-3115
(Thailand) +66 85 902 4500

These Businesses Have Chosen Medical Tourism Certification

Posted by Julie Munro on March 17, 2014   |   No Comments

What is your reason for getting certified in medical tourism?

Hospital in Korea

We, a JCIA hospital, have high motivation to do everything possible to make us one of the highest level international medical center in the world. A medical tourism certification will help us for this.

Hospital in United Arab Emirates

Our hospital is a leader in the private healthcare industry in the Middle East. With our vision of being the center of excellence for state of the art healthcare services, we build our practice on evidence based practices, human values and patient care. Medical tourism certification supports this.

Medical Travel Company in Australia

Our medical tourism company has been established for over 3 years, and has grown to become the region’s largest medical tourism facilitator. We are now looking to grow our brand internationally and believe certification by MTQUA will be beneficial.

Specialty Treatment Center in Thailand

Knowledge and doing things right from the start is essential.

Hospital in Turkey

We would like to certify the quality of service provided by us so that international patient can use our services without any fear of travelling into a different country.

Dental Clinic in Costa Rica

Certification will help me to improve the quality of service delivery offered to my patients in accordance with International Standards.

Medical Tourism Company in USA

I think we need to have certification for all medical tourism agencies. The industry is growing rapidly and the ‘cowboys’ need to be weeded out. We need everyone taking care of medical tourists to get certification like this.

Medical Clinic in Portugal

We are in a tourist community and have many traveling patients. This certification will keep us on the forefront of patient safety and high standards internationally.

Medical Tourism Company in UK

We see this being necessary and I’m very ready and willing to step up as a medical travel company that is certified in international standards for high quality.


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Medical Tourism Certification

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Medical travelers unique needs and special care for good outcomes

Posted by Julie Munro on September 16, 2012   |   No Comments

Medical tourism is not a vacation.

While many choose to emphasize the vacation part of medical tourism, it most certainly is not a holiday.

A patient may be using annual vacation days off from work, or may bring along a family member to enjoy a holiday while the patient is undergoing treatment.  Many patients fly to a well-known tourist destination like Thailand or Mexico for medical attention. Some may feel they deserve a holiday after enduring the rigors of lab tests, anesthesia, surgery and recovery.

Medical Travel Pain Chart

What is medical tourism?

Medical tourism or, preferred, medical travel is fundamentally planned travel to obtain medical treatment.

A medical travel trip has these features.

A medical travel trip is successful if it is a safe event, with an excellent outcome, and is managed well with appropriate hand-off to care professionals at home as needed.

  1. It will be planned ahead.
  2. There is an exchange of medical records and medical history.
  3. Certain pre-treatment or pre-surgery instructions may have to be followed while the patient is still at home.
  4. The treatment or surgery will be invasive and/or require anesthesia, or it may be a major non-invasive treatment such as chemotherapy, etc.
  5. After the treatment or procedure, the patient will likely need medical supervision and/or special accommodations.
  6. During or after the trip, unexpected occurrences or complications may occur that need medical attention.
  7. Total care management, from initial planning through follow-up after returning home, will reduce the degree of risk or exposure to unexpected occurrences or complications.

A medical travel trip must be safe, with high quality outcomes

Excellent and safe treatment for medical tourists goes beyond simply observing clinical protocols and meeting quality and safety standards set by national or international accreditation bodies.

Excellent and safe treatment includes knowing with confidence that a patient has not had a post-surgical infection, that a wound has not opened up, or that no other complication occurred that might track back to the patient’s procedure and recovery time spend abroad.

Patients must educate themselves

Patients who choose to become medical tourists need to educate themselves. They need to know how their care differs from the care they would expect to receive at home.

Medical tourists owe it to themselves and their loved ones to learn as much about the process of medical tourism, what is involved in care management, and how to protect better against the sort of unfortunate things that can happen on a trip abroad.  They cannot do this on their own. An independent international care manager is an important ally for a medical tourist.

Doctors, surgeons, dentists and hospital directors who expect to profit from success in medical tourism  owe it to their patients to share in responsible care management that starts from early planning stages and continue until they return home, and beyond.

You may also want to read

What creates outstanding medical treatment abroad?

Quality medical treatment and care for medical tourists

Medical destinations

Certification, training, and medical travel and health tourism services from MTQUA.