IWHTA President at FICCI organized 'Gujarat Tourism Conclave' in Ahmedabad.

Mr. Naresh Jadeja, President of IWHTA was invited to make presentation on ‘Developing long term strategies to make Gujarat – “A Medical Tourism Destination-Opportunities and Constraints’- at Gujarat

Tourism Conclave in Ahmedabad, India.

Tourism Corporation of Gujarat Ltd (TCGL) along with FICCI (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) organized Gujarat Tourism Conclave, with special emphasis on Health and Wellness Tourism in Ahmedabad on 24th June, 2010. The focus of the conclave was to exclusively capitalize on tourism opportunity, air connectivity and Health and Wellness Tourism in Gujarat through interaction with the travel trade fraternity and leaders of the sector from all over the country. Feedback was sought from the participants - industry leaders - on how to market the state competitive.

“Gujarat has many opportunities and at the same time having many obstacles in becoming a healthcare destination. It is great to know that Gujarat government is very active in promoting different industries through its support and efforts. I certainly appreciate Mr. Narendra Modi and Mr. Jaynarayan Vyas’s

commitment and vision to develop medical tourism in state at the perfect time”, said Mr. Naresh Jadeja.

 

Health and Tourism Minister Mr. Jaynarayan Vyas officially inaugurated the conclave and gave a very passionate presentation on Achievements and opportunities in Gujarat. He clearly said that developing tourism in Gujarat was not priority until now, but after achieving leadership in industry, agriculture and infrastructure now is the right time to focus on developing tourism in Gujarat and brand new airport of Gujarat will give a great boost. He promised that within next 3 years gujarat will become a medical tourism destination.

Mr. Naresh Jadeja presented on opportunities and constraints and compared gujarat healthcare industry with neighbouring countries. Mr. Naresh Jadeja said, “I presented IWHTA’s research and analysis for developing medical tourism in Gujarat and it will surely help industry leaders and policy makers to start planning for the next 5 years. This presentation was the result of our personnel visit to 100+ hospitals outside India and its comparison at different level with healthcare facilities in Gujarat. International patient’s requirements were evaluated against limitations and advantages of healthcare industry in Gujarat”.

Heathcare industry leaders in Gujarat wanted state government to take active part in promoting Gujarat as Healthcare destination. IWHTA president wanted to schedule a meeting with Health and Tourism Minister Mr. Jaynaran Vyas to suggest plan for developing medical tourism in Gujarat.  IWHTA is planning to host one mega medical tourism event this year and leaders of medical tourism industry from around the world are supporting its efforts. This event will change the dynamics of Indian Healthcare Travel industry and aims to educate and train its executives with the best people in this field.

 

    We are featuring IWHTA president Mr.Naresh Jadeja's discussion with Mr. Kongkiat , Director of Bangkok Hospital, Phuket about success, marketing, quality outcomes and patient safety at Bangkok Hospital Phuket.  
    Bangkok Hospital Phuket, founded in 1993 is located in the south of Thailand on Phuket Island. Today, with 200 beds and over 17 specialty centers is the largest hospital in Phuket and one of the largest hospitals in Thailand.    
   It is accredited by the Institute of Hospital Quality Improvement and Accreditation (HA) Thailand and Phuket's first hospital accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI).

Can you give us some information about Bangkok Hospital Phuket?  

 

Bangkok Hospital Phuket is a 200 bed prominent international tertiary care medical facility which offers a comprehensive range of medical services and served by highly experienced health care professionals. Our personnel teams assist patients and visitors with gentle and warm Thai hospitality and can communicate efficiently with more than 22 languages. We have 85 full time doctors in our hospital and more than 100 consultants for various specialties.

With direct access to the island's International Airport and the strong support of tourism infrastructure and authorities, our hospital has served leisure, holiday makers and medical tourists of more than 127 nationalities, up to date.

What is the major area of treatment used by international traveler at Bangkok Hospital Phuket? Does you patient combine medical care with tourism opportunities?


 The Medical tourism model in Phuket is the perfect combination of medical services with traveling experiences. Phuket Island is one the most prestigious destination for relaxation and enjoyable stay with many available activities, from shopping to spa, and from luxury to adventure, and those would make you the memorable moment and experience


What is the ratio of international patient to local Thailand patients in your hospital and how do you balance between them?


We have more international patients from Oct-March every year but on an average we have 20-25% international patients and 75-80% thai patients. We have same standards and doctors for both categories of patients. Those who do not understand English or Thai are getting help of our in house translators. We have translators who can speak many languages like, swidish, denish, Italian etc. If we look at the total population of 300,000 phuket residents then you cannot have good hospitals with very high end equipments. So by attracting more international patients we generate more revenue and local residents get benefit of higher standards of care


Do you have European patients in your hospital? Why?


Majority of our international patients are coming from UK. British people are very familiar with Phuket and they like to spend their winter time in Phuket's climate. Another growing market is Australia. Overall we see 20%  increase of Australian visitors in Thailand but here in Phuket and in my hospital we see 30 % increase in number of Australian. Their lifestyle is such that they spend 3-4 weeks here so they are better fit to opt for medical treatment here.

Bangkok Hospital Phuket is certified by JCI. Why did you opt for that and tell me the benefits of it?


JCI brings many advantages like Waste reduction, patient safety etc. to your organization. Some patients do not know about JCI. But when we talk about JCI or offer them that we have this standard, we can refer to the international standards that we are following. We have safety code to comply with, we have infection control to comply with, so that create more trust rather than just saying we are a good hospital. And also if you want to attract bigger number of patients and bigger market then you need something to prove and show your credentials


Do you think medical travel facilitators are important? How do you work with them?


Facilitators who wants to work with our hospitals have to apply and have contract with us. We verify them and they have to submit their business proposal. First we have six months probation period for contract as we want to build our relationship step by step. During this six months they understand our hospital and we become partner to build business together. That's why we have a very strong relation with many facilitators. We teach them, train them, show them vision and help them earn more and more.

Featuring IWHTA president Mr. Naresh Jadeja's discussion with Dr. Devi Shetty, Chairman of Narayan Hrudalaya. He is also a member of Medical Council of India's Board of Governors. MCI oversees doctors registration and medical education in India. For the first time ever he talked about medical tourism and about skills and experience of Indian doctors, capacity of Indian hospitals, why health care cost at Narayana Hrudalaya is cheapest in the world and How government can boost Medical Tourism in India.

He is called the Henry Ford of Heart surgery. Dr. Devi Shetty is the chairman of Narayana Hrudalaya, the largest cardiac hospital for children in the world. Narayana Hrudayalaya group currently has 5000 beds in India and aims to have 30,000 beds in the next 5 years.

Narayana's 42 cardiac surgeons performed 3,174 cardiac bypass surgeries in 2008, more than double the 1,367 the cleveland clinic, a U.S. leader, did in the same year. His surgeons operated on 2,777 pediatric patients, more than double the 1,026 surgeries performed at Children's Hospital in Boston. Also he is planning a 2,000 bed general hospital in Cayman Island,an hour's plane ride from Miami to attract uninsured and under insured American patients.

Q: Why do you think India is going to be the top medical tourism destination?

A: The major factor is cost. It will be definitely lower in India compared to any other part of the world, even far cheaper than Africa. Today Medical Tourism is looked as an alternative, but it is a matter of time before people will run out of options. Health care Travel is for better outcomes and India can offer everything they need in terms of lower cost, best doctors and great infrastructure.

Q: If you have to compare infrastructure, equipments in Indian hospitals and those in USA and Europe then what is the situation of Indian hospital?

A: The outcome of the health care is the outcome of the interaction between man (Doctor) and the machine. You just need a Man, Machine and the roof. There is not a big technology in building a roof. So when let's talk about the Man or Women behind the machine. Our specialist is ten times more experienced than those medical specialists in USA and Europe. I will give you an example, In US when a heart surgeon retires after 30-35 years of active professional life he would have done around 2500-3000 heart surgeries in his whole life while we have surgeons who have done more than 3000 surgeries and they are still in their thirties. We have nurses who are 22-25 years old and have looked after more heart patients than the nurse who is about to retire in America. Now if you have ten times more experienced doctors and nurses than US and Europe and you have the same equipments that is being used in US then you can expect the health care outcomes. If you talk about the equipments, there are only 4 manufacturers in the world who manufacture top line of medical equipments; it is GE, Siemens, Phillips or occasionally other specialist manufacturer. These machines are not developed here nor they are available in some specific countries. Anyone with the money can buy it, infect we are the largest buyers of medical equipments in this part of the world. So if you have an expertise(Doctors and nurses) and if you have an infrastructure, then anyone can understand the outcomes. It is not a rocket science to understand that we can offer same or better services than US, not that we are gifted or anything, but it is just that we see more number of patients.


Q: How do you control cost of health care in your organization?

A: First thing is that you don't build 100-200 bed hospitals. You have to build the health city with 3000-5000 bed. You create a campus on 30 Acres of land. Build separate building for different specialties. You build 1000 bed hospital for heart, 1500 bed hospital for Cancer, 300 bed hospital for orthopedic, 300 bed hospital for eye and rest for other specialties and then you share your infrastructure cost that is CT, MRI, Laboratory, blood bank, infection control team, diabetic control team, management, finance services and software. If you share this among all hospitals then your cost go down significantly. Then of course we are doing the highest number of heart surgeries in the world. 12% of heart surgeries in India are done by us, so it gives you a huge paying capacity as well as huge buying capacity. Also we work 6 days a week unlike other western countries and our utilization of equipments are at least 12-14 hours a day. If you add all this factors then your cost will definitely go down.


Q: Do you think government support can help Indian Hospitals to better brand their image at international level? What changes you would like to see?

A: First of all we need smoother visa formalities. Patients coming from Bangladesh face many problems in terms of getting visa. Also we need more direct flights. If you have direct flights to Mumbai, Delhi and Chennai only, then other cities are not going to develop medical tourism. If patient coming from overseas has to change 2-3 flights then believe me he is not coming. Connectivity and road,airport infrastructure is improving very fast and we will see many changes very soon. But more than anything else we need government to Market India health care industry overseas. Today if you open big magazines like times in US, in the center of the magazine, Singapore government promotes their health care in 2-3 pages, now we as only one institution does more heart surgeries than all the hospitals in Singapore put together. So sheer size of the Indian hospital is phenomenal but so far no clear advertisement has ever appeared, advertising brand India as a destination for health care. And we as a individual hospital cannot do it, government has to take the responsibility to promote Indian health care and medical tourism in this country.


Q: Countries like Malaysia, inviting USA and UK educated and trained doctors to practice in their country with all the facilities however in India there are many restriction. Do you think it should change?

A: It has to change, we should be lot more open, we should not be parochial, we should not be scared of western doctors coming and flooding our market. In the medical science, doctors and skill is more important than machine, there are experts in other part of the world, if they have the freedom to come and demonstrate procedures or do it on a regular basis, our council should not stop them. I think people of the repute should be allowed to practice in India, today they are allowed for demonstration and they have limited registration, but it has to be lot more broaden, definitely.

Q: What would you like to tell to international patients looking for better health care options in Asian countries?

A: Most important thing in health care is the results or outcomes of the procedure. We have some of the best doctors in the world and we have the same infrastructure as they have in American or European hospitals. Actually I can confidently say that we have better infrastructure than most of the American hospitals. So if they want a better health care at the price that they can afford, this has to be an only alternative.

Essentials for International hospitals.

The essentials for international hospitals.


In this issue we are featuring our discussion with Mdm Tan Suet Guan, CEO, Pantai Hospital - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Pantai group of hospitals has a network of 9 hospitals across 6 states in Malaysia with a range of healthcare support services. Today, the group has assumed a leadership role in defining Malaysia as a regional medical hub by delivering unparalleled quality, service and value. She talks about Pantai Hospital, quality of care and support of Malaysia government. We asked Mdm Tan about essentials to attract international patients.

Mdm Tan Suet Guan, CEO of Pantai Hospital, Kuala Lumpur
Dedicated, hard working, commited and one of the longest serving professional at Pantai hospital, Mdm Tan has been a CEO at hospital in Cheras, Ampang and since 2007 she is CEO of Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur, groups flagship hospital. Mdm Tan paraticipated the team responsible for setting up Pantai Hospital Ampang in 2002.



Q. Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur is world leader in international medical travel field. What is the secret behind it?
A. Our secret is the quality of the services that we provide, which is a combination of the skills of our consultants, who have vast experience, our allied healthcare professionals and the level of services provided both medical and otherwise in addition to our ability to maintain competitive pricing, despite employing and using advanced and appropriate technology.


Q. What is the major area of treatment used by international traveler at Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur? Tell us some of the unique features of Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur.
A. The major specialties are oncology, including radiotherapy and onco surgery, general surgery, orthopedics and also cardiology. Pantai Hospital Kuala Lumpur is an established private healthcare provider which has been around for nearly 4 decades, and it has been serving a large number of expatriates ever since, so its hardly a surprise to see patients of various nationality using the services of the hospital. This has made the transition to being a healthcare provider to international patients both natural and something that did not require extensive training or changes to service levels or how staff communicate with patients. This prompted PHKL to be among the first hospitals in Malaysia to setup an international ward and lounge, which further enhanced the service levels for patients who decide to use this facility.


Q. What are the common fears of international patients? How do you address them?
A. International patients biggest anxiety is the quality of the healthcare provided and this is the reason we have pursued JCI, which is perhaps the most globally recognized healthcare accreditations. Patients also are uncertain about the doctors or consultants who will be treating them, and we try and assist by facilitating their engagement with the consultants prior to them making a decision to come to PHKL. If an enquiry is received from a international patients, the inquiry will be shared with an appropriate specialist, who will assist in responding to the inquiry, including any further questions that the patient may have.


Q. How do you improve your hospital's patient satisfaction rating? Do you use any review mechanism or patient surveys?
A. PHKL has a formal mechanism that tracks the satisfaction ratings of our patients through a patient survey that is conducted by an external party on a monthly basis, looking at satisfaction, loyalty and recommendation of the facility, among other indices while sampling patients from the various touch points within the hospital, both in and out patient.
The results of these surveys are shared with each individual ward and department, and any treads that maybe of concern are addressed to ensure that we continue to maintain the satisfaction levels that we have committed to.

Q. What is the ratio of international patients and local Malaysian patients at your hospital? Do you face any problems in treating both category of patients at the same time
A. While foreign nationals make-up up to 20% of our total patients, international patients, which we define as patients who intentionally seek us out from across borders, make up less than 5%. With our long history of treating and being the healthcare provider of choice for expatriates in Malaysia, we have not faced any major issues in treating international patients. At the same time our Malaysian patients are accustomed to having non Malaysian patients around, and understand that this is further testimony to the level of services provided.

Q. How supportive is Malaysian Government to Medical Travel industry? Can you discuss any initiatives by Malaysian Government to promote Medical Travel industry in Malaysia?
A. The Malaysian government is very supportive of medical travel and it has even setup the Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council, which is represented by multiple agencies to ensure that the various facets of a healthcare travelers journey to seek healthcare in Malaysia are well managed and as seamless as possible. For the hospitals itself, the government has outlined a range of incentives specifically for the hospitals that are approved to provide services to healthcare travelers.

Q. Subsidizing the healthcare cost in public hospital enables private hospitals to cater more international patients with greater pace ! Do you suggest this as a key to promote medical tourism in any economy or what other factors can promote medical tourism?
A. Medical tourism in Malaysian is almost exclusively a domain for private healthcare providers, and this is done without any compromise to the provision of healthcare to Malaysians. This is partly made possible by the excellent public healthcare system in Malaysia, which allows private healthcare providers to co-exist in a complimentary manner to further enhance healthcare in Malaysia, which it is now prepared to share with the rest of the world

Q. What is most important to attract international patients: Accreditation, Cost, In Network for Insurance companies, online marketing?
A. It's a combination of all these factors, but perhaps cost and quality are the most important factors. At the same time, we have always believed that the ability to be part of significant insurance and TPA networks further facilitates the service of healthcare to patients, both local and foreign.

Q. Do you think opening field offices in other countries can bring more international patients? Is Pantai group planning to open field offices or help centers in other countries.
A. Field offices will certainly help, but it may not be feasible in every single market. This is why we prefer to collaborate with partners who are keen to work with us.

Q. Would you like to announce any new initiative or ventures of Pantai group or Pantai Hospital KL? (For example, During my conversation with Bumrangrand Hospital CEO, He mentioned about their initiative of implementing Microsoft Vault to better help patients.)
A. Pantai Hospitals as a group is investing a significant amount in a proven and complete HIS system that will be implemented in all 10 hospitals under the group, which will further enhance our capabilities, and allow medical records to be portable across the group. At the same time, PHKL will also undertake a massive redevelopment that will see its outpatient services transformed within the next few years.

Why Malaysia can become no.1 Medical Tourism destination?

Malaysia Health care and Medical Tourism Industry.

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Malaysia Health care overview

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One of Asia's economic powerhouses and most popular tourist destinations, Malaysia is using variety of techniques to re-brand the nation and make it medical tourism hub by offering best infrastructure, top of its class medical treatment through renowned doctors and equipments, value added hospitality with special rates, spectacular hotels, beautiful locations and a reputation for professionalism and flair.

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Malaysia Boleh ( means Malaysia can do it.)

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'Malaysia Boleh'- a slogan that has encouraged Malaysians to do almost anything possible, and now they are keen to make Malaysia a top medical tourism destination in the world. This is the country where all the agencies are actively promoting medical tourism. Government of Malaysia - Ministry of Health is giving ground breaking incentives to health care providers and at the same time setting and facilitating central agencies like Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council, an advisory committee chaired by Minister for Health and overseeing many other health care related associations. Private Hospitals and other providers are actively promoting and participating in discussions and dialogue about medical tourism. Facilitators are implementing and adding values to make patient's treatment safer, warm, enjoyable and best in the world. Everyone in Malaysian health care industry is excited and wants to implement more value added services. They are like a family, laughing at tough situations together and solving big problems together. We heard views and plans from Malaysia Ministry of Health, private and public hospital CEOs, business development executives, healthcare travel facilitators and professors. Top leaders of Malaysian Healthcare industry were present at one recent Asia Business Forun conference in Kuala Lumpur.

Here are the highlights of the IWHTA supported, 'Service excellence and sustainability in Malaysian medical tourism and travel Conference' that took place on March 28 - 29,2010 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

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Mr Naresh Jadeja on Donate A Surgery-An innovative marketing strategy for MT.

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President of IWHTA did presentation on IWHTA's core value based service initiative, 'Donate a Surgery-An innovative marketing strategy'. It was first time in the world that this topic was presented as an innovative marketing strategy to spread most effective word of mouth publicity. Projections and rewards were presented which would make it one of the best effective marketing strategies to enter in US market. It received a great response. Group hospitals wanted to have Malaysia specific project and expressed their desire to be a part of it.

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Prof. Dr. Badaruddin Mohamed on 

Overview of Medical Tourism in Asia 

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Deputy Dean at the Institute of post graduate studies, University Sains Malaysia gave an overview of the medical tourism in Asia and discussed pro and cons of medical tourism and key to success. He shared his expertise on the impact of healthcare globalization has on patients, providers, payers and government.

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Mr Amir Firdaus on Attracting International Patients through world class medical treatments.
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CEO of Gleneagles Hospital KL, Mr. Amir, did presentation on attracting international patients through world class medical services, and who else can talk more on this topic other then Dynamic CEO of one of the top hospitals in KL? In a separate issue I will talk about my personnel visit to this hospital and how Ritz Carlton hospitality culture is becoming a part of this hospital. It is a benchmark hospital where you will see everyone, from door man to CEO adding value and providing warm and cozy atmosphere for patients.

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Damien Duhamel on Benchmarking Malaysia's Health Tourism Vs. Singapore and Thailand.
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Managing Director Asia, Solidiance presented ‘Benchmarking Malaysia’s health tourism destination Vs. Singapore and Thailand.’ He shared his experience while advising Singapore tourism board and MOH on medical tourism strategy. He applied patient’s mind set of pull factors for Medical Tourism and insist on focusing developing markets in Pakistan, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

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Dr. Lee Moon Keen on Medical Challenges in Health Tourism
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Director for Alpha Specialist Centre applied his experience in identifying medical challenges in health tourism. She discussed problems while dealing with international patients in terms of

1. Information gap,
2. Social History,
3. Time constraints and long term follow up,
4. Cultural issues,
5. Need of soft skill training,
6. Cultural sensitivities and Religious beliefs.
One example of cultural miss communication and medico legal implication was discussed which is published as a book. ('The spirit catches you and you fall down.')

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Dr. How Kim Chuan on Implementing flexible plans for small and medium dental clinics.
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President-Elect of Malaysian Dental Association presented possibilities of dental tourism and identified Korea and china as major upcoming dental tourism market for Malaysia. Malaysia has 39% international patients coming from Australia and majority of those sought dental implant treatment followed by crown-bridge, and orthodontics treatments. He very well represented small and medium dental clinics and its competitive approaches.

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Dr. Robert P. Jalleh on Medical Tourism and Ambulatory Care Center
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Chairman of Alpha Specialist Center presented importance of Ambulatory care centers and need to have a shift of patient's mind-set. External and internal implications of the medical tourism eco system were presented and obstacles in health insurance system were discussed.

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Dr. Lee Soon Boon on Exploring Medical Tourism Market for Dental Tourism.
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President of Malaysian Dental Association spoke on exploring medical tourism market for dental tourism. As a member of Malaysian Healthcare Travel Council he expressed desire to have another member from dental sector to better represent dental tourism scope and opportunities. He talked about 6 phenomenon of dental tourism.



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Dr Choong Yee Foone D on Leveraging on Eye Health care
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Medical Director for International Specialist Eye Center Malaysia discussed opportunities and infrastructure availability in Malaysia for eye healthcare. He insists on leveraging cost advantage and same quality outcomes. Also availability of new technology is greatly demanded in international patients. He discussed how word of mouth can give a brand image to your institution.


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Mr. Ahmad Nasirrudin Harun on Tapping into the potential of Health care market and Medical Tourist.
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CEO of KPJ Ipoh Hospital, discussed drivers for developing medical tourism program. He emphasize on creating effective operational processes and measuring operational performances. His light approach to this presentation was a refreshing experience.





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Mr Kuljit Singh on Exploring patients market for EMT
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Consultant Surgeon for Price Court Medical Center talked about exploring patient market for EMT. He short listed few procedures like - diving related problems, sleep disorders etc and explained why one should avoid some airway surgeries which need long observation time and could be life threatening at some point.
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Fortis - Parkway combination on medical tourism

Fortis - Parkway combination on medical tourism

March 2010

Medical tourism driven global healthcare acquisition, and welcomes Fortis' acquisition

Medical Tourism industry is welcoming Fortis healthcare's acquisition of a 23.9% stake in Parkway Holdings Limited. This strategic move will not only give global foot prints to Fortis but it will also help parkway hospitals to benefit from Fortis's integrated health systems, standards, knowledge pool and experience.

Top destinations for medical tourism are India, Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico and by this deal, fortis will have presence in all major medical tourism market in the world. Their top hospitals in India, Singapore and Malaysia will not only have a complete list medical procedures like stem cell therapy and organ transplant available but it will also have major medical travel destination to choose from.

When some of Parkway hospital claims more then 40 % international patients ration, it is oblivious that Fortis is very well focusing on medical tourism. Chairman of the Group Mr. Malvinder singh mentioned the same in his statement. "Parkway's strong presence in Malaysia with the Pantai Group of Hospitals gives us great confidence. This acquisition will significantly expand our footprint across the region and place us strategically for geographical and clinical leadership in Asia, a big step closer to our vision of establishing a global healthcare delivery network,"

Along with 3 top hospitals in Singapore, East Shore, Gleneagles and Mount Elizabeth Parkway has 39 international patient assistance centers in 17 countries throughout the world. None other hospital group has such a big number of patient assistance centers in the world. This assistance centers brings local presence, local touch and local confidence to the area they serve. It helps to lower the fear of traveling to another country or city for medical treatment.

Post Acquisition

Fortis & Parkway Asian network
62 Hospitals

Total Number of Beds in network
10,000 beds

Fortis Strenght
Low Cost healthcare model

Parkway's Strength
Cutting edge technology with innovative medical specialty like Stem Cell Therapy and Organ transplantation

Jointly the Group will offer
Qualitative services for medical tourism. Customers based pricing structure (medical surgery, service opt).

Group M.D. Shivinder Singh's statement clearly indicates group's focus on medical tourism. He said,"The potential synergy benefits from this integration includes multi-specialty capabilities, access to cutting-edge technology in stem-cell therapy and organ transplantation, sharing of medical technologies and know how, exchange of human talent, optimizing costs of operations, high brand equity through integration of premium healthcare brands in Asia as well as a fillip to medical tourism initiatives with multiple options at different price points for customers."

Mr Naresh Jadeja, President IWHTA visiting

Parkway groups flagship hospital Mount Elizabeth, Singapore

357-bed Mount Elizabeth Hospital performs the largest number of cardiac surgeries & neurosurgeries in the private sector in the region. The hospital is accredited with the Joint Commission International (JCI); and is the first private hospital in Asia to win the Asian Management Award for exceptional people development and management.

Healthcare industry needs long term planning and Fortis hospital's strategies has proved that they believe in it. After this acquisition, Fortis will have a great Pan-Asian presence with the network to 62 hospitals with combined bed strength of over 10,000. It will also have access to cutting edge technologies like stem cell therapy, organ transplantation and multi specialty capabilities.

Experts voice

Mr. Daniel Snyder,Ex CEO Parkway & Dr Lim Choek Peng, CEO and

Ex. Vice Chairman of Parkway about the acquisition.

Dan during his recent discussion with IWHTA, said "It is a fabulous move. It create a big opportunity. Fortis's integrated health systems, standards, experience and man power skills and knowledge will help parkway to achieve its goals."

 

 

Dr. Lim Cheok Peng, Parkway's CEO and Executive Vice Chairman

"We are pleased to welcome fortis as a new major shareholder of Parkway. There are lots of synergies which parkway can leverage on and we look forward to working with Fortis to take Parkway to the next level."

Dear Healthcare Travel Industry Stakeholders,

IWHTA is delighted to share the highlights of 'International Medical Tourism and Travel 2010' conference that took place in Singapore from 1-3 March 2010. The conferences attracted speakers and participants from USA, Middle East, India, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan and Singapore. The participants were hospitals CEOs, Medical Directors, Marketing Executives, Government Representatives, Professors, Consultants and Doctors. IWHTA was the supporting organization and the official online media partner for IMT&T 2010. Here is the highlights of the Day-1 sessions

Mr Naresh Jadeja, 
President,

International Wellness and Healthcare Travel Association

IWHTA president Mr. Naresh Jadeja applied his vast international experience in his presentation on 'Revising long term strategies to develop the medical tourism sector in Asia'. He explained the importance of word of mouth referrals and local touch in publicity and branding. He showed the keys to achieve success through different strategies. He explained Medical vacations, volunteer match, and innovative 'Donate a Surgery' program. It was helpful for many to understand why medical tourism has not picked up well and what is required. His presentation got very curious questions from the participants as they said many of the approaches are presented for the first time in this medical travel industry.

Chairperson, Day - One

Dr Jason Yap, Director of Healthcare Services in the Singapore Tourism Board

Chair person for day one Dr Yap is one of the pioneers of Medical Travel industry, the key person behind 'Singapore Medicine' and many medical travel concepts. Dr Yap Kick started the conference with his presentation on 'Building brand loyalty and customer retention in medical tourism - hard won privilege that must be earned.' explaining a true picture of Medical Travel Industry. He also present his views on Revenue model, along with the possible ways to raise revenue by increasing channels, no. of customers, no. of visits, no. of transactions, no. of services that too with greatly associating words viz: Know, Like, Can, Choose, Access, Heal, Recover, Smile with both patients and hospital services.

Dr Christine Cheng,

MB.BCh (Wales), FRCA (UK)

'Capitalizing the medical tourism market for the Aesthetic medicine' was the next presentation from Dr. Christine Cheng of Simply Aesthetic Pte., Ltd, Singapore. She explained the growing market and her experience on different marketing strategies. She very well shared the pros and cons of different approaches and winning formulae of success. She denied the fact that you can combine medical treatment and Tourism in one trip. She said that patients cannot go to tourist places with stitches,scars and limited energy and said that I always discourage my patients to engage in any such tourism activities.

Dr. Paul Chang, Managing Director for JCI,

He presented his thoughts on 'Preparing an organization for the Accreditation Journey'. Also he emphasized that it is a never ending journey and requires commitment from top physician and lead management team to better successed in accreditation process. He addressed many doubts about the approximate cost of the survey and what to do before you opt for the survey.

Dr. Bu Castro,

Corporate Legal counsel,

Private Hospitals Association of the phillippines.

Bu Castro, Corporate Legal Counsel of Private Hospitals Association of the Philippines did a presentation on 'Safefuarding your organizsation from paralysing legal vulnerabilities in medical tourism.' He talked about the forms that needs to get signed from patients based on international law and United Nations treaty. His examples on contract and importance of notice posters really cleared doubts of the participants about how to survive in the legal complexity.

Ms Vasanti Pillay

President

Ayurvedic Association of Singapore,

Ms. Vasanthy from Ayurveda Association of Singapore talked about 'Integrating Ayurveda and how it could promote medical tourism in the county' and her efforts to include ayurveda in the Singapore Hospitals as a alternative medicine.

Datuk Mohd Radzif Yunus,

Group Managing Director of IJN Holdings

Datuk Yunus talked about 'Developing your human resources Management strategies to achieve service excellence'. His experience and knowledge in the field of managing and developing world class facility helped to understand the importance of it.

Dr Balvinder Thakkar,

B.D.S., M.D.S. (Orthodontics)

CEO, Jaipur Dental Hospital and Orthodontics Centre

Final session for Day-1 was on 'Escaping to a new destination for a "Dental Holiday" to take advantage of the advanced technology and first class treatment. Dr. Balvinder Thakkar, Dental Surgeon and Orthodontists from Jaipur Dental Hospital and Orthodontic Center, India, presented pros of 'Incredible India' and dental tourism opportunities along with regular tourism. This young doctor from India was much exited to tap that 6 million foreign traveler visiting Jaipur, India. His plans on how to save vacation days of the patients and at the same time give them the best dental plans was very convincing.

Day - Two

Prof Dr Aw Tar Choon,

Senior Consultant,

Changi General Hospital.

Chairman for Day - 2 was Prof Dr Aw Tar Choon, Senior Consultant and widely travelled speaker, He "shared the importance of laboratory in Hospital services." He considered investment in the pre analytical processes as the best one and favored pneumatic tube transfer of samples in big hospitals. He showed how any laboratory can achieve success by proper design and tools. His neutral opinion on many topics showed his vast experience in this field

Dr Jacob Thomas,

Group medical Advisor for Sime Darby Health

Dr. Jacob Thomas, Group medical Advisor for Sime Darby Health and President of Associaiton of Private Hospitals Malaysia, did presentation on 'Procuring the state of the art medical devices and equipments- the driving forces in medical technology'. He explained success of Sime Darby Health - Malaysia through different aspects and discussed what to look for when adding equipment to your healthcare facility. He stressed on need, type of service/location, Ability to overcome, timing, appropriateness/utilization, impact on medical travel and patient outcomes as the decision making factors. He also explained importance of negative return investments like Da Vinci robotic surgery, High Field iMRI and Proton Beam Therapy.

Dr. Tshepo Maaka,

Medical Director of Serokolo Health Tourism,

A very well organized case study was presented by Dr. Tshepo Maaka, Medical Director of Serokolo Health Tourism, South Africa. "Carving out an unusual niche to capture a share of the "Medical Safari" market" was her topics. Her more than 6 years of experience in developing Medical Travel industry in south Africa was the key factor behind this.

Dr. Kongkiat Kespechara,
Hospital Director of Bangkok Phuket Hospital.

Dr. Kongkiat Kespechara, Hospital Director of Bangkok Phuket Hospital, Thailand discussed 'Collaborating with medical tourism facilitators to create comprehensive and customized medical travel packages'. He shared Bangkok Hospital phuket's strategies to develop and train medical tourism facilitators through training in SOPs, Medical Terminology etc. He also shared growth of his hospital through increase number of international patients and what extra mile they go in terms of providing services to their patients. He said our hospital has a new cloth and look advisory who help patients to look better after weight loss surgery which was very unique in this industry.

Dr. Kostas I. Papadopoulos,
CEO of Thai StemLife.

At the end of the conference Dr Kostas I. Papadopoulos, CEO of THAI StemLife, Thailand presented on Tapping "stem cell medical tourism" to take advantage of the growing significance of marrow transplants.

Message from Naresh Jadeja,

President,
IWHTA.

Overall it was a very good, unbiased conference with widely experienced speakers and provided very good networking opportunities for participants. Everyone was happy to be a part of this growing industry and wanted to find and try new innovative ways to promote medical travel in their country/hospital. Debate over the use of world 'Medical Tourism' is still going on and time will tell its fate. IWHTA will keep supporting medical travel conferences and exibitons like this in future in order to strengthen ties and intensify collaborative efforts with other healthcare related organizations to undertake a major industry renovation and ultimately advance the healthcare travel industry.

International Wellness and Healthcare Travel Association
113 Calvert Ave,
Edison, New Jersey 08820
Email: info@iwhta.org
URL: http://www.iwhta.org/