Patients traveling to a country for medical care not only benefit the health care industry, but they have a pretty significant hand in boosting the economy. Patients and their companions need somewhere to stay and dine before and after the procedure.

In most cases patients will be in the foreign country for a longer period of time, since many will be spending a lot of time in their hotel room recovering, many opt for an upgrade. The average medical tourist spends anywhere from five to 12 times the amount of what a typical tourist would spend on travel costs.

The Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin realized the opportunity to combined hotel offerings packaged with medical care, aiming to save the client some money. The health-care package they created includes, flight, hotel, and connects the client with a regional hospital.

Casa Velas Hotel & Ocean Club in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, is another example of a hotel taking advantage of the nearby medical care.

The medical accommodations offered at this hotel are really above and beyond, which has brought back a number of clients.

Casa Velas joined forces with Amerimed, a network of hospitals that adhere to U.S. health-care standards. They go so far as to offer hotel/medical staff 24 hours a day for patients recovering from procedures. The hotel offers personalized diet plans for patients and they uphold high levels of discretion for patients providing a private place to recover.

So many countries are known for having amazing hotel accommodations that really know how to cater to the guest and provide a five star experience. If you already have the tourist part down why not increase your numbers by expanding to a broader audience. Make health care one more feature that the hotel offers.

http://j.mp/HotelsBoostMedTour

Known for gambling and wild weekend getaways, Las Vegas also has great healthcare potential. With an already booming tourism industry, why not incorporate that with a quick executive check up or a sleeve gastrectomy while you are there. Vegas has the tourism part down to a science, so why not recover in a place that offers so many options for entertainment? Las Vegas actually has several great healthcare facilities, the issue is, it is simply not what they are known for. Industry officials are making moves to change this perception and put their city on the map for healthcare.

“It’s unlikely Las Vegas will become a transplant or cancer treatment capital but the Southern Nevada Medical Industry Coalition says the city leads the nation in some of those other specialties”.

Las Vegas Could Attract Medical Tourists

Thank you to everyone for viewing our webinar “Medical Tourism 101″ on Slideshare.net over 4000 times!

In some cases gastric bypass surgery is cosmetic, but in the case for Jan Neufeld, an Oklahoma resident, it was to save her life. Weighing in at 350 pounds she knew she needed the surgery.  The price tag of $40,000 in her home state was more than she could afford. When a friend of hers suggested that the procedure in India was about a quarter of the cost, she began researching it.

While traveling to India for surgery scared her at first, she was more than pleased with the outcome and her new found quality of life.

She said in an article by NewsOn6.com, “There is hope. So many people say they can’t afford surgery,” Jan said. “This surgery is the best thing that’s happened to me. It’s given me my life back.”

With such so much success she spread the word to her friends and family, convincing her mother and two friends to travel to India for surgery and she has been there three times for additional touch ups!

Compare costs per country here: http://www.medicaltourism.com/en/compare-costs.html

In order to handle the influx of more than 20,000 Libyan patients coming to Jordan for treatment a committee is in the process of being formed to regulate the distribution of patients to the Kingdom’s hospitals.

This committee will be based at the Queen Alia International Airport to receive Libyan patients, conduct a preliminary diagnosis and then refer them to hospitals depending on their conditions. Some of the public hospitals will be staffed with specialized doctors to handle specific cases.

The Jordan Medical Association will provide the Kingdom’s private hospitals with a list of doctors that possess rare specialties and are willing to offer their services to public hospitals to treat the Libyan patients.

Also, there are plans to send 2,000 male Jordanian nurses to work in hospitals in Libya. In addition to helping the Libyan patients this will also provide work for some of the 3,000 nurses that are unemployed in Jordan.

http://j.mp/Helping_Lybia

Fiction- coach passengers are more likely to develop clots due to the smaller space provided, compared to first class

Fact- the majority of travelers that experience blockages have a reason prior to traveling, such as surgery, age, and previous clotting

Fiction- drinking alcoholic on a flight increases your risk

Fact- mobility constraints do raise the risk, for example; sitting in a window seat, tall passengers or those that do not move during the flight

Advice for long-distance travelers:

Do not use blood-thinning meds or aspirin, move around the cabin and maybe do some calf exercises and book an aisle seat!

Do any of our international travelers have tips of their own or experiences to share about this?

Read full article from CNN Travel

Fiction- coach passengers are more likely to develop clots due to the smaller space provided, compared to first class

Fact- the majority of travelers that experience blockages have a reason prior to traveling, such as surgery, age, and previous clotting

Fiction- drinking alcoholic on a flight increases your risk

Fact- mobility constraints do raise the risk, for example; sitting in a window seat, tall passengers or those that do not move during the flight

Advice for long-distance travelers:

Do not use blood-thinning meds or aspirin, move around the cabin and maybe do some calf exercises and book an aisle seat!

Do any of our international travelers have tips of their own or experiences to share about this?

Read full article from CNN Travel

Former Boston dentist was found guilty and sentenced to 2 1/2 years in federal prison after substituting stainless steal posts with paper clips during root canal procedures.

Michael Clair, 53, was sentenced earlier this week after pleading guilty to a list of charges, including assault and battery, defrauding Medicare of $130,000, illegally prescribing medications (to employees) and witness intimidation. Prosecutors said that Clair even used pieces of paper clips in root canal procedures to save money while fraudulently billing Medicare for the legitimate stainless steel posts.

CBS News reports that prosecutors had asked for a sentence of five to seven years, but Judge Richard Moses gave Clair two-and-a-half years, with all but one year suspended, plus five years of probation. The judge said he considered Clair’s lack of a criminal record, “certain mental health issues” and acceptance of responsibility in handing down the sentence.

Read the full article here:
http://j.mp/PaperClipDentist

The Medical Tourism Association™ (MTA) – has partnered with The Private Hospitals Association (PHA) to assist with organizing The International Medical Tourism, Wellness & Spa Congress that will be held in Dead Sea – Jordan March 18-20, 2012.

As the leading regional destination for health care and the fifth medical tourism destination worldwide as recognized by the World Bank; this conference will host up to 400 academics, researchers, health care buyers, innovators and decision-makers working in areas such as: governments, health care, travel and embassies. This Congress will provide a platform for sharing and learning about the wider issues of the future of medical tourism, quality assurance and accreditation, e-health, Jordan as a wellness destination and medical liability issues.  The Congress will be held at the Kempinski-Ishtar Hotel Dead Sea- Jordan.

As part of this agreement, the MTA will take part in developing topic ideas, recommending speakers and inviting VIP buyers of health care among the contacts they have established.

“Many of the buyers we have worked with have shown a great deal of interest in exploring the areas of Jordan where medical tourism could thrive,” said Renée-Marie Stephano, president of the Medical Tourism Association™.  “For my company; this is a great opportunity to showcase a high specialty and diverse health and wellness destination, one that has exceptional health care combined with high patient satisfaction rates and a beautiful place to visit, which are all components the MTA advocates.”

In addition to working together on the Congress, the Guide to Jordan Healthcare will be the second book released in a series of the Destination Guides program, by the MTA.

As nearly 100 countries around the world embrace the medical tourism industry, the Medical Tourism Association™ has launched its Destination Guides program as a commitmentto education, with a focus on consumer awareness. The first guide was officially released at the 4^th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress in October, The Las Vegas Destination Guide^TM.

The Jordan Destination Guide will provide:

• In depth analysis about what medical tourism is and considerations in receiving health care away from home
• Discover what makes Jordan a great medical tourism destination
• Medical procedures and treatments available in Jordan
• How to budget/plan for your Jordan medical trip
• Directory listing of health care providers, spas, hotels and entertainment

Known for years for its excellence in health care, Jordan has continually increased its value proposition by promoting quality and international standards.  At present, seven Jordanian private hospitals are accredited by the Joint Commission International (JCI), with five others in the process of obtaining this accreditation.  This ensures patients a quality health care experience, as well as highlights Jordan’s commitment to enhance all phases of the medical services sector.

In the past five years, Jordan has streamlined its efforts to become a medical tourism hub with sector revenues increasing to $1.3 billion by 2011. Revenues will likely increase even more in the coming years as additional Jordanian hospitals will gain Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation.

“Due to our belief that more efforts should be made by our association to attract and increase the number of patients who select Jordan as their medical and wellness destination, we have collaborated with the MTA in releasing the Jordan Destination Guide to promote Jordan as the destination of choice for wellness, medical services and to assist hospitals in entering new regional and international markets,” said Dr. Abdallah Hindawi, CEO of Private Hospitals Association.

Company Bios

Medical Tourism Association™

The Medical Tourism Association™ is the first membership based international non-profit trade association for the medical tourism and global healthcare industry made up of the top international hospitals, healthcare providers, medical travel facilitators, insurance companies, and other affiliated companies and members with the common goal of promoting the highest level of quality of healthcare to patients in a global environment. The Association promotes the interests of its healthcare provider and medical tourism facilitator members. The MTA  has three tenets: Transparency in Quality and Pricing, Communication and Education.

Private Hospitals Association

The Private Hospitals Association is  non-profit organization founded in 1984 , that aims to give Jordanians the ability to choose the best medical services available by creating awareness among the Jordanian society, and raise the competitiveness of the private hospitals locally and internationally while maintaining  the interests of the private hospitals their owners and operators keeping the  interaction with the members; to ensure the continuation an meeting up with the  continuous changing needs of patients.

International Surrogacy sounds like a great endeavor for infertile couples and partners who wish for a child of their own; couples receive the baby they have always wanted while surrogates overseas earn more in one gestation than they would in an entire year of work. In a recent article on Slate, author Douglas Pet outlines the operations of the California surrogacy company “PlanetHospital” presenting what may be a dream for couples wishing for a child as the profitable business it is.

…PlanetHospital offers customers a novel means of accelerating their bid for a family: The option of having embryos implanted into two surrogates at the same time. The selling points of this package (which was previously marketed under the name “India Bundle”): Implantation in two surrogates at a time increases the chance of immediate impregnation and decreases the waiting time for a baby. As the company’s website used to explain.

…PlanetHospital’s information packet ends with a note cautioning prospective clients not to make too much of any negative reviews of the company that they might find on the Internet. “[S]urrogacy is a very emotional matter,” the packet explains. “This is not a matter of buying a car, this is a life you are asking us to help you create.” But while we can probably all agree that ordering up a child is nothing like buying a car, PlanetHospital goes on to draw an equally unlikely parallel between its business and that of a well-known purveyor of mail-order shoes. “Like Zappos,” the note concludes, “we too want to ‘deliver happiness’ and maintaining our integrity is the most important part of that mission.”

-via Slate

PlanetHospital’s “Results Driven Surrogacy” may streamline the difficult process potential clients face when inquiring about international surrogacy options by providing customizable options, guarantees, and legal protections, but at what cost to the surrogate?? As more International Surrogate companies open around the world the need for government regulation to oversee and protect all parties involved rises.

We invite you to read “Make Me a Baby As Fast As You Can” and Share your thoughts on the growth & direction of international surrogacy in the comments section below.