The Medical Tourism Association® has long been an advocate for setting industry standards and establishing protocols and best practices. With these principals in mind the MTA recently launched two certification courses during The 5^th World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress event.

The courses were presented by MTA Training Instructor and industry leader Mr. Bill Cook “This was the first time these workshops were offered globally and we were pleased with the turnout of 64 participants,” said Bill. “It was great to see so many people with the desire to bring real credibility to the industry through education and training.”

The first, Certified Medical Tourism Specialist™ was aimed at insurance and HR professionals and Certified Medical Travel Specialist was the designation for travel agents and medical tourism facilitators. Moving forward these courses will be combined under the CMTS certification with classified designations offered to the various industries. The topics included:

• Medical Travel Facilitation
• Dissecting the Medical Travel Process
• Quality Issues and Liability
• Selecting Healthcare Facilities & Providers
• Planning a Site Visit
• Contracting with Providers
• Risk Assessment and Management

After December 1^st, 2012 the certification courses will be available online for anyone in the world to participate. For more information or to sign up for certification you can go to www.MedicalTourismCongress.com. The cost of the program is $1,500 for two years and it includes two years of MTA individual membership.

In order to become fully certified individuals must:

• Finish 8 hours of training/classes (this can be done either in person or online)
• Meet educational and professional experience requirements
• Pass a comprehensive 100+ question exam

The MTA also offers training and certification programs for international and US healthcare providers to improve protocols and set best practices for providing quality care to traveling patients. The goal is to differentiate certified hospitals and ultimately increase the number of patients through maximizing the patient experience and delivery great outcomes. To learn more about these programs check out the following link:
http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com/en/certification.html

Carolyn Nye – Director of Digital Interactive Group, USADATA

Carolyn Nye, Director of Digital Interactive Group USAData Inc. (along with Kate O’Neill, Founder and Creator of [meta]marketer), will lead the session “Persuading Through Caring: Connecting with Patients on a Personal Level”.  She will be explaining the magnitude of “Triggers & Targeting” marketing to receive the best outcomes and genuine interest from prospective clients.

She is Email Marketing Manager for USAData, providing businesses with consulting, data and technology solutions. Previously, she was Marketing Manager for S&S Worldwide, a direct marketer of arts & crafts and educational supplies for over five years. Carolyn is responsible for the planning and implementation of email marketing programs and has developed a wide variety of highly successful triggered and transactional email campaigns designed to engage customers, drive sales, improve service and overall customer satisfaction.

This session will be emphasizing that delivering the right message to a prospect at the right time can have a powerful impact on the effectiveness of your online marketing campaigns. Carolyn will explain how to leverage on-site behavioral triggers and segmentation to create highly customized and targeted messages in both your outbound email efforts and on your website. Attendees will learn how to increase conversions by identifying valuable visitor segments, serving customized content based on each segments’ characteristics and needs, and remarketing to your prospects with a series of right-timed messages that prompt them to come back for more.

Carolyn holds a BS in Marketing from UMass Dartmouth and is currently pursuing an MBA in E-Commerce and Global Marketing from the University of New Haven. She is an occasional speaker and contributor at industry conferences, featured in trade articles and webinars.

To read Carolyn’s full biography and for more information about the event including the complete conference agenda, please visit http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com

The MTA is pleased to announce that world renowned  hand and upper extremity surgeon Dr. Alejandro Badia will participate in a discussion covering sports medicine in medical tourism at
The 5th World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress.
http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/agenda/

About Dr. Badia
Alejandro Badia, MD, FACS is a hand and upper extremity surgeon at Badia Hand to Shoulder Center in Doral, Florida. Dr. Badia studied physiology atCornellUniversityand obtained his medical degree at NYU, where he also trained in orthopedics. A hand fellowship at Alleghany General Hospital inPittsburghwas followed by an AO trauma fellowship in Freiburg,Germany. He runs an active international hand fellowship, serves on the editorial board of two hand journals, and organizes a yearlyMiami meeting for surgeons /therapists that is devoted to upper limb arthroscopy and arthroplasty. This international meeting is held at the world renowned Miami Anatomical Research Center  ( M.A.R.C. ) , the worlds largest surgical cadaveric training lab which Dr. Badia co-founded in 2005. He is a founding member of the American Hand Institute, a think tank and medical device start-up company focused on minimally invasive solutions to hand, wrist and elbow pathology.

 In 2008, he completed the Badia Hand to Shoulder Center, a fully integrated clinical facility for the upper  limb also encompassing the Surgery Center at Doral, Integra Rehabilitation and an MRI imaging facility. More recently, Dr. Badia inaugurated OrthoNOW, the first immediate orthopedic care center in south Florida which is staffed by surgeons from the International Orthopedic Group (IOG), a group of surgeons from lower extremity, upper limb and spine subspecialties who also treat elective orthopedic problems in international patients.

Dr. Badia is the current worldwide president of the International Society for Sport Traumatology of the Hand (ISSPORTH) , was named to 100 Latinos Miami, and was featured on the Hispanic Entrepreneur website. He is a member of multiple national orthopedic and medical societies (AAOS, ASSH, AAHS), honorary member of more than 10 international hand surgery and arthroscopy associations, and was recently honored professor at the prestigious Philadelphia Hand Course.

Joining Dr. Badia on the panel will be one of Eourope’s leading back specialist and medical Director of The Jagerwinkel Clinic Dr. Martin Marionowicz.

Dr.  Martin Marianowicz (Munich/Germany) has pioneered orthopedic pain therapy and minimally invasive spine and disctreatment, and is considered one of Europe’s most renowned back specialists. Specialized inorthopedics, chirotherapy and sports medicine, his main areas of activity are inpatient and outpatient orthopedic pain therapy – in his Munich-based Marianowicz Center, and as Medical Director of the Jägerwinkel Private Clinic, Bad Wiessee.

The Jägerwinkel Private Clinic, located at Lake Tegernsee (a mere 40 minute drive from Munich Airport) has a long tradition of being one of Germany’s most renowned private hospitals. With our high-competence team of physicians, physiotherapists and nurses, they offer a comprehensive range of services for preventive care, therapy and rehabilitation. The clinic specializes in orthopedics, internal medicine, cardiology and psychosomatics.  Their treatment plans, besides following a psychosomatic approach, also include approaches based on complementary and alternative medicine – all aimed at achieving sustained healing for our patients. Another aspect to the private clinic is its unique atmosphere.The clinic is located in Southern Bavaria, in the immediate vicinity of beautiful Lake Tegernsee, with a spectacular view of the surrounding mountain range. It meets the highest standards of a first-class hotel in every respect. They believe in the fact that an attractive environment is an important asset to effective medicine and rapid recovery.

Dr. Marianowicz holds Presidency of the Central and Eastern European Section of the World Institute of Pain, and the German Societyfor Spinal Endoscopy and Interventional Pain Management.

The MTA encourages all attendees to take part in this educational sesssion and gain valuable insights on this facinating topic as well as learn best practices from industry leaders on how to build a succesful international patients program.

The MTA is pleased to announce that Eisenhower Medical Center will participate at The 5th World Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare Congress to be held Oct 24th-26th at The Westin Diplomat Resort and Spa in Hollywood, FL.
http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/

About Eisenhower Medical Center: 
 Situated on a 130-acre campus in the heart of the Coachella Valley,   Eisenhower Medical Center is a dynamic, progressive not-for-profit health care system. In addition to the 540-bed Eisenhower Hospital located on the Rancho Mirage campus, numerous health centers are located throughout the Valley offering a broad array of outpatient services. This multi-faceted institution, recently designated an accredited teaching hospital, provides the highest quality health care for residents of and visitors to the desert resort communities and provides a broad range of health education for the public and health care professionals. Beginning in 2013, Eisenhower’s School of Graduate Medical Education will welcome physician residents in Internal Medicine and Family Medicine.

 Eisenhower Medical Center is dedicated to its mission:“to serve the changing healthcare needs of our region by providing excellence in patient care with  supportive education and research.”

The MTA encourages all attendees to connect with Eisenhower Medical Center on the congress networking platform http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/networking/ and to visit booth 54 in the Exhibition Hall.

The MTA is proud to announce the addition of Custom Assurance Placements as an exhibitor at the 5th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress Oct. 24th – 26th at The Westin Diplomat Resort & Spa in Hollywood, Fla.  

About Custom Assurance Placements:  

www.customassurance.com

 Assurance Placements (CAP) is a United States based wholesale insurance broker CAP has been a leading developer of insurance solutions for medical tourists and the medical tourism industry for over 4 years. Global Protective Solutions (GPS) was developed to handle the particular and unique risks associated for the Medical Tourism industry. GPS is a specialty travel insurance policy providing benefits for participating medical tourists or medical travelers from almost any country worldwide for accidents and complications. In addition we have a liability insurance cover related to medical tourism for either the facilitator or the employer. If you are in the need of a particular program relating to medical tourism, please contact Custom Assurance Placements.

When asked about the company’s objectives at the conference president Tracy H. Simons commented: ” Custom Assurance Placements Ltd., would like help educate stakeholders on risk management issues as they relate to Medical Tourism and assist them in risk mitigation. It is also an opportunity to educate participants about insurance options that are available for Medical Tourist/ Travelers, Facilitators, Employers, Hospitals, and other medical sending entities.”

International Marketing Director Benjamin G. Simons added: ” 2012 has been the best year yet for Custom Assurance Placements. We are experiencing exponential growth in the utilization of Global Protective Solutions (GPS) and have assisted many participants with unexpected additional expenses as a result of an accident or complication.”

The MTA encourages all attendees interested in learning more about Global Protective Solutions and the other products provided by CAP to visit Tracy and Ben Simons at their booth or to connect with them on the networking software going live soon. http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/en/about-the-software.html

In its second year, this Congress will bring together internationally acclaimed expert speakers in the field of medical tourism, health care, hospitality, insurance and wellness. The Private Hospital Association of Jordan in collaboration with the Medical Tourism Association^TM will take part in developing topics and identifying speakers for their agenda.  The preliminary list of expert speakers has been released, with additions to come.

Keynote Speeches

-          Private Hospitals Association Chairman, Dr. Awni Bashir

-          Medical Tourism Association^TM President, Ms. Renée-Marie Stephano

-          Minister of Tourism & Antiques, Mr. Nayef Fayez

-          Jordanian Minister of Health,  Dr. Abdull Al Lateef Wrikat

Theme l : Jordan as an International Hub for Medical Tourism 

-          Private Hospitals Association, Dr. Abdallah Bashir

-          Jordan Investment Board CEO, Dr. Awni Rshoud

-          Jordan Hotel Association, Mr. Michael Nazzal

-          Global Healthcare Expert, Dr. Prem

-           

Theme II –Medical Tourism – Global Health Care Panel Discussion 

-          OneWorld Global Healthcare Solutions, President Alex Piper

-          Medical Tourism Association^TM CEO, Jonathan Edelheit

-          Minister of Medical Services in Kenya Hon. Prof Peter Anyang’ Nyong’o

-          Medvoyage, Ukraine, Oxana Lutsenko

Theme III: Quality and Accreditation

-          Global Patient Safety Officer/DNV, Karen Timmons

-          Hospital Clinica Biblica ,Bill Cook

Theme V: Medical Liability Issues and Insurance Schemes

-          Arab German Insurance Company, Mrs. Reem Raimouni

-          Squire, Sanders & Dempsey ( U.S.), LLP,Associate, John Wyand

-          Healthcare Agent, Trish Freeman

Theme IV: E- Health- Future of Medical Tourism and Technology

-          World Health Organization, Dr. Najeeb Al Shorbaji

-          Health Matrix, Abdul Rahman Qasim

The Congress will host up to 400 regional and international attendees featuring key industry players, buyers of healthcare, governments and the decision-makers from top medical tourism, insurance, and bio-medical companies.

Jordan holds a strong & growing international reputation as a medical destination of choice. With 7 internationally accredited hospitals and a high number of international board certified physicians, Jordan’s offer high quality health care services at an affordable price.

Complimentary passes will be available to qualifying insurance companies, employers and other buyers of healthcare, send an email to info@medicaltourismassociation.com to apply.

Hope to see you in Jordan!