The Top Needs For Medical Travel To Succeed
Friday, December 31st, 2010Post courtesy of Freelance MD, a physician careers community offering physician resources like nonclinical jobs and offers information that allows physicians more control of their career, income and lifestyle.
The 5 Top Needs For Medical Tourism To Be Successful
5 things will likely need to happen before health-related traveling gains enough traction being a real player in healthcare.
Regardless of the research reports, eco-devo white papers, industry analyses and industry marketing hype, medical travel/medical tourism is still an early stage industry seeking the right formula for achievement.
In my view, five things will probably need to happen before clinical tourism and global healthcare referrals come on traction: 1) the coming of a sustainable structure, 2) global healthcare IT connectivity and integration, 3) a doctor generated global healthcare referral network, 4) an international regulatory, legal and socioeconomic ecosystem, and 5) patient awareness and acceptance.
The creation of a sustainable business model
Industry players including payors, providers, partners and facilitators are still searching for the essentially the most successful way to make a profit and scale the company. Having an eye towards what happened when Expedia disrupted the travel agency business, participants be aware that margins for travel arrangement services are thin understanding that there is high price elasticity for global clinical care. Few are finding the special moment key that will fit the lock that opens the doors to profits. Payors and employers are not wanting to accept the worthiness proposition with out a better approach to reduce their risk and demonstrate tangible, meaningful financial savings with their insureds and employees.
Global healthcare IT connectivity and integration
The American national healthcare information architecture is evolving. Eventually, the network would have been a portal around the globe and may allow for seemless, secure, confidential transfer of non-public health information thus assuring some continuity of care and quality improvement. Similarly, it should take a while for health information systems to evolve in host countries that could discuss with non-host systems. Temporary solutions, like personal health records or mobile health applications, might fill the void temporarily.
Doctor generated global healthcare referral network
Most health-related tourism models connect patients to healthcare facilities, bypassing doctors from the initial stages. Docs can get in the game when the model feels better, and they have the resources and chance to make referrals to consultants directly, like they actually do now. Given an upswing of international members, professional professional medical societies ought to be more proactive in building global referral networks, instead of seeing them as threats to existing domestic members.
A worldwide regulatory, legal and socioeconomic ecosystem
The barriers to adoption and penetration of professional medical traveling are numerous and include liability, reimbursement, quality assurance and impediments to continuity of care. As healthcare goes global, so will the rules and regulations that facilitate or obstruct its use. Why not consider a new World Trade Organization Treaty on Clinical Travel?
Patient awareness and acceptance
In accordance with essentially the most recent polls, 50% of consumers understand the interpretation from the term “medical tourism”, leaving home for care. Social network buzz and media stories chose the health related traveling story sexy, particularly given all of the noise about escalating healthcare costs and consumers, employers and payors are hungry to read more. Moving patients from awareness to intention to decision to action, however, is going to take added time and employ innovative marketing approaches directed towards granular market segments.
Global professional medical travel is projected to be a $1B industry by 2012. With regards to bones have been in place, it will take more time to include the flesh. For the time being, to quote Karl Mauldin, people won’t go away without it.