Is medical travel growing or has it hit its peak? What factors are driving medical travelers to seek care abroad? What types of treatments are they seeking? What are the latest trends in outbound and inbound medical travel? Who are the key stakeholders and what does it take to develop a successful medical travel destination? Learn the answers to these questions and many more as we take a deep dive into the past, present and future of this dynamic industry.

Medical travel involves many different entities providing services to traveling patients before, during and after their medical trip. Learn about the various business models employed by healthcare providers, medical travel facilitators, wellness and hospitality, as well as core business strategies to ensure your medical travel business is on the right path to success.

The Care Continuum in medical travel is unique in that it incorporates interactions both within and outside of the healthcare setting, including stages such as destination and service selection, information sharing and planning, travel and accommodation, treatment and follow-up. Learn what processes and activities need to be managed and optimized during the entire medical travel care continuum to ensure a safe and high-quality patient/guest experience.

Medical travel facilitators are often a misunderstood but key player in the medical travel industry. Look at their key roles and functions, the value they provide, different business models, and pros and cons of using a facilitator for patients and hospitals. Additionally, gain an understanding of important criteria facilitators should keep in mind when seeking partnerships with healthcare providers.

Unlike your traditional healthcare delivery model, a successful medical travel initiative requires the participation of key stakeholders within the hospitality industry including travel agencies, hotels, tour operators, airlines/airport, and ground transportation. This model will look at each of these stakeholders, including best practices, to ensure an outstanding medical travel guest experience.

“Payers,” as the name implies, pay for healthcare services. Because of its global reach and the potential cost-savings involved, payers such as governments, insurance companies, and employers are increasingly entering the medical travel industry with unique business models, as well as challenges to overcome. Learn about self-funded employers, narrow networks and how healthcare providers and payers are engaging in collaborative models that are benefiting the end user – the patient.

As the medical travel industry continues to grow, there is increased competition between healthcare providers, facilitators and other service providers to attract medical travel patients and guests. Learn why traditional marketing channels are increasingly being discarded in favor of digital marketing strategies such as social media, search engine optimization, email marketing and website localization. Providers who want to stand out and differentiate their brands must understand their strengths and weaknesses and clearly articulate the value they provide to consumers. 

Bad things can happen in the world of regional and international healthcare, when traveling and when visiting other parts of the world, including:

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   • Non-optimal medical outcomes;

   • Medical tourists getting injured or becoming ill;

   • Political or social upheaval in the destination country;

   • Natural disasters;

   • Currency fluctuations, and devaluations.

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While there is no sure way to eliminate all risks in medical travel, there are steps you can take to reduce the probability of certain events occurring or understanding how to deal with unexpected problems when they happen. Learn what you can do to mitigate risks in medical travel and never be surprised by the unexpected.

The central theme that runs through all the CMTP modules is patient experience. While traveling patients are certainly looking for a successful healthcare outcome, they are also seeking warmth, empathy and an understanding of their unique needs and expectations both within and outside the healthcare setting. Learn how factors such as corporate culture, the physical environment, communication and education and patient advocacy impact the patient experience and how patient experience can lead to better healthcare outcomes and financial performance.

Implementing best practices is one of the keys to success in the medical travel industry. In this module we will review examples of best practices from leaders in the industry. 

While medical travel programs have been hit hard by the current pandemic, we know this crisis will end. Already, there are countries who have begun to ease travel and social distancing restrictions, with the goal of returning to a semblance of normalcy – or “new normal.”  With this in mind, medical travel programs must make intentional decisions and take deliberate actions during this crisis with recovery in mind. You should start preparing now to ensure your organization is in the best position to succeed in a post-COVID-19 world.

The goal is to provide participants with practical examples and considerations for implementing the guidelines within a medical travel program, as well as reviewing the relevant GHA standards and other best practices and protocols used to develop the guidelines. Completing the training is not a prerequisite for proceeding or completing the Certification of Conformance; however, we do encourage selected staff to take the training as it will help with understanding of the certification process. Participants who complete the training will receive a Certificate of Participation issued by the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for Medical Travel Services.