Where will I stay in Monterrey?

It's almost March ... are you ready for the Latin America Conference in Monterrey Mexico in April? By now you should be registered for the conference ... it's time to make your hotel arrangements!

The Official Congress Hotel is the Intercontinental Presidente in Monterrey, Mexico. InterContinental Hotel Group is one of the leading hotel chains in the world and offers modern style and impeccable service, which makes it the ideal destination for the Latin America Congress. Attendees to the conference will receive a significantly discounted rate of $100 USD per night by mentioning the “Latin America Medical Tourism Congress, Group Code: MED” You can call the hotel directly at 888 424 6835 USA/ 52-81-83686000 for reservations. Please make your reservations early to be sure you get accommodations at the Official Conference Hotel.
Another option for hotel stay is the Four Points by Sheraton, only a 10 minute cab ride away. Attendees to the conference will receive a discounted rate of $80 USD per night + taxes for an Executive Room and $110USD per night + taxes for a Junior Suite. Just mention the code “Medical Tourism Congress”. You can call the hotel directly at 800-500-0090 USA/ 018183891620 for reservations. For any questions contact Veronica Escamilla, v.escamilla@fpsheratongaleriasmonterrey.com.mx.

The Medical Tourism Association Participates in World Health Organization (WHO) Workshop on Medical Tourism in Kobe, Japan

The Medical Tourism Association participated in the World Health Organization (WHO) workshop on Medical Tourism in Kobe, Japan which took place February 24th through the 25th. Approximately 16 experts were invited from around the world to participate in the WHO Workshop on medical tourism.

The workshop was entitled "Workshop on the movement of patients across international borders - Emerging Challenges and opportunities for Healthcare Systems" The workshop was meant to address the growing phenomenon of the $60 billion dollar medical tourism industry which is marketed by over 35 countries. One of the main purposes was to ensure medical tourism "is supportive of public health goals." Renee-Marie Stephano, Chief Operating Officer of the Medical Tourism Association, and editor of the Medical Tourism Magazine participated in the workshop and as one of the leading experts in medical tourism and shared her views of how Medical Tourism is supportive of the local healthcare infrastructure and how medical tourism can have positive effects for the local population while providing revenue for the country itself also. The event was organized by the WHO Department of Ethics, Equity, Trade and Human Rights, WHO Headquarters, and the WHO Centre for Health Development.

The Objectives of the workshop were:

(1) To present current evidence on the movement of patients across international borders and discuss the effect on healthcare systems of the increase in trade in health services

(2) To identify emerging challenges as well as good practices, especially in the Asia-Pacific(3) To develop a framework to describe the implications for health care systems of health services' trade and delineate appropriate research and action.

The Medical Tourism Association is the first international non-profit association 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. Our Association promotes the interests of its healthcare provider and medical tourism facilitators members. The Medical Tourism Association has three tenets: Transparency, Communication and Education.

Medical Tourism Closer to Home

This article appeared on Human Resource Executive magazine, by author Jared Shelly.

With the current economic downturn, more employers are considering the cost benefits of medical tourism, experts say. And it's not just international travel anymore. Some patients are traveling to under-used medical facilities in the United States for lower-cost procedures.

Medical tourism has become a viable option for uninsured or under-insured individuals in need of medical procedures. After all, why pay $250,000 for heart surgery in the United States when the cost might be only $15,000 in India -- including airfare, accommodations and the attention of a dutiful and experienced medical staff? A 2008 study by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions reports that roughly 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care in 2007 and states the industry "is expected to experience explosive growth over the next three to five years."

The study predicts that 6 million will go abroad for care by 2010. A recent study by New York-based McKinsey & Co. is much more conservative, estimating between 60,000 and 85,000 medical tourists globally. Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Medical Tourism Association, a West Palm Beach, Fla.-based membership organization for the industry, says the Deloitte survey is more accurate.

But, not even included in the Deloitte study is information on the latest wrinkle in the medical tourism industry -- individuals traveling to lower-cost medical facilities in the United States.
"When the economy is great, employers don't care about their healthcare," says Edelheit. "When the economy is bad and employers are hurting, that's when they get creative."
With the current recession, more employers are considering the cost benefits of medical tourism, experts say. And it's not just international travel anymore. Some patients are traveling to medical facilities in the United States to take advantage of lower-cost procedures.

To read more about this article please visit: http://www.hreonline.com/HRE/story.jsp?storyId=172246510

MTA Partners with Jordan Hospital to hold 1st Jordan International Medical Tourism Congress!

The Medical Tourism Association partners with Jordan Hospital to hold the 1st Jordan International Medical Tourism Congress.

The Medical Tourism Association in partnership with Jordan Hospital held the 1st Jordanian Medical Tourism conference from Jan 30 to Feb 2nd, 2009 in Amman Jordan at the Jordan Hospital. Abdalla Bashir, Director of Jordan Hospital organized the event. The event featured over 100 participants from the top hospitals in Jordan, the Minister of Health of Jordan, and representatives from the Ministry of Tourism.

“The event was extremely well organized and put together and the MTA wants to thank Jordan Hospital for it’s efforts to bring together all the key players in Jordan. We are very proud to say that Jordan Hospital is a member of the MTA and one of the leading hospitals in the world,” said Jonathan Edelheit, President of the Medical Tourism Association.

Jordan has several Joint Commission International Accredited Hospitals. Even more important is that Jordan’s healthcare accreditation system, HCAC (Jordan Healthcare Accreditation Council) is accredited by ISQua. The American Medical Association has recognized accreditation systems that have received ISQua accreditation as having a high level of quality healthcare. This is an important step forward in Jordan’s position as a leader in high quality healthcare being provided to international patients.

The Medical Tourism Association met privately with the Prime Minister of Jordan, Engineer Nader Al Dahabi, to discuss Jordan’s healthcare and ways the Medical Tourism Association can partner with Jordan to grow it’s reputation and patient flow in medical tourism. Present at the meeting was Jonathan Edelheit, President of the Medical Tourism Association, Renee-Marie Stephano, Esquire, Chief Operating Officer and Genreal Counsel of the MTA and editor of the Medical Tourism Magazine, Abdalla Bashir, Director of Jordan Hospital, and Alex Piper, President of One World Global Healthcare Solutions.

The Medical Tourism Association visited the leading hospitals of Jordan and found an extremely high quality of healthcare. Jordan already has a reputation of having some of the highest quality of care in the Middle East. Jordan’s world class hospitals are also heavily staffed with doctors who are America board certified.

The Medical Tourism Association also visited several Tourism spots the Medical Tourists and their companions could visit when receiving medical care in Jordan. The MTA visited Petra and the Dead Sea and found that Jordan provides many amazing tourism options for traveling patients and their companions.

MTA Partners with LAAHU

The Medical Tourism Association (MTA) and Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters (LAAHU) partnered in the area of Medical Tourism to present Medical Tourism as a viable solution to the healthcare crisis in California and the US, during the LAAHU annual conference which takes place May 19-20 at the Pasadena Convention Center.

LAAHU is one of the largest chapters of the National Association of Health Underwriters (NAHU) in the United States. It is made up of both US healthcare organizations and professional agents who represent them that are involved in US healthcare insurance. The LAAHU conference expects approximately 800 attendees. The LAAHU conference is one of the largest attended US health insurance conferences.

“Medical Tourism has become a very attractive option especially due to the financial and budgetary crisis the California government is having. We have decided to make this a priority for this year’s annual LAAHU conference because of the strong interest in medical tourism from our members. The savings of medical tourism is something that cannot be ignored”, said Ross Pendergraft, President-Elect of the Los Angeles Association of Health Underwriters and organizer of the LAAHU annual conference.

The Medical Tourism Association will be a major sponsor of the LAAHU Conference and will be exhibiting at the conference promoting medical tourism and Medical Tourism Association members. Jonathan Edelheit, President of the Medical Tourism Association, will be the featured speaker on Medical Tourism and will be coordinating other medical tourism speakers and a medical tourism workshop for attendees to the LAAHU healthcare conference.


“The Medical Tourism Association is very excited to be a part of this large event and to educate LAAHU members and attendees on the high quality of healthcare available around the world, and which countries and hospitals offer the best solutions. Medical Tourism is quickly becoming a standard adopted benefit in US health plans”, said Jonathan Edelheit, President of the Medical Tourism Association.

“Los Angeles is one of the major centers of healthcare buyers in the country, and LAAHU is the largest chapter in the country of Health Insurance specialists.

Medical Tourism Association is the international non-profit trade association for the medical tourism industry, made up of the top hospitals, doctors, governments, insurance companies, health insurance agents and medical tourism facilitators in the industry. The Medical Tourism Association puts on the largest annual convention and exposition of Medical Tourism in Los Angeles each year, October 26-28th, 2009 with up to 2,000 attendees, almost 200 speakers and over 100 exhibitors.

Medical Tourism Magazine to Feature United Arab Emirates – UAE

The Medical Tourism Association has entered into an agreement with the Ministry of Health of the United Arab Emirates to do a special edition of the Medical Tourism Magazine dedicated to the United Arab Emirates.

The special UAE Edition of the medical tourism magazine will focus on:

Medical Infrastructure in the United Arab Emirates
Investment Opportunities in the UAE
Quality of Healthcare in UAE
The Future of healthcare in UAE
The rise of Dubai in the medical tourism industry

The Medical Tourism Magazine is the official publication of the Medical Tourism Association and a bi-monthly Medical Tourism industry magazine in both print and electronic versions with a readership of over 100,000 readers per year.

The Medical Tourism Magazine addresses important issues affecting the Medical Tourism industry and has a primary focus on the quality of healthcare available at leading international hospitals and destinations.

The Magazine addresses issues such as:

Quality of Health Care Overseas
After Care Issues
The importance of Accreditation
Legal Issues Surrounding Medical Tourism
The American, UK and Canadian Health Care Crisis and the opportunities for Medical Tourism in these countries
What Foreign Patients look for in overseas hospitals and providers offering Medical Tourism
Issues International Insurance Companies, Employers and Healthcare companies should consider when entering the Medical Tourism Industry.

Medical Tourism Association “Familiarization Tour” in El Salvador

The Medical Tourism Association has coordinated a “Fam” Familiarization Tour in conjunction with Export Salud to bring medical tourism facilitators to El Salvador. The Fam Tour for medical tourism will take place February 9 – 13, 2009. The attendees will perform site visits to El Salvador’s top medical and dental providers in the country and meet with government officials to discuss the country’s initiatives.

Renee-Marie Stephano, Chief Operating Officer for the Medical Tourism Association and Editor of the Medical Tourism Magazine assisted in the organization of the Fam Tour inviting MTA members and other prospective buyers. “This is the fifth Fam Tour we have organized in several countries around the world. MTA Fam Tours have been a great success and helped to significantly increase patient flow to those countries we work with,” she added.

The Medical Tourism Association is the first international non-profit association 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. Our Association promotes the interests of its healthcare provider and medical tourism facilitators members. The Medical Tourism Association has three tenets: Transparency, Communication and Education.

The Medical Tourism Association seeks to provide transparency in both quality of care and pricing. Every day we see more and more that the globalization of healthcare has created a very flat world. We exchange technology, information, communication, physicians and patients. In order to ensure patient safety, it is our goal to create a transparency about the quality of healthcare that can be found in each country. With this, it is increasingly important to create a transparency in pricing as well so patients traveling overseas for care can be sure of what they are receiving without hidden costs or unforeseen expenses. The Medical Tourism Association is also working on the Quality of Care Project, which will change the way we look at the reporting of global healthcare statistics and the quality of care available at hospitals around the world.

18th Annual National Health Benefits Conference & Expo in Tampa Florida

The Medical Tourism Association spoke and presented and exhibited at the 18th Annual National Health Benefits Conference & Expo in Tampa Florida on February 3rd and 4th. The conference focused on how insurance companies and employers can continue to find sustainable strategies to provide health benefits for their employees. Medical Tourism was one of the featured and most talked about topics of the conference and Jonathan Edelheit’s presentation left many wanting to know more about Medical Tourism and how to partner with the MTA and MTA member hospitals and facilitators. Jonathan Edelheit spoke about Medical Tourism and how insurance companies and employers can implement medical tourism by working with the MTA and the MTA’s members to implement medical tourism into their health insurance plans. Many US insurance companies and self funded employers expressed significant interest in implementing medical tourism for their health plans. The Medical Tourism Association is exhibiting and speaking at over 7 of the top US and international healthcare conferences. The Medical Tourism Association will be inviting all those US and international health insurance companies and employers interested in medical tourism to their annual conference in Los Angeles, called World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress, which takes place October 26-29th, 2009. The conference previously held in San Francisco, will feature up to 2,000 attendees and over 100 exhibitors.

MTA Hosts 1st Medical Tourism Conference in Israel!

The Medical Tourism Association in partnership with ISI Scientific held the 1st Medical Tourism Conference in Israel on January 22nd, 2009 in Tel Aviv. The 1 day free conference focused on Medical Tourism opportunities for the country of Israel.
The event featured over 60 participants from the top hospitals in Israel, representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Ministry of Health.

The Medical Tourism Association opened it’s office in Tel Aviv in partnership with ISI Scientific. “The event was extremely well organized the MTA wants to thank Israel's ISI Scientific’s efforts to bring together such a group of healthcare leaders and government officials.” said Jonathan Edelheit, President of the Medical Tourism Association.

Israel has one internationally accredited hospital with other hospitals starting the process of international accreditation. Currently Israel receives most of it’s Medical Tourists from Russia, but is also expecting growth from American patients.

The Medical Tourism Association visited the leading hospitals of Israel and found an extremely high quality of healthcare with extremely modern and state of the art facilities.

The Medical Tourism Association also visited several Tourism spots the Medical Tourists and their companions could visit when receiving medical care in Israel. The MTA visited Jerusalem and other “holy land” tourism spots that provide great opportunities for medical tourists and their companions.

The Medical Tourism Association is the first international non-profit association 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. Our Association promotes the interests of its healthcare provider and medical tourism facilitators members. The Medical Tourism Association has three tenets: Transparency, Communication and Education.

The Medical Tourism Association seeks to provide transparency in both quality of care and pricing. Every day we see more and more that the globalization of healthcare has created a very flat world. We exchange technology, information, communication, physicians and patients. In order to ensure patient safety, it is our goal to create a transparency about the quality of healthcare that can be found in each country. With this, it is increasingly important to create a transparency in pricing as well so patients traveling overseas for care can be sure of what they are receiving without hidden costs or unforeseen expenses. The Medical Tourism Association is also working on the Quality of Care Project, which will change the way we look at the reporting of global healthcare statistics and the quality of care available at hospitals around the world.