President’s Blog, Renee-Marie Stephano

The Medical Tourism Association’s 2nd annual World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress (http://www.MedicalTourismCongress.com) was held in Los Angeles this past week and achieved great success. Over the course of three days, the annual global conference featured approximately 1,500 attendees from the public sector and private sector, health insurance companies, employers and insurance agents attended the conference largely due to work of MTA. It also featured over 160 speakers and 120 exhibitors and sponsors.

Over 60 countries participated in the conference which focused on the high quality of care and the investment in healthcare throughout the world. The conference also featured Ministers’ Roundtable where Ministers of Health and Tourism addressed the opportunities and challenges of the industry in their respective countries.

Dr. Ha-Jeong Park, Deputy Minister, Ministry of Health & Welfare of Korea, said, “The conference was very successful. We are happy with the fact we positioned Korea as the top destination of medical tourism through this conference.” He added, “Along with MTA, Korea is looking forward to another big success in Korea Global Healthcare and World Medical Tourism Conference in Seoul, Korea in April 2010. The Korean government will make its best endeavor to set up the norms of medical tourism with MTA and other industry leaders.”

The Medical Tourism Association (http://www.MedicalTourismAssociation.com) is the non profit trade association for the medical tourism industry with over 300 members, made up of insurance companies, governmental organizations, NGO’s, hospitals, facilitators and industry professionals. “MTA has done exceptional work in the Medical Tourism Industry. World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress in US certainly helps industry players to understand in-depth information about this emerging industry,” said Mr. Nasser Al Budoor, Director – H. E. Health Ministers Office and Director – International Health Affairs, Ministry of Health, United Arab Emirates.

“The MTA’s goal is to further development of the medical tourism industry through our quality indicator project and alternative dispute resolution program in 2010. We look forward to very positive growth in new year for our members and working closely with many countries on initiatives to increase healthcare quality for both foreign patients and the local population,” said Renee-Marie Stephano, President of the Medical Tourism Association. The MTA is guided by the input from an advisory board of 52 expert health leaders from around the world.

Don’t miss the cocktail reception on Monday night, right after the networking cocktail reception. This will be the biggest networking reception of the year between insurance companies, employers, facilitators, hospitals and healthcare providers.

The Minister of Health for the Cayman Islands, The Honorable Mark Scotland, and the Honorable W. McKeeva Bush, Minister of Financial Services, Tourism and Development, Cayman Islands will be participating at the upcoming World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress, on behalf of the Cayman Islands. The Cayman Islands has tremendous potential and opportunities in developing inbound medical tourism. Patients from the Cayman Islands who need specialized medical treatment will travel outbound to countries such as the United States to receive high quality medical care.

Anthem Blue Cross will be the Co-Sponsor of the Networking Gala Cocktail Reception at that takes place October 28th, 2009, 6:30-8:00 PM. The networking reception will feature up to 1,500 delegates from the both the World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress and the Corporate Wellness Conference. The Networking Reception will include professional entertainment (need more exciting description here about something more than a steel drum band which just sounds boring). The networking reception will be taking place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

Anthem Blue Cross* provides over 8.3 million California members with health benefits and wellness services. They are a part of the nation’s leading health benefits company serving the needs of approximately 35 million medical members nationwide.

• They are focused on improving the health of their communities, delivering better care to members and providing greater value to their customers.
• Their 360o Health programs improve member health through a range of care management and wellness initiatives and information.
• Their local presence and national expertise create collaborative programs that reward physicians and hospitals for clinical quality and excellence.
• They deliver what customers want: innovative, choice-based products; distinctive service; simplified transactions; effective member engagement and better access to information for quality care.
• They provide a full range of benefits and services to customers, including health, wellness, pharmacy benefit management, life and disability insurance benefits, dental, vision and behavioral health to provide a total benefit solution.
•
• For more information about Anthem Blue Cross visit www.anthem.com/ca.
* Anthem Blue Cross is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Association.

The World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress, http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com, is the official conference of the Medical Tourism Association (Global Healthcare Association) and is sponsored by the Medical Tourism Magazine, the official publication of the Medical Tourism Association,
http://www.medicaltourismmag.com. The Medical Tourism Association (MTA), http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com, is the international non-profit trade association for the medical tourism industry which focuses on transparency in quality and pricing, communication and education. MTA has initiated commendable activities for growth of this emerging industry by publishing the world’s leading Medical Tourism Magazine and hosting the world’s largest Medical Tourism Congress. The Corporate Wellness Conference, http://www.corporatewellnessconference.com, takes place October 27th and 28th, 2009 in Los Angeles, California and will feature up to 400 high level executives in the corporate wellness area.

Humana will be the Co-Sponsor of the Networking Gala Cocktail Reception that takes place October 26th, 2009, 5:30 – 7:30PM. The networking reception will feature up to 1,500 delegates from both the World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress and the Voluntary Benefits and Limited Medical Conference. The Gala Networking Reception will include professional entertainment and music and provide an opportunity for high-level networking. The networking reception will be taking place at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza hotel in Los Angeles, CA.

Humana Inc., headquartered in Louisville, Kentucky, is one of the nation’s largest publicly traded health and supplemental benefits companies, with approximately 10.3 million medical members and 6.8 million specialty members. Humana is a full-service benefits solutions company, offering a wide array of health and supplementary benefit plans for employer groups, government programs and individuals.

Over its 48-year history, Humana has consistently seized opportunities to meet changing customer needs. Today, the company is a leader in consumer engagement, providing guidance that leads to lower costs and a better health plan experience throughout its diversified customer portfolio.

The World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress, http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com, is the official conference of the Medical Tourism Association (Global Healthcare Association) and is sponsored by the Medical Tourism Magazine, the official publication of the Medical Tourism Association,
http://www.medicaltourismmag.com. The Medical Tourism Association (MTA), http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com, is the international non-profit trade association for the medical tourism industry which focuses on transparency in quality and pricing, communication and education. MTA has initiated commendable activities for growth of this emerging industry by publishing the world’s leading Medical Tourism Magazine and hosting the world’s largest Medical Tourism Congress. The Voluntary Benefits and Limited Medical Conference, http://www.limitedmedicalplan.com, takes place October 25th and 26th, 2009 in Los Angeles, California and will feature up to 400 attendees who represent the leading insurance companies, employers and health insurance agencies in the country. The Voluntary Benefits and Limited Medical Conference is the official conference of the Voluntary Benefits Magazine, http://www.voluntarybenefitsmagazine.com

The Medical Tourism Association is currently organizing a FAM Trip to Malaysia. This week several Medical Tourism Faciltiator companies, press and others are in Kuala Lumpur and then Penang to do site tours of Malaysia’s top hospitals.

Jonathan Edelheit, CEO of the Medical Tourism Association presented this week at the annual Ohio SHRM Conference (Society for Human Resource Professionals). His session explaining the benefits of medical tourism to US employers was very well received by the audience. Several employers were very excited about the concept of medical tourism and said they will be attending the MTA conference in Los Angeles October 26-28th.

The Medical Tourism Association exhibited at a large US healthcare conference this week in Atlanta to highlight medical tourism to employers and insurance companies and to promote it’s MTA members. There was tremendous interest and excitement about medical tourism, and many US employers and insurers have accepted the fact that there is high quality of care, but are stuck on the “now how to actually do it?”. The MTA will work through it’s members to show them how to do it. The MTA exhibits at all the top US heatlhcare conferences and participates in overseas conferences to promote it’s mission to educate insurance companies, employers and others on the benefits of medical tourism.

H. E. Mr. Nasser Al Budoor, Director International Relations & Health Affairs and Director of Health Minister’s Office – Ministry of Health, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Board Member Executive Board of Health Minister’s Council for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC Countries)

and also Ana Andrade, Vice President, HealthNet Latino Programs. HealthNet is one of the largest health insurance companies in the US with millions of Americans insured. HealthNet was one of the first US insurance companies to create a cross border healthcare program between the US and Mexico.

If you are planning to attend the MTA’s annual conference in Los Angeles this October please make sure to watch the networking video to learn how to get the most out of networking and how to schedule up to 80 private meetings at the conference.

www.medicaltourismcongress.com/networking_activities.php

Scoll down to the first video, hit play and turn your sound on! This new networking software is great!