IMTEC 2013 focus on potential of medical tourism
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Current trends in the medical tourism industry indicate that needs of international patients are challenging health service providers to come up with advanced solutions for quality healthcare outcomes.
This issue along with several pertinent challenges will be highlighted at the International Medical Travel Exhibition and Conference (IMTEC 2013). The two-day conference scheduled to take place from 22-23 March 2013 for the first time at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco will provide a transparent platform for both consumers and service providers to understand latest trends and drivers in the global medical tourism industry.
According to Joyce Alumno, executive director and chief strategist of HealthCORE Research, Communications & Management, Inc in the Philippines, and advisory board member for IMTEC 2013: “I believe the market projections in medical travel are undervalued in the sense that they only include cost of treatments availed by patients, what it is not able to measure are investments that come with development of the industry,” says
He further adds: “Asian countries are still seen as the main players in medical tourism given the low cost of treatments and young demographic profile that pose bigger potentials in the years to come. If efforts are sustained, number of medical travelers is expected to grow since the ageing population is increasing exponentially and developed countries like the US, Canada, Australia and some European countries are experiencing the burden of healthcare costs.”