Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress to focus on international industry expected to top $40 billion by 2010

From Argentina to Thailand, countries have benefited from the growth in travel for medical procedures and the business is set to expand in the Middle East, according to leading industry observers.

“As global healthcare choices expand, patients are travelling across the world to seek medical treatment,” said Ayana Everett, Conference Producer of the first Healthcare Travel and Exhibition Congress taking place at Al Bustan Rotana Hotel, Dubai, from 2-4 November 2008. “Internationally, healthcare travel is expected to become a $40 billion industry by 2010,” Everett added.

“Going abroad for elective or necessary procedures is taking off and countries such as Jordan and Lebanon are already benefitting. With a population predominantly made up of expatriates, the United Arab Emirates has always been a major market for the medical travel business. Now the UAE has embarked on ambitious plans to make the emirates a major inbound destination for medical travel.”

The UAE and other countries are hoping to emulate the success of places such as Singapore. In 2006, some 410,000 patients travelled to Singapore for healthcare and from 2012 hopes to attract one million medical travellers annually.

Based entirely around private businesses, global medical travel is a fiercely competitive market and substantial sums of money have been invested throughout the world. Healthcare travel is not only a matter of individual patients. Employers, insurance companies and governments are integral parts of the equation as well.

“The global economic downturn is expected to impact medical travel, as with all industries,” Everett added. “The challenge is for providers, brokers and insurance companies to help customers on budgets to ensure they remain well-covered internationally at a competitive price. Providers who can manage that balancing act will have a competitive edge.”

Read complete story at PlacidWay.com

Health Tourism Portal Expands Global Provider Partnerships

PlacidWay, a health & wellness tourism web portal, recently expanded its number of partnerships with healthcare providers abroad, following a company directive to increase its offerings to health tourism consumers. Previously, the site has attracted partnerships from healthcare providers in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Argentina, Panama, South Africa and Poland. Recent additions include providers based in Brazil, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Singapore, Norway, South Korea, Hungary, United States, and Croatia.

Attention to the needs of both sides of the health tourism coin—consumers and healthcare providers—has been a differentiator for the web portal. “Our partnership with PlacidWay has resulted in an increased interest in our facility by health tourists” said Dr. Ismael Naypa of Yanhee International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. “PlacidWay has worked with us to ensure that we had all the knowledge, resources and tools needed to attract new clients.”

As healthcare providers around the world realize the advantages of marketing on a global basis, they have turned to PlacidWay to establish their brand and gain greater visibility. “We recently identified health tourism as a key strategy for expanding our client base” said Abhik Moitra of Artemis Health Institute in India. “By partnering with PlacidWay, we have stepped out into the world arena and have become more competitively and prominently marketed.”

Health tourism is a centuries-old industry that has recently experienced explosive growth, and one that continues to grow as rising healthcare costs, overburdened public healthcare systems, increased interest in alternative/holistic medicine and less expensive procedures abroad prompt health and wellness seekers to travel beyond their backyard for more affordable options.

“PlacidWay has become a leading authority in the field of health tourism through its vision, commitment to service and determination to be the most complete resource possible” said Pramod Goel, President of PlacidWay. “We offer world class healthcare providers in exotic destinations, a formidable knowledge and information base, quick response turnaround and a one-stop approach to booking a health tourism experience.”

For more information on PlacidWay, go to www.placidway.com.

Sick and Tired of being Sick and Tired!

Are you tired of being tired?  Are you sick of being sick?  Have you had to take a 2^nd mortgage on your home just to pay for the 20 or so prescriptions you have to buy every month, and you still are not feeling any better.  

You may be one of many people that are being treated for symptoms of a problem rather than diagnosing the root of the problem.  This is why a lot of people are looking for alternative treatments that can be supplemented and integrated with their modern healthcare options.  One of such natural and herbal treatments is Ayurveda.  This is not a new age fad, or an untested method of medicine.  Ayurvedic treatment  has been practiced in India for thousands of years.   

There are thousands of health tourists, who are traveling to India, seeking to revitalize their life through organic and holistic healing.  Ayurvedic medicine is a comprehensive treatment of whole person – physical, mental and even spiritual aspects.  The goal is to rebalance you, make you whole and healthy again, and have a renewed sense of life and vitality. 

Jiva Ayurveda and Indus Valley Ayurvedic Center are two such premier health destinations in India where physicians have developed an intimate understanding of every aspect of your physical, psychological and emotional being.  Here you are treated with dignity, as a unique individual who has the ability to recuperate fully with care and support brining you body, mind, and soul back into harmony using herbal and natural treatments. 

Have you ever noticed the increasing numbers of Indian doctors working in American hospitals?  You feel safe and confident on their ability to provide you with best care.  You can expect the same or even better from doctors working in Indian hospitals and clinics.  They give you an undivided attention with round the clock nursing care and you don’t feel rushed.  Several of the Indian hospitals are getting JCI certifications, meaning they are achieving highest international accreditation and provide care equivalent or better than any American JCI certified hospital. 

India has quickly become the number one destination for people participating in health tourism.  Hundreds of thousands of people from countries such as UK, Middle East, US, and Canada are flocking to India to experience not only alternative medicines but also elective procedures as well as surgical expertise and care that the country has to offer.  Medical tourism focused companies, such as Sahara Global Medical Tourism, has formed relationships with world class premier medical centers and clinics that offer every thing from heart surgery to cosmetic surgery to rejuvenation tours.  The rise of service oriented medical tourism is your passport to good health that can bring you that smile you always wanted and that too at a significantly lower cost. 

Orthopedics is one of those procedures that India is becoming famous for.  Orthopedics and joint surgery experts such as Knee Surgery Center in Chennai, India are truly the world authority in knee, hip, and shoulder surgeries.  They are performing orthopedic surgeries using most advanced procedures and techniques currently known in a modern medical field.  The healthcare centers in India are fully staffed with a competent nursing staff to ensure that you are healed and ready for discharge rather than pushing you out the door because they are overbooked and understaffed. 

Are you interested in traveling to find out what millions of healthy people that practice Ayurveda already know?  Why not experience India’s rich culture and visit the Taj Mahal walking for the first time using your new knee! There are many world-class healthcare centers in India and other wonderful locations around the world that offer treatments in dentistry, lasik eye surgery, plastic surgery, and many more.  Remember to book your trip to one of these fascinating destinations through www.placidway.com.  It is free and meets all your medical tourism needs.

Health Tourism, the Next Great Health Care Frontier

Have you ever gone to another country on vacation?  Have you ever marveled at their culture and their way of life?  There are many countries such as Thailand , India, and even Costa Rica that have hidden treasures you may not be aware of.  Treasures that once discovered can change your life and your health forever.

There have been medical treatments that have been practiced for centuries in Asia and other parts of the world.  The use of these techniques has been proven to work and are continued to be practiced today. The great thing about these ancient remedies is that they usually do not have all of the health side effects that some more modern techniques and medications have today. Just turn on the television. It is full of commercials promising that the new pill that just hit the market is a miracle drug.  While you see images of healthy happy people, the announcer tells you how people’s lives have been changed by this new life saving drug.  Then toward the end of the commercial, in an almost whisper, the announcer rattles off a whole list of side effects that sound like a horror show.  The only thing that is a miracle is that someone would actually take the risk of trying that new drug of the day.

Are you, like many others, tired of this roller coaster of being sick and never really getting better?  Some people have found the key to getting healthier, health tourism.  What is health tourism?  People are going to other countries to seek alternative, yet proven treatments of getting healthier and better.

Instead of just going to see the sites in other lands, people are going to places such as the Jiva Ayurveda  and Indus Valley Ayurveda Center  in India to get treatments not available to them where they live.

More…