By
Dr. Peter Tarlow
August 2012
Tourism and health has taken on two new meanings.
Health tourism
can be broken down into two components, people who travel to a
particular spot
for medical reasons, such as cancer centers or for specific operations
such a
coronary bypass, and people who travel to a location for medicinal
reasons such
as rest and relaxation. Medicinal tourism caters not to the sick
but to
those who seek new levels of wellness. Examples of medicinal
tourism are
spa or centers that cater to non-essential cosmetic re-makes such a
weight
loss. Medical tourism of the hospital variety differs from
medicinal
tourism (the spa variety) in that it aims to serve those who are
accompanying
an ill person and often does not seek repeat business. Medicinal
tourism
on the other hand seeks repeat business and hopes that its clients will
return
on a regular basis.
Spa tourism has been around for thousands of years. In ancient
times
places such as northern Israel and Rome attracted visitors from the
much of the
known world. Across the millennia then spa tourism has provided
visitors
with non-invasive therapies, opportunities to improve physical fitness.
In the
modern world spas also provide their guests with weight-loss
treatments,
special cleansing diets and a variety of mineral and thermal skin
treatments.
Many spas also often massage and yoga classes as other ways to improve
health
and to de-stress.
Both of these separate phenomena are often classified as "medical
tourism" and although their raisons d'être are very different,
they also
share many tourism similarities. Medical tourism also has the
added
advantage that it can provide essential services to the local
population at the
same time that it is helping the local economy. To help you consider if
medical
tourism is a good choice for your community consider some of the
following
ideas.
- Determine
what health factors make your community unique.
Saleable health factors can include exceptionally clean air, unique
waters with
minerals, quiet settings, or any other natural phenomenon that would
provide
the person with a form of health benefits that are unique to your
community.
- Make sure that your
medical personnel understand the importance of
good bedside manner. In the world of medical tourism
physicians, nurses, and therapists are more than medical professionals.
They
are also part of the tourism industry and their patients are also
"clients". That means that it is imperative to train medical
tourism workers not only in their particular medical field, but also
provide
them with a clear understanding of customer service and the tourism
product.
How they treat their patients may well determine a patient's
willingness to
return.
- Merge your tourism
offerings with the local ambiance.
Medical tourism is about creating psychological and physical harmony.
Make sure
to offer a wide variety of options, but at the same time, be careful to
honor
the place in which your tourism is located and integrate local culture
and
foods into your medical tourism site.
- Make your hospitals
tourism friendly.
Hospitals are often seen as places in which to get sick rather than to
get
well. Hospital tourism means integrating not only the patient
with the
local community but also the whole family. During the patient's
recovery
phase, provide the patient's family with day trips that stay connected
to the
hospital in case of emergency. Develop special brochures for
out-of-towners
who are visiting sick friends and relatives. Remember that these are
people who
are in your community due to a love one's illness. They need excellent
customer
service, ways to relieve tension and still feel that they are close to
loved
ones.
- Make sure that your
medical tourism meets industry standards. Medical
tourism is in an existential sense different from many other forms of
tourism
in that involves the health and well-being of a guest. Make sure to
meet all
standards, do not advertise what you cannot deliver and make sure that
people
understand the risks involved. The bottom line is that while
foreseeability is essential in all forms of tourism it is especially
important
in the area of medical tourism.
- Take the time to get your
medical tourism right!
Terms such as medical tourism, spa tourism and wellness tourism are
often used
so loosely that no one is sure what these terms mean. Be truthful
in your
advertizing; say what you offer and what you do not offer so that the
customer
is absolutely clear about the experience s/he is purchasing. Also
be
certain that resources, such as water, (as used in spas) are tested on
a
regular basis so as not to turn a medicinal tourism experience into an
illness
acquired experience.
- If doing medical tourism;
make sure that you create partner
agencies. One of the problems in the area of medical tourism is
what does a
patient do after s/he has returned home and has a problem. Good
medical
tourism centers can provide 24 hour/7 day a week medical hot lines, but
often a
patient needs more than a phone. Make sure that medical records are
sent home
in the local language or in a language that the local doctor can
read.
Establish partner hospitals around the world and make sure that medical
prescriptions can be filled in the customer's country.
- Deal with the insurance
problems before not after.
Many visitors in both medical and medicinal tourism may want to use a
local
insurance plan. Be sure to list in your literature payment
structures and
whose insurance your institutions can accept. There is
nothing less
pleasant than having a fight over money when it comes to health and
these
disputes often cause visitors to have a negative reaction to the host
community
and not just the health provider. Make sure that health providers
understand
that they are an essential part of the community's economic health and
what
they do or fail to do reflects on the whole community.
About the Author:
Dr.
Peter E. Tarlow is the President of T&M, a founder of the Texas
chapter of
TTRA and a popular author and speaker on tourism. Tarlow is a
specialist in the
areas of sociology of tourism, economic development, tourism safety and
security.
Tarlow speaks at governors' and state conferences on tourism and
conducts
seminars throughout the world and for numerous agencies and
universities.
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