Medical Tourism Index Adds New Destinations, Updates Rankings for New Decade

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WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., July 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The International Healthcare Research Center (IHRC) has published the third edition of its flagship survey tool, the 2020-2021 Medical Tourism Index (MTI), ranking the top ten destinations: Canada, Singapore, Japan, Spain, United Kingdom, Dubai, Costa Rica, Israel, Abu Dhabi, and India. The MTI ranks the American perceptions of 46 international healthcare destinations providing insight into how consumers view 41 criteria within three dimensions including Medical Tourism Industry, Destination Attractiveness, and Quality of Care. It becomes the ultimate planning tool for industry stakeholders looking to invest, benchmark, and improve market share in medical travel. The new MTI adds five new destinations to the growing list of medical tourism destinations: Czechia, Portugal, Hungary, Greece, and Guatemala. Also released is the 2020-2021 Arab Medical Tourism Index.

The Medical Tourism Index was first created in 2014 and updated for the sector in its 2016-2017 report; this third edition arrives at a critical juncture, where modern healthcare has never been more important, and the future evolution of a young, globalized industry has never been harder to predict.

"The MTI is a unique survey tool for healthcare destinations looking for the industry equivalent of performance review," said Renée-Marie Stephano, one of the developers of the Index. "In a relatively young industry like medical travel, there are very few credible resources and planning tools for destinations and facilities that wish to improve their programs. For stakeholders in the medical tourism industry, the MTI can be used to measure the effect that sustainable development has on the MTI criteria scores and then benchmark against other destination."

For this 2020-21 edition, MTI provides a fresh snapshot of each destination by providing geopolitical and demographic information, the current healthcare model for each, and insight into the scope and shape of each destination's medical tourism industry.

Also new is the MTI Online Data tools. Customers that purchase the report will be able to login to access digital tools like custom graphs and tables for analysis. This will include data from 2020 for comparison with or against previous years.

The novel coronavirus is putting tremendous strain on healthcare systems and world economies, which will alter the size and shape of the medical tourism market in unpredictable ways. Even so, it seems outright impossible that any world event – even one as deadly as COVID-19 – could permanently disable or destroy the medical tourism industry.

As the threat of novel coronavirus becomes less ubiquitous and international travel guidelines return to normal, medical tourism, health tourism, and wellness travel industries all aim to slowly return to pre-2020 levels, particularly as health and wellness seekers look for more cost effective, and safe solutions for their healthcare and wellness needs. Destinations that use the updated MTI to prepare for this inevitable return to normal operation will be well-positioned to reap the rewards of foreign healthcare spending.

"If you're a potential medical tourism destination, there's no better time to get your house in order," Stephano said.  In the long run, COVID-19 should even stimulate new stakeholders in the medical tourism industry. Stephano is among those who believes COVID-19 could actually grow the sector more responsibly and more effectively over time with emphasis on the criteria in the MTI.

"As travel restrictions ease and it becomes more safe to travel, but before the economic recession fades away, millions of people are going to be looking for ways to save money and access much needed health and wellness services," Stephano said.

What is included in the purchase of the Medical Tourism Index?

In celebration of the initial release of the report, a special price for a limited amount of time is being offered that includes access to the MTI online tools with custom graphs and analysis using the report's destination databases, included the two previous reports. In addition, the Medical Tourism Calculator will also be provided free with the purchase for a limited time. The Medical Tourism Calculator is a medical tourism planning tool developed by IHRC. It allows professionals, executives, and officials to examine the complete economic impact of the medical tourism industry on a destination city, state or country. Learn more and purchase at https://medicaltourismindex.com.

International Healthcare Research Center

The International Healthcare Research Center is a 501c (3) non-profit research center, dedicated to conducting research and delivering reliable information and actionable strategic insight in the following areas:

• International patient experiences & outcomes
• Trends & analysis of international patient care
• Global health insurance
• Employer-based healthcare trends
• Population health management
• Patient demographics
• Hospital quality
• Government healthcare policy
• Corporate wellness
• Wellness trends
• Medical tourism research

The primary goal of the International Healthcare Research Center (IHRC) is to promote transparency and improve global healthcare quality, population health management, expanded access to care, and the consumer healthcare experience.

Global Healthcare Resources 

Global Healthcare Resources is an international solutions firm providing strategic execution within the industries of employer healthcare, medical tourism, wellness tourism, self-insurance, and corporate wellness. Global Healthcare Resources meets hundreds of thousands of professionals with thought leadership through more than a decade of its associations, trade events, certifications, publications, cited research, and collaborated content. 

Reaching over 2.6 million professionals, GHR is a custom-tailored consulting firm with the ability to augment the strategy and growth of any business in the field. Global Healthcare Resources is a research partner of IHRC. 

SOURCE Global Healthcare Resources

Related Links

https://medicaltourismindex.com