2019 Asia-Pacific & China Regional International Medical and Wellness Tourism – Best Quality Service Awards Enters Final Evaluation Stage
According to statistics, more than 100 countries and regions worldwide have developed health tourism, with global health tourism revenue accounting for 16% of total global tourism revenue in 2017. The World Health Organization (WHO) predicts that by 2020, healthcare-related services will become the largest and fastest-growing emerging industry globally, while sightseeing and leisure tourism-related services will rank second; together, these two sectors will account for 22% of global GDP.
Faced with the vast pool of Chinese patients, many destination countries are formulating proactive development policies and marketing strategies. As overseas healthcare service providers—whether you are a clinic, hospital, medical professional, or private practitioner—the most critical factors for entering the Chinese medical tourism market are the quality of medical services and the ability to earn trust.
Healthcare is one of the top concerns among China’s affluent population. According to data released by Ctrip, patients using Ctrip’s cross-border medical travel platform primarily come from first-tier cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, as well as second-tier cities including Tianjin and Hangzhou. It is projected that by 2024, more than 163 million Chinese patients aged 40 and above will opt for overseas medical treatment.
To attract Chinese patients, overseas medical institutions place significant emphasis on the outbound medical tourism market from China. In the United States, for example, at least 20 renowned hospitals have established international departments, with 90% offering services in Chinese. Late last year, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, together with five top-tier international medical centers—Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, City of Hope, UCLA Health, and USC Keck Medicine—signed a memorandum of understanding with China Southern Airlines. They launched medical tourism products focused on disease prevention and health check-ups, and introduced dedicated Chinese-language websites, hotlines, and specialized services for Chinese travelers.
Leading global destinations for medical tourism, in addition to possessing advanced medical technologies and mature market systems, have also strengthened robust government support. For instance, in Thailand, the health administrative authorities have spearheaded the promotion of the country’s medical tourism through five-year plans since 2004. In 2010, the Japanese government promulgated the “New Growth Strategy – Revitalizing Japan Initiative,” designating medical tourism as a national pillar industry. India has established the National Medical Tourism Board and the Medical Tourism Association, formulating regulations, policies, strategies, and plans to promote medical tourism.
Furthermore, it has become commonplace for overseas hospitals to either establish referral centers directly in China or to engage in referrals and promotional activities through intermediary agencies specializing in overseas medical services. For instance, the Mayo Clinic in the United States and Shanghai Qianxinya Management Consulting Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “Qianxinya”) announced that Qianxinya has been designated as a Referral Resource Facility (RRF) for the Mayo Clinic in China, providing support to domestic patients seeking treatment and health check-ups at the Mayo Clinic in the United States. This marks the third referral partner for the Mayo Clinic in China.
Given the enormous market potential for medical tourism in China, healthcare institutions in various destination countries have been refining their marketing strategies targeted at the Chinese market. “For Chinese patients, all it takes is a phone call or a visit to a Chinese-language website, where a medical concierge fluent in both Mandarin and medical knowledge will guide them through the entire care journey, including preliminary remote consultations.” In recent years, there has been an increase in Chinese patients visiting these hospitals, which now offer dedicated nursing services for international patients, including staff who are native Mandarin speakers.
Charles Weiner, Vice Chair of Academic Affairs and Medical Director of Johns Hopkins Medicine International, told reporters, “During their stay in Baltimore, a dedicated team will accompany patients for medical care and provide guidance and support to both patients and their families.”
It is understood that, in view of the growing influence of China’s outbound medical tourism on global trends, the Asia-Pacific (China) “International Medical and Health Tourism Best Quality Service Awards” held at the 2019 WMTC Conference established the following series of evaluation awards.
The 12th WMTC Conference, held in Abu Dhabi from October 15–17, 2019, will launch for the first time the “Best Quality Service” evaluation series and awards ceremony for International Medical and Health Tourism in the Asia-Pacific region (China). The World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress (WMTC) is held annually in the United States during September–October; by 2018, it had been successfully convened for 11 consecutive editions. The 12th edition in 2019 took place in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates, and currently stands as the world’s largest global conference and exhibition in the fields of medical tourism and health wellness.
2019 Conference Website: https://ad.healthcarerevolution.com/
The WMTC Conference comprises numerous innovative forums, summits, and exhibitions in the fields of medical tourism and the health industry, including: Medical Tourism; Health and Wellness; Global Efficiency and Operational Processes / Medical Tourism Case Studies; Senior Executive Meeting on Global Medical Networks / Global Ministerial Conference; Physician Professional Summit / Global Healthcare and Digital Health Summit. Concurrently, other events such as the Global Health Expo will also be held.
Key Features of the WMTC Conference: The world’s most comprehensive international medical and health conference and exhibition / Up to 3,000 industry leaders and experts from around the globe attend each edition / Over 10,000 participants in conference sessions and networking events / Up to 500 buyers and investors in the medical tourism and health sectors / Specialized forums and global summit meetings.
The WMTC Conference features activities covering: medical tourism trends and best practices, Continuing Medical Education (CME), successful case studies, international medical tourism business development, health insurance sales, engaging healthcare buyers, academic research conferences on telemedicine, digital health, and emerging technologies, the Global Summit for Women Leaders in Healthcare, and the Physicians’ Summit.
The inaugural Asia-Pacific China “Best Quality Service in International Medical and Health Tourism” evaluation series is jointly organized by the WMTC Organizing Committee, MTA (World Medical Tourism Association), GHR (Global Health Resources Alliance), Medical Tourism Magazine, GHA (Global Healthcare Accreditation), MTI (Medical Tourism Index), and Beijing-based consultancy Bosi Shangtong’s Global Medical Health Tourism News.
The evaluation will adopt a combined approach of qualitative and quantitative analysis, conducting comprehensive assessment and judgment across four dimensions: cross-border cooperation capability, patient service capability, enterprise management capability, and scale and growth.
The Medical Tourism Association (MTA) was established in Florida, USA, in 2003, with regional representative offices in 15 countries across five continents. As the largest non-profit organization in the industry, MTA has over 300,000 members, providing services to more than 100 countries worldwide and reaching over 2.1 million professionals.
Association Website: https://medicaltourismassociation.com/en/index.html
MTA is a global non-profit industry association dedicated to the international medical tourism and wellness tourism sectors, disseminating best practices to individuals seeking healthcare and wellness services.
MTA collaborates with healthcare providers, governments at all levels, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), healthcare organizations, associations, insurance companies, employers, and other buyers in the healthcare sector. By developing the medical tourism industry, MTA provides service solutions that connect global healthcare providers with wellness and vacation destinations to serve international patients, emphasizing the delivery of the highest quality healthcare and health services to consumers worldwide. MTA is also committed to enhancing consumers’ awareness of the diverse options available in global healthcare. It designs specialized education and training programs for medical tourism consumers, thereby improving their quality of experience in international medical and wellness tourism.
MTA serves international healthcare providers and medical tourism facilitators. Currently, MTA has evolved into an international membership-based association representing stakeholders from the global healthcare and tourism sectors, with the aim of promoting transparency in healthcare services, education, and communication.
As a multifaceted international organization, MTA focuses on the full lifecycle of healthcare and tourism projects, from inception to operation. From benchmarking outcome reviews to enhancing mechanisms for consumer service guidelines and test result verification, MTA serves as a trusted partner for both new and existing clients seeking broader development in the global healthcare, wellness, and medical tourism industries.
GHR is composed of global experts and specializes in providing advisory services and solutions to government agencies and social organizations on strategy, development, and market penetration in the fields of healthcare, health, welfare, medical tourism, employee health benefits, health insurance, precision medicine, and genomics.
GHR reaches an audience of over 2.5 million, including corporate executives and senior leaders in human resources, insurance, health, tourism, and other sectors. Among them, there are more than 1.25 million members in LinkedIn groups, over 45,000 followers on Facebook, more than 11,000 followers on Twitter, over 300,000 magazine readers, more than 330,000 email subscribers, over 660,000 website visitors, more than 1,000 certified senior health executives, and over 2,000 participants in global events. GHR seeks to partner with the founders and executive teams of the most leading and disruptive companies to help them realize their visions.
Organization Website: https://www.globalhealthcareresources.com/
GHR partners with CEOs of the world’s most influential health insurance companies, corporations, hospitals, and brokerage firms to organize leading VIP events in the industry, including the Health Revolution Conference®, Precision Medicine Conference™, Employer Health & Benefits Conference®, and World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Conference®.
GHR publishes and distributes Corporate Health Magazine and Medical Tourism Magazine, providing industry research and development services to leading associations and organizations, including the Corporate Health Association®, the Medical Tourism Association®, the Voluntary Benefits Association®, the Self-Funded Employers Association®, and the Institute for Health Insurance and Health Policy Studies. GHR collaborates with the International Healthcare Research Center® and the Well-being Institute™ to conduct industry standards research, industry evaluations, and related publications.
The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Standards provide the foundation for a systematic and objective evaluation process used to assess the management approaches of participating organizations across the continuum of medical tourism services. Each competency requirement is part of a comprehensive evaluation framework designed to raise awareness of management capabilities and service quality in medical tourism, thereby driving progressive improvement within enterprises. The GHA Standards focus on the implementation of all procedural steps throughout the entire medical tourism journey in a continuous manner, with the aim of providing patients with a holistic, safe, and high-quality medical travel experience.
GHACore Competitiveness Indicators for Leaders in Medical Tourism:
Core Competency 1: Patient-Centered Clinical Treatment
Core Competency 2:Patient Experience
Core Competency 3:Sustainable Business Processes
GHA Standard 4.0: Patient-Centered Clinical Care (PC); Care Management (CM); Infection Control (IC); Quality Improvement (QI)
Patient Experience: Cultural Competitiveness (CC); Communication and Education (CE); Patient Advocacy (PA); Physical Environment (PE); Medical + Travel (TT)
Sustainable Business Processes: Commercial Health (B) / Ethics (ET) / Financial Transactions (FT) / Marketing (MK) / Supply Chain Management (SC) / Technology (TN) / Transparency and Compliance (TC)
The Medical Tourism Index (MTI) evaluates a country’s attractiveness as a medical tourism destination through a novel, country-based performance metric. The MTI is regarded as a valuable research tool for assessing a nation’s performance in the medical tourism sector. Additionally, a members-only area provides access to further data, information, and an analytics platform.
The Medical Tourism Index (MTI) is a global benchmark for assessing a country’s attractiveness as a medical tourism destination. It evaluates and analyzes a nation’s status in this sector, offering insights on positioning strategies and enhancing sustainable prosperity. First published in 2014, the MTI initially considered 30 countries, surveying and comparing 25 of them based on 34 criteria.
To enhance value, in our “Data Tools” section, users can compare our MTI values with a range of supplementary data, such as population, per capita GDP, the Global Competitiveness Index, and hospital service consumption expenditure.
MTI Models Used：National Environment: Economy, Safety, Image, Culture /Medical Tourism Industry: Destination Attractiveness, Medical Tourism Costs /Facilities and Services: High-quality care, reputation, internationalization and accreditation, patient experience.
MTI—Pull Factors: They focus on providing medical tourism services, which can be divided into three parts. The first is related to the overall national environment; the second is related to the medical tourism industry; and the third is related to the quality and availability of medical facilities and overall services.
MTI—Driving Factors: Factors influencing the demand for medical tourism, which are primarily consumer-related, include sociodemographic variables (such as age, gender, education, marital status, ethnicity, and geographic location) or health-related factors driving medical tourism demand (such as insurance status and health condition). These variables serve as control variables, enabling the sorting and retrieval of MTI values within the “members-only” section. For instance, you can explore, identify, and assess the impact of gender, age, or geographic location on perceptions of medical tourism.
Organization Website: https://www.medicaltourismindex.com/
"Medical Tourism" Magazine: It is a bimonthly print and digital magazine published and distributed globally by MTA. It is the sole publication in the field of medical tourism and global health, and serves as the official journal of MTA—the World Medical Tourism Association.
Medical Tourism magazine provides healthcare buyers and medical tourism practitioners with a comprehensive and rapid channel for exchanging global industry information. With both print and online editions, Medical Tourism boasts the largest readership worldwide and is the only publication dedicated to delivering the latest cutting-edge information to medical tourism professionals, patients, and general readers.
Magazine Website: https://www.medicaltourismmag.com
"Medical Tourism" magazine's print edition is distributed across five major regions worldwide, covering more than 90 countries, with over 120,000 readers annually., including international hospitals, international health insurance operators in the Middle East, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, global healthcare providers, and the tourism industry. It directly targets potential customers considering overseas surgery in medical tourism, as well as those interested in the medical tourism industry. The magazine is also distributed directly to most U.S. employers with self-funded and executive health management plans.
Beijing Great-Idea Business Resources Co., Ltd. (Great-Idea Business Resources LTD, abbreviated as GI-BoSi ShangTongTong) was registered and established in Beijing in 2002. In 2006, Zhongbo International Business Information Group Co., Ltd. was established in Hong Kong, and Beijing Bosi Shangtong Advertising Co., Ltd. was founded in Beijing; in 2016, Hainan Bosi Lekang Medical Health Co., Ltd. was established as a holding subsidiary in Haikou; in 2019, GIMT–Bosi Medical Travel Global Resource Cooperation Center was prepared for establishment in Hong Kong in collaboration with MTA and GHR. GI-Bosi Shangtong also maintains branches and representative offices in the United States, Canada, Australia, Taipei (China), Wuhan, and Guangzhou.
Reference website: http://www.wmtc-boao.com
“Global Medical and Health Tourism News” Magazine and Official WeChat AccountThis is an elite publication and global news service provided by GI-Bosstone to members of the “Global Innovation Resources C-Level Club,” which it began building in 2009. After nearly a decade of development, the club now boasts over 66,800 premium individual members from China and more than 26 countries worldwide, spanning sectors such as healthcare, finance and insurance, IT and the internet, biopharmaceutical R&D, cross-border medical tourism, and investment and real estate. In late 2019, it will jointly launch the [Global Innovation Resource Sharing Alliance].
According to the Beijing office of the Joint Evaluation Agency for the 2019 WMTC AWARDS, as of the end of August, more than 80 companies had been selected from 120 outstanding enterprises in China’s international medical and health tourism sector to proceed to the re-evaluation questionnaire stage. Ultimately, 30 outstanding companies will be chosen for the awards list. The evaluation process for the 2019 Asia-Pacific (China) “Best Quality Service in International Medical and Health Tourism” series of awards is as follows:
Preliminary Selection Phase: July 8–28:Bosi Shangtong’s “Yi Jian You” is authorized to conduct the initial screening and recommendation of 120 enterprises engaged in international medical tourism business in China, and to submit the aforementioned companies to the WMTC Joint Review Committee for review and disqualification, with 80 enterprises being selected to enter the re-evaluation and investigation phase.
Re-evaluation Survey Phase: August 8 – September 8:Authorize BossSoft’s “Yi Jian You” to conduct surveys via questionnaires among 80 shortlisted companies, and select 50 outstanding enterprises based on the survey feedback for award categorization and evaluation by the WMTC Joint Evaluation Committee.
Evaluation Phase: September 10–18:The WMTC Joint Evaluation Committee conducted a categorized assessment of the selected 50 companies, ultimately selecting 30 outstanding enterprises for the award list.
Award Ceremony: October 15-17:Venue: Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre, UAE. Format: Awards Gala Dinner.
Introduction to Selected Expert Judges:
The World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress is a conference dedicated to driving business growth for industry enterprises and advancing the professional development of practitioners. Here, attendees can learn from one another, exchange industry insights, build collaborative friendships, and foster long-term, stable business relationships.
WMTC Abu Dhabi Congress will bring together medical tourism stakeholders from over 100 countries, convening top-tier buyers and industry leaders from the Middle East and other regions around the world.
Internal changes are often limited—only the perfect integration of WMTC and Abu Dhabi can drive genuine transformation. Currently, there is no conference that brings together policymakers and stakeholders to discuss effective industry-wide transitions.
2019 WMTC AWARDS Joint Evaluation Agency Beijing Office
-----------------------------------------------------
https://ad.healthcarerevolution.com
Address: Room 2508, Shandu International Center, No. 8 Dongdaqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Tel: +86 10 58703699—607 Fax: +86 10 58700290
Email: awards@great-idea.com.cn
