Malaysia wins “International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ), Medical Travel Destination of the Year Award 2015"

Published on April 16, 2015 at 6:41 AM · 

Malaysia has been proclaimed “Medical Travel Destination of the Year” at the International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) Medical Travel Awards 2015, further cementing the country’s reputation for providing top notch and innovative healthcare as well as its premier position as a world-class healthcare tourism destination.

The event, which was held on the evening of 15 April 2015 at the Royal Garden Hotel in London, saw 13 awards, which were segmented into four broad categories, namely Healthcare Provider and Agency, Marketing, Quality and Service, and Overall Achievement, being handed out. The awards included International Hospital of the Year, Specialist International Patient Centre, International Dental Clinic of the Year, Medical Spa of the Year, Best Marketing Initiative and Excellence in Customer Service.
For the Medical Travel Destination of the Year, the judges looked for all-round excellence in promoting inbound medical tourism, verified statistics of yearly growth in medical tourists served, evidence of high levels of patient satisfaction and co-ordinated activities that delivered an increase in medical tourism.
Malaysia’s private hospitals also grabbed several awards during the event.
These are:

• Excellence in Customer Service – Gleneagles Hospital, Kuala Lumpur
• Best Quality Initiative of the Year – Imperial Dental Specialist Centre
• Best Travel Website of the Year – Ramsay Sime Darby Healthcare
• International Cosmetic Surgery Clinic of the Year
  • Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre
• International Dental Clinic of the Year - Imperial Dental Specialist Centre

This is not the first time that Malaysia has proven its mettle in the healthcare tourism industry. During the inaugural IMTJ Medical Travel Awards last year, the country’s private hospitals swept three out of nine awards, i.e. International Hospital of the Year (Gleneagles, Kuala Lumpur), International Dental Clinic of the Year (Imperial Dental Specialist Clinic, Kuala Lumpur) and International Infertility Clinic of the Year (Prince Court Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur).Additionally, two hospitals came in as the most Highly Commended hospitals. They are Imperial Dental Specialist Centre for their travel website and Prince Court Medical Centre, Kuala Lumpur for their customer service.

Sherene Azli, the Chief Executive Officer of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC), a body set up in 2009 under the Ministry of Health to develop and promote Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry, says that “Malaysia has the necessary ecosystem and infrastructure for end-to-end healthcare services in place.” Being proclaimed “Destination of the Year” not only accentuates the country’s strengths but is also set to take Malaysia’s name a notch higher in the industry internationally.
Organised by the IMTJ which was established in 2007, the annual IMTJ Medical Travel Awards is a prestigious award that recognises innovation, excellence and best practices in the medical travel and medical tourism sector, and is judged by an independent panel of medical travel experts.
This year, the awards ceremony was held in conjunction with the IMTJ Medical Summit which went on from 15-16 April 2015 at the same venue.

Source:

Malaysia Healthcare,
http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150416/Malaysia-wins-e2809cInternational-Medical-Travel-Journal-(IMTJ)-Medical-Travel-Destination-of-the-Year-Award-2015.aspx

Mediviron UOA targets Vietnam tourists

Dr Chen Tai Ho, Aesthetic Physician and Owner of Mediviron UOA Clinic inked partnership with Mr George Adams, Marketing Representative of Du lịch & Làm đẹp, witnessed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Malaysia, His Excellency Professor Nguyen Hong Thao

Mediviron UOA Clinic will be collaborating with George Adams of Du lich & Làm đẹp, a partnership of Nip and Tuck Solutions Company of Australia, to allow those seeking aesthetic treatments from Vietnam to have their procedure done at the former’s practice, in addition to enjoying a truly Malaysian holiday.

The partnership is set to bring in its first batch of aesthetic tourist starting early next year, in time for Visit Malaysia Year 2014. Vietnam is one of Malaysia’s top 15 tourist generating markets, with about 211,000 Vietnamese tourists visited Malaysia in 2012, thus the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the two is timely.

“This  collaboration  marks  another  milestone  for  the  clinic  to  constantly  look  out  for  innovative ways to make aesthetic treatments accessible in the safest and highest quality of standard. We are also looking forward and anticipate to the opening of a new premier clinic next year as part of our business expansion plan,” says Dr Chen Tai Ho, Aesthetic Physician and Owner of Mediviron UOA Clinic, who is also one of the 40 accredited aesthetic doctors in Malaysia.

The exclusive partnership between Mediviron UOA Clinic and Du lịch & Làm đẹp was signed by Dr Chen  Tai  Ho,  Aesthetic  Physician  and  Owner  of  Mediviron  UOA  Clinic  and  George  Adams, Marketing  Representative  of  Du  lịch  &  Làm  đẹp.  The event was witnessed by the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam in Malaysia, His Excellency Professor Nguyen Hong Thao.

Mass Medical Tourism Trends

Medical tourism goes mainstream as low-cost cardiac surgery and broader healthcare provision join dentistry and cosmetic surgery to have global impact.

Switzerland is well known destination for medical holiday with opportunity to have relaxation and treatment. Now, its also provide surgical vacation and cosmetic enhancement for its customer. South Africa & Brazil is also popular destination to get quality cosmetic surgery along side with famous destination for this like London, L.A. and Miami.

For Tummy tuck and breast enhancement, emerging destination like Dubai, Venezuela, Thailand, Jamaica and Philippines is the choice.

While main attraction would be cosmetic surgery, high quality services at low cost has been attractive packages for medical tourism.

In 2007, over 100,000 UK residents went aboard for medical treatment as below ;

43% -dental procedures
30% -cosmetic surgery

And the average spent for such trips was just under $4,000 per head. According to "FutureAgenda" the World in 2020, There is shift happening whereby India lead the way. In this case, for example Aravind Eye Hospitals had done operation on cataract aimed at making life-changing eye surgery, in fact five Aravind Eye Hospitals in India conduct over 30,000 operations a year on cost of $50 rather than usual $500.

In other case, Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital in Bangalore performing over 600 heart operations a week which is eight times the average at other hospital in India, and the highest in the world. They charge only $2,000 for open-heart surgery compared with US whereby the cost is between $20,000 and $100,000.

So, its not a surprise when over 1 million medical tourist from US flopping to India each year.

Dubai is also eyeing at being centre of cardiac surgery as well as attracting best surgeons. Medical tourism expected to be worth $500 billion by 2020.

In Malaysia, Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council an initiative by Ministry of Health Malaysia has been responsible for medical tourism.