IF YOU ARE INTERESTED IN MEDICAL TOURISM: SOME COPING STRATEGIES OF ACCOMMODATION

Some hotels or resorts have turned to medical tourism because of its development potential. However, serve these clients requires some changes in regards to the physical development of accommodation facilities and training personnel. Beyond health care quality in the chosen destination, what is the optimal mix of facilities and services before and after an operation for the medical tourist? 

A GROWING MARKET 

The concept of medical tourism has existed for several years, but is only beginning to take the true measure because of the costs of health care continue to rise in the United States. According to the last census, 47 million Americans have no health insurance and 120 million are not fully insured (see also: Medical Tourism: Opportunities and controversies). Furthermore, a study by the consulting firm Deloitte expects 6 million Americans receive medical treatment abroad in 2010 and 10 million in 2012. 

PHYSICAL DEVELOPMENT OF ROOMS 

Although the hotel facilities are part of the usual traveler's experience, how they will be evaluated by the potential medical tourist may be strongly influenced by the type of treatment he should receive. Among the factors to be taken into consideration, it is believed, among other things, the physical layout of rooms and places as well as the staff's ability to understand the needs of the customer. 

The adaptation of the rooms is based on two basic principles: the medical tourist recovering 1) has a good chance to spend another client more time in his room; 2) will probably have less energy and perhaps some physical limitations. Some of the possible changes inexpensively. 

Give more isolated in the facility or on a floor dedicated to this client rooms. 

Install some technological tools such as a panic button to call for help if needed and a universal remote bedside customer allowing it to open or close the curtains to the TV or DVD player and run adjust the light in the room. There are also more sophisticated technological systems that adjust the thermostat or create ambient sounds - sound waves, rain, birds, music - that can improve sleep convalescents. 

Choose carpet and curtains as decorative elements rather than tiles or components, since they reduce outside noise by 70% to 90%. 

Offer wireless Internet to allow the use of a laptop directly from the bed 

Install the phone on the bedside table so that it is easily accessible from the bed 

Provide a "separate" for an attendant bed. 

Arrange furniture so as to allow free movement in a wheelchair. 

Install adjustable in closets so you can quickly put them at the right height for a wheelchair shelves. 

Install in the shower and handheld shower and a seat in the event that the customer has to keep certain parts of his body out of the water or just want to sit down to rest. The installation of a telephone in the bathroom adds the ability to call to get help if needed, in case of a fall, for example. 

Use tempered glass shelves to allow disabled people to see the content below. 

Add, if possible, additional electrical outlets to plug in medical devices. 

DEVELOPMENT OF PLAY 

More and more hotels are suitable for people with physical disabilities. If it does not, it is essential to consider reducing barriers in and around the facility to accommodate medical tourists. For example, a small hotel or a bed without a lift must necessarily accommodate his convalescent the ground floor or first floor. Also, if the ramps are needed by people in wheelchairs, they are more difficult to cross than the stairs to those with balance difficulties; rather, provide both. 

CHANGES TO SERVICES 

Some changes to the services offered by the hotel establishments involve personnel while others are minor adjustments to standard procedures. Here are a few: 

recording chamber to avoid waiting at the reception; 

use a private entrance for privacy; 

programming o'clock maintenance of the room that does not disturb the rest hours of the customer; 

offer a shopping service; 

transportation service (which can also accommodate a wheelchair) to the hospital and from it; 

room service round the clock; 

the expertise of a dietitian to facilitate compliance with prescribed diets and developing healthy menus; 

the services of a private nurse by means of a subcontractor (third party). 

Some of these considerations raise the need to coordinate services, as is the case when holding business meetings in the hotel. This coordination may even extend outside the hotel. Indeed, medical tourism, especially during his convalescence, must rely on the professionalism and expertise of a variety of professionals, such as carriers, nurses, therapists, pharmacists, as well as the support of the superintendent the establishment. Locate all these service in a foreign city can be exhausting for any traveler, let alone one who suffers the physical and emotional hardships associated with recent surgery. Such support is invaluable to the medical tourist, as it greatly reduces stress. 

Coordination of the various services offered to medical tourists can become a source of additional revenue for the hotel, in the same way as a business center is for business tourists. The coordinator develops expertise, maintains the contacts needed to serve customers and ensure that all services are coordinated effectively, both for the customer at the hotel. It becomes a powerful marketing tool for the hotel. 

ALL INCLUSIVE RATES 

Tourists who travel for medical care are very concerned about the price. For Americans, can be added the uncertainty of the final cost. As anesthetists, doctors, hospitals, drugs and other services are billed separately, the final price may vary considerably from the initial estimate. Many foreign hospitals responded to this uncertainty by offering all inclusive fares. Hoteliers interested in medical customers should follow this example. The all-inclusive package allows the hotelier to increase revenues by offering a variety of support services that the client will use, or not. For example, the price may include support concierge "medical", visits to spas, ground transportation, maybe even one or two tourism activities. For the medical tourist, this package eliminates fears the final cost and assures him that if he wants a particular service, there will be access. 

Several hotels around the world have already made ​​the switch in alliance with the clinics or hospitals to provide post-operative recovery rooms. In Quebec, the Montreal clinic Omnium-Santé is associated with the Hyatt Regency and offers a "complete checkup" package to American customers and tourists from Quebec to Montreal. Will you take advantage of this growing customer base?

source : http://veilletourisme.ca/2010/04/09/si-le-tourisme-medical-vous-interesse-quelques-strategies-d%E2%80%99adaptation-de-l%E2%80%99hebergement/