Medical Tourism Summit

Presenter: Christyna Kruczaj, Director,

CosMediTour Group Level 2, Oasis Centre, Broadbeach QLD 4218 Australia

Tel +61 7 5570 6699 www.CosMediTour.com Christyna.Kruczaj@cosmeditour.com

Growing awareness of health care alternatives

and competitive prices saw the rise of the

modern day facilitator

This was driven further by the emergence of

Medical Tourism destinations and clusters –

supported by purpose built health care

facilities targeting the medical traveler eg

Bangkok

The spread of the internet in the 90’s was

required for medical tourism to gain

momentum

Evolution of Facilitators

A medical tourism culture has been created by:

Providers, Governments, Associations, Facilitators and

Agents, Insurance Companies, Media...

and most of all, consumer/patient demand as a result of

inferior services, wait lists and/or high cost of comparable

procedures and treatments

Medical Tourism is being heralded as a new Gold Rush…

With few barriers to entry as an agent or facilitator

Which can be a good thing – or a bad thing

Evolution of Facilitators

Why Providers need Facilitators - OBSTACLES

Understanding and accessing markets from

different cultures

Language and communication barriers where

applicable increase difficulty in securing

offshore patients

Further obstacles for Suppliers in accessing

foreign markets include

Ignorance of target market

Misinformation from ill-informed sources

Isolationism of stakeholders in destinations

Local medical segment vested interests

• Education and Superior Marketing of Providers’ Services by

facilitators

• Facilitators acquire customers more easily than Suppliers,

especially with cross border markets – and cultural,

language and time zone obstacles

• Facilitators provide extensive and ongoing administration of

patient cases, relieving suppliers of this responsibility

• In the event the patient encounters problems at any stage of

the journey, a Facilitator becomes a huge benefit to a

Provider

Why Providers need Facilitators - BENEFITS

Resistance and misinformation from various areas

within the medical sector in developed countries -

where a Provider is in a developing country

Society and consumers increasingly expect and

demand complete end to end solutions, which are

best provided by Facilitators and not the Providers

themselves

A seamless and successful journey for a patient to

wellness or improved health, aesthetic and other

outcomes enhances the Facilitator’s reputation and

underwrites further business for its partner Providers

Why Providers need Facilitators - BENEFITS

Why Patients Choose A Facilitator

A trusted Brand

Referred by other patients and able to provide a solution…

https://drive.google.com/?tab=mo&authuser=0#folders/0B1o-p9pze-rZX1dvVjBjNkd0ZEE

Compelling Facilitator

Proposition

Information Seamless

Marketing Referrals

Safety Price

Brand Trust

Patient Journey Can be full

of hazards -

and why a

good

facilitator

can be a

huge

advantage

Responsible Supply Chain Leverage

• Small and start up facilitators have minimal or no leverage with

Suppliers

• Large and established facilitators have leverage with their Suppliers

• Major facilitators can use supply chain leverage to benefit:

o Providers

o Clients-Patients

o The Facilitator

o The Market

Examples by Major Facilitators

• Quality standards improved

• Sharing of surgery and other patient learnings

• Access to records for improved efficiencies and safety

• Overall Patient experience enhanced

• Systems integration

• Operational Efficiencies

• Price reductions

• Corporate Social Responsibility

Sometimes things don’t go to plan

• Patient contribution or responsibility

• Supplier contribution or responsibility

• Facilitator contribution or responsibility

• A combination of factors and shared responsibility

• Managing Situations and Contingency Planning

• Patient Safety, Care and Risk Mitigation

• Communications and Information

• Liability issues

Case Study

CosMediTour Breast Surgery Client

• Major Infection 3 weeks post surgery – back in

Australia

• High level medical resources mobilised in Thailand

• Sharing of medical records & recommendations with

Australian health care professionals

• Successful patient outcome

The Worst

Outcome

Last month a 24 year old

British woman died in

Bangkok during an

operation – performed by

a ‘cosmetic surgeon’

The Worst

Outcome

And in 2007 a 26 year

old woman died in

Melbourne – following a

liposuction procedure

performed by an

Australian Plastic

Surgeon

The Worst

Outcome A year later a 28 year old

woman died following a

liposuction procedure in

Adelaide performed by an

Australian cosmetic

surgeons…she contracted

a rare and deadly infection

from an organism

introduced by the doctor’s

scalpel during surgery.

It happens in Australia too!

Facilitators as Influencers

A Major Facilitator with Vision and significant Leverage will not be

just an Agent, but can become an INFLUENCER.

Such a Facilitator can INFLUENCE its Supply Chain and

Providers, Governments, Industry Organisations, Insurers,

Competitors - and the overall Market.

The Future For Facilitators

CosMediCruise – Gulf of Thailand Sydney – Bangkok in 4 hours

The Future

The future for Facilitators is aligned

with the growth of the Medical Tourism

Segment, which is aligned with the

globalisation of health care

Providers will not be able to replace

Facilitators with a Direct to Consumer

B2C model

Medi Portals and other B2B2C digital

alternatives will not represent a

significant threat to Facilitators

Facilitators will need to embrace technology

including the latest medical technology

Major Facilitators will be able to vertically

integrate in multiple levels of the Supply

Chain

Facilitators can bridge the divide between

medical systems in different countries

Facilitators can collectively have a profound

beneficial affect on the medical tourism

segment

Thank You