International Patient Program Development for Hospitals

Establishing an international patient services department in a hospital is difficult work and requires thoughtful planning and execution about why, what, who, and how.?

Health tourism, medical tourism, medical travelers

The immediate answer to the question, “Why establish an international patient service?” is to serve foreign patients more effectively and efficiently. Medical travelers and health tourists have different needs than local consumers/patients. These needs include transportation, lodging, Visa requirements, accompanying guests, language and cultural differences, food, public health risks, international post-treatment follow-up and a host of other challenges.

A distinction has to be made between those who travel expressly for the purpose of being treated abroad versus travelers who become injured or ill while traveling. These “accidental medical travelers” might be a distraction, or they might represent an appealing incremental source of income for your hospital or clinic. These accidental medical tourists are not, however, health tourists or medical travelers and are not a sustainable stream of manageable referrals.

Why develop an international patient department at your hospital?

If your hospital has made the decision to attract foreign consumers, the best reasons to establish an international patient department are:?

1. Effectiveness
2. Efficiency?
3. Brand enhancement

International patient programs in hospitals can more effectively and efficiently serve foreign consumers. Because of their highly specialized needs and the distinct international patient journey map, medical tourists require specialized and labor-intensive services. Serving foreign patients takes more time and resources than local patients, and therefore the direct and indirect costs of serving them is higher than local or domestic patients.?

From a strictly business point of view, managing these specialized services and measuring their costs is strategically important. Managing foreign patients differently is strategic because of the risk that they represent to the hospital or clinic’s brand. Once a hospital’s brand is damaged within an important source marketplace, it’s very difficult and expensive to restore or recover the lost reputation. It’s far better to have a focused, dedicated team assuring that foreign patients experience positive and when errors occur (not “if”) that they are quickly addressed. A well-organized and appropriately developed international patient department in a hospital is more effective, efficient and – most importantly – can enhance or improve the hospital’s brand both domestically and abroad.

In a national survey of US hospitals with international patient departments, Stackpole & Associates learned that brand development was the most important reason to develop international patient programs.

Best in Class International Patient Departments & Programs

Successful international patient departments and programs require the same thoughtful planning as other departments within a hospital or health system. In our experience, there is a direct correlation between how carefully the international patient program is developed and its success. These factors include, but are not limited to:

• Rationale – Why does the program or service exist as a distinct department?
• Goals and Objectives – How will the international patient department contribute to the vision, mission and values of the hospital or health system, and how will these be measured?

Read more: https://stackpoleassociates.com/health-tourism-resources/international-patient-program-development-for-hospitals/