Renee-Marie Stephano, President of the Medical Tourism Association, Presented at Antigua Conference

Aug. 14, 2009 - PRLog -- The 6th Annual International Investment & Healthcare Administration Conference was held at the Jolly Beach Resort & Spa, in Antigua and Barbuda, August 5th – August 8th 2009.
The 6th Annual International Investment & Healthcare Administration Conference was held at the Jolly Beach Resort & Spa, in Antigua and Barbuda, August 5th – August 8th 2009.

The 6th Annual International Investment & Healthcare Administration Conference aimed to encourage inbound medical tourism within the Caribbean healthcare system.  There is a lack of trained medical personal due to many excellent doctors and nurses from Caribbean nations continually lured to work in better conditions. The congress is another great step towards a concerted effort to achieve first world healthcare by designing comprehensive plans to upgrade all areas of the Caribbean healthcare system. This event brought together hospital administrators, CEO's, board of directors, medical directors and international healthcare leaders to discuss, meet, participate and exchange ideas and contacts with healthcare leaders worldwide.

In 2008, the medical tourism industry generated an estimated 2 billion USD, and project to grow to 15 billion USD in 2012, and 50 billion USD in 2018. Currently the most popular retreats for Western hemisphere medical travelers are low cost medical centers in India, Singapore, Thailand,  Philippines and growing numbers in Central and South America. Although patients receive exceptional medical care in these regions, there are many critical shortfalls to these operating models that will be eliminated in the proposed Caribbean based medical centers including: accessibility, medical safety, foreign culture language barriers, and lack of medical liability insurance.   Therefore this forward motion of Caribbean providers to improve quality and attract international patients has tremendous potential in the upcoming years.

The Medical Tourism Association at http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com is made up of the top international hospitals, healthcare providers, medical tourism facilitators, insurance companies, and other affiliated companies and members with the common goal of promoting the highest level of quality of healthcare to patients in a global environment. Our Association promotes the interests of its healthcare provider and medical tourism facilitators members. The Medical Tourism Association has three tenets: Transparency, Communication and Education.

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The MTA is the first international non-profit assn. made up of the top international hospitals, healthcare providers, medical travel facilitators, insurance companies, members with the common goal of promoting the highest level of quality of healthcare.