South of Border Care: Baja California Sponsors World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress

WASHINGTON - Sept. 5, 2014 - PRLog -- Incentivized by challenges from the Affordable Care Act to its north, the Mexican state of Baja California is expanding efforts to increase the flow of medical tourism patients from the across the border in the United States by sponsoring the 7^th World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress, Sept. 20-24, 2014, in Washington, D.C., the Medical Tourism Association® announced today.

“Foreign revenue from some 450,000 medical tourism patients coming to Baja California annually reaches $89 million,” said Juan Benjamin Tintos Funcke, Secretary of Tourism for Baja California. “We continue to improve our medical infrastructure and appeal to health travelers by promoting our 10 hospitals, 600 medical specialists and 12 pharmaceutical chains.”

Funcke said an investment of $15 million pesos to target 15 million medical tourism patients is projected to translate into US$8 million in additional revenue for the Mexican State of Baja California.

“Medical tourism patients traveling from the United States to Baja California will find an exclusive lane for health consumers to cross into Tijuana and Mexicali that speeds up the process to and from,” he said.

Latinos living in the United States encompass a large segment of medical tourism patients traveling into Tijuana and Mexicali for dentistry, optometry, sports medicine and surgeries, according to Funcke. Medical tourism patients are also attracted to inexpensive medications and cosmetic surgeries including liposuction, Botox applications and gastric banding as well as spa services at Rancho La Puerta, considered among the world’s best health resorts.

The World Medical Tourism & Global Healthcare Congress attracts some 3,000 key stakeholders – hospital administrators, doctors and clinicians, employers, government policy makers, insurance executives, facilitators, and hospitality and tourism interests – from across the globe to share their experiences and identify and solve issues that bear significantly on the industry. For a preliminary list of speakers, go to: http://www.medicaltourismcongress.com/speakers_year/2014-speakers/

The Congress agenda features not only the 5th Global Ministerial Summit, but the 3^rd Medical Directors Summit, the 2^nd Global Women’s Leadership Summit, regional and industry forums, and educational workshops included among more than 1,000 networking meetings for up to 200 qualified buyers of healthcare. Participants, sponsors and invited speakers can keep abreast of Congress updates at www.MedicalTourismCongress.comor make an impact today on theCongress networking platform at http://www2.mtcongress.com/wmtc-networking/

About the Medical Tourism Association®
The Medical Tourism Association® is the first membership-based international nonprofit trade organization for the medical tourism and healthcare industry made up of top international hospitals, healthcare providers, medical travel facilitators, insurance companies, and other affiliates committed to promoting the highest level of quality healthcare to patients in a global environment. www.MedicalTourismAssociation.com