Social Media outperforming traditional systems of communication in global Medical Travel industry

15-Feb-2013

The global medical travel market is simultaneously experiencing both saturation and exponential growth. The International Medical Travel Exhibition and Conference (IMTEC) 2013 is a two-day conference that will provide a transparent platform for both consumers and service providers to understand the latest trends and drivers in the global medical tourism industry. Discussion on topics such as cross-border healthcare, consumerization of healthcare, the convergence of technology, advances in social media, aggressive marketing, transparency and travel facilitation, as well as patient rights and literacy will go a long way towards facilitating the process of seamless medical travel.

The main challenge and objective in the current market is to create an environment where the consumer is educated in his/her rights and entitlements in cross-border healthcare. This will result in an increase in demand for medical travel. The growing dominance of social media is outperforming structured and traditional systems of communication. This will change the way brands, beliefs, information and knowledge is transferred around the globe. This development also affects medical tourism and the way in which customers are reached and convinced.

Patients are always on the search for the best doctors and medical services globally. This creates pressure and an incentive for medical institutions, motivating them to improve the quality of their services and ensure that their medical staff are highly qualified and fit the consumer’s demands. IMTEC 2013 - taking place for the first time on 22-23 March at the Grimaldi Forum in Monaco - will host the most advanced players and thinkers in this context to learn and discuss the most recent developments in the medical travel market. IMTEC is organized by Informa Life Sciences Exhibitions, the organizers of the world’s second largest healthcare exhibition ‘Arab Health’, in strategic cooperation with the European Medical Travel Conference (EMTC).