The rules are gradually changing for medical travel, and as the industry stages a comeback after the dark years of the pandemic, medical programs that have a third-party validation of their policies, procedures, and processes will see a greater long-term sustainable growth in medical travel, as medical travelers have now experienced a paradigm shift in what they consider to be “health.” Stakeholders must keep adapting to these changes and position themselves to be key players in the industry or lose out to those who do.

The Medical Tourism Magazine (MTM) had the privilege to sit down to get some insights from Heitham Hassoun MD, Cedars-Sinai Vice President and Medical Director of International Health, and Shoma Desai, MD, International Patient Services Director. They shared their thoughts and insights into what a post-pandemic world holds for medical tourism, what makes Cedars-Sinai unique, and how the Global Healthcare Accreditation for Medical Travel Services has assisted the organization in building patient trust.

An updated Medical Tourism Index lays out the international terrain for health travel, but the impact of COVID-19 on such a global industry remains to be seen.

The Medical Tourism Index offers stakeholders, as well as health consumers and payers a unique advantage in exploring major medical travel destinations, providing adequate information about their healthcare and social infrastructures as their commitment to the highest quality of care. The MTI is available to governments, and insurers, and health consumers and presents a valuable resource to identifying, tracking, and evaluating the quality and standards of healthcare across several destinations.

The medical tourism market is rapidly expanding, many regions across the world are boosting their healthcare systems to meet a wider range of healthcare needs and also provide first-rate care for medical tourists. Following the massive development of free trade zones and healthcare systems across the Middle East, Gulf Corporation Council (GCC) countries, and North Africa, the medical tourism market in these regions have been expanding rapidly.

The Medical Tourism Index is used by industry stakeholders, business leaders, employers, insurers, and healthcare organizations to assess a country’s medical travel capacity and, and also by health consumers and payers to make medical travel decisions.