Win overseas patients by appointing a Covid-19 guru
Doctors with a medical travel business are being recommended to appoint a ‘Covid-19 guru’ to help cut through the complexity and confusion of restrictions, quarantine, vaccination certificates and passports.
Keith Pollard
Medical tourism adviser Keith Pollard says the concierge aspect of working for international patients is increasing important and clearly a source of competitive advantage.
Writing as editor in the International Medical Travel Journal, he warns that travel complexities for would-be patients from abroad could prove a big barrier to seeking UK treatment.
‘The rules and restrictions on international travel change on a daily basis. Your in-house Covid-19 expert must be completely up to date not only with how these apply to your key source markets, but also how this impacts your potential patients and how you can support these patients to ensure that all aspects of their medical travel experience are worry-free,’ he says.
‘Creating competitive advantage in medical travel during and after this pandemic will be driven not just by treatment outcomes and cost. Building trust, removing “the fear of being stuck” – due to quarantine – and convincing the patient that you really understand the complexities of travel during Covid-19 will come to the fore.’