The very best in the medical travel sector are celebrating following the announcement of the winners in the International Medical Travel Journal Medical Travel Awards 2016 (http://awards.imtj.com).

The awards celebrate innovation and excellence in the medical travel, medical tourism and health tourism industry. Unlike other awards in the sector, the IMTJ awards are judged by an independent panel of medical travel experts, chaired by IMTJ Managing Editor, Keith Pollard.

The awards were presented on Tuesday night (24th May) at a high-profile ceremony that took place during the IMTJ Medical Travel Summit 2016 at the NH Hesperia Hotel in Madrid, generously supported by the Tourism Association of Madrid and Spain cares.

The 2016 winners are:

•     Destination of the year: Malaysia
•     Cluster of the year: Kvarner Health Tourism Cluster, Croatia
•     Sanjiv Malik Lifetime Achievement Award: Dr Fawzi Al-Hammouri, Chairman, Private Hospitals Association, Jordan
•     International Hospital of the year: Sunway Medical Centre, Malaysia
•     Specialist international patient centre: Burjeel Hospital for Advanced Surgery, UAE
•     International dental clinic of the year: Imperial Dental Specialist Centre, Malaysia
•     International cosmetic surgery clinic of the year: Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre, Malaysia
•     International fertility clinic of the year: TMC Fertility & Women’s Specialist Centre, Malaysia
•     International dialysis clinic of the year: Diaverum, Germany
•     International cancer centre of the year: HCA Healthcare UK, United Kingdom
•     International stem cell treatment centre of the year: Apollo Hospitals, India
•     International hair clinic of the year: Advanced Hair Clinics, Greece
•     International eye clinic of the year: Moorfields Eye Hospital Dubai, UAE
•     International thermal medical bath of the year: Széchenyi Thermal Baths and Swimming Pool, Hungary
•     Medical travel agency of the year: Caremondo, Germany
•     Best medical travel web site: Caremondo, Germany
•     International medical tourism hotel of the year: Danubius Health Spa Resort Margitsziget, Hungary
•     Best marketing initiative: Gleneagles Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia
•     Best quality initiative: ISMETT (Istituto Mediterraneo per i Trapianti e Terapie ad Alta Specializzazione), Italy
•     Excellence in customer service: Clemenceau Medical Center, Lebanon
•     Best use of technology in medical tourism: IMED Hospitales, Spain

Chairman of the judging panel and Managing Editor of IMTJ Keith Pollard says the awards celebrate the best providers in the industry and aim to encourage others to strive to match them:

“Medical travel is an exciting and growing global industry, with many providers delivering excellence in both medical care and customer service. The IMTJ Medical Travel Awards are the only independent awards to recognise those who are the best of the best – and hopefully will encourage others to emulate their success. The judges wanted to reward innovation and excellence, highlight best practice and celebrate those who are leading the way in the industry and delivering successful outcomes for patients.

“All our winners exemplify the way the medical tourism industry should be run – professional, offering exceptional patient care and providing the best possible medical outcomes. I’m already looking forward to next year’s awards in the hope that other clinics and companies will have raised their game to match or even better this year’s winners.”

The internationalisation of healthcare through health tourism is at the heart of IMTJ. Patients are becoming healthcare consumers and in many countries, patient choice is being extended to surgery and treatment provided by international hospitals and clinics. By sharing expertise, knowledge, and views about the health travel industry, IMTJ helps to ensure that patient expectations are met, and that the industry maintains a high reputation.

The International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) is owned and managed by Intuition Communication, a specialist publisher of consumer and business-to-business information on private healthcare and medical travel. The company also operates a consumer facing portal for medical tourism – Treatment Abroad. (http://www.treatmentabroad.com)

Reference:

Ward, S. (2016). Success in medical travel is recognised by IMTJ Medical Travel Awards 2016. PRWeb. Retrieved 31 May 2016, from http://www.prweb.com/releases/2016/05/prweb13445270.htm