Patients Beyond Borders and Medeguide Develop a New Markting Tool for International Hospitals | 30-10-09
Medeguide Founder to Lead Online Healthcare Marketing Workshop at the Healthcare Travel Conference in Singapore | 10-06-09
Medeguide and Patients Beyond Borders collaborate to feature global healthcare options online | 26-05-09
Senior Advertising Executive Joins Medeguide | 21-05-09
Top International Hospitals Join Medeguide | 19-05-09
Medeguide partners with Admax Plus | 30-04-09
New web portal Medeguide to launch 30-06-09 | 07-04-09
Medical treatment abroad is one of 2008's biggest trends | 27-04-09
Healthy Travel Media, publisher of the Patients Beyond Borders series, and Medeguide, an online international doctor directory, announced today the joint launch of the Patients Beyond Borders FOCUS ON: series.
Produced by Patients Beyond Borders editors and marketed by Medeguide, FOCUS ON: is an easy-to-distribute digital publication with search capability, enabling hospitals to showcase their centers of excellence, signature services, facilities, doctors, leading-edge technology, and international patient resources.
FOCUS ON: also provides a direct connection to Medeguide’s doctor and treatment-package search engine, allowing users to access hospitals directly to request appointments and information.
The Patients Beyond Borders team of independent editors will work closely with selected hospitals to highlight information important to medical travelers, including the hospitals’ vital information and statistics, images of the facilities, patients' stories, noted specialties, international awards, and accreditation, along with destination-specific travel tips.
“FOCUS ON: gives medical travelers unique, concise insight into what makes a particular hospital special,” says Josef Woodman, author and creator of the popular Patients Beyond Borders series. “Medical travelers typically use multiple sources of data before selecting a particular hospital or doctor, and FOCUS ON: consolidates all that information in one easy-to-read document that can be shared, emailed, and printed.”
Medeguide founder, Ruben Toral, describes FOCUS ON: as a “Swiss army knife—one simple tool that does many things.” A former international hospital marketing director, Mr. Toral continues, “Consumers want relevant information in a format that can be shared easily with family and friends.” Through direct connections to Medeguide’s online doctor directory, FOCUS ON: users can review and share profiles of doctors and packages with the click of a mouse.
FOCUS ON: is the newest offering in a suite of products and services developed by Patients Beyond Borders and Medeguide to support consumers and connect patients with leading international hospitals. The two companies currently collaborate in a content-sharing partnership on Medeguide.com. FOCUS ON: furthers the collaboration by integrating content around specific hospitals.
Messrs. Woodman and Toral continue to look at new opportunities in the medical travel industry through an approach they describe as “destinations to doctors.” By coordinating and combining information on destinations, hospitals, treatment packages, and doctors, they believe patients will have better tools to make informed healthcare decisions.
For more information, please click on the logo below:
Patients Beyond Borders (www.patientsbeyondborders.com) is the bestselling consumer guide to medical tourism. Its imprint, Healthy Travel Media, based in Chapel Hill, NC, publishes books, eBooks, and Web-based consumer reference information on medical and wellness travel. For more information, please contact Judy Orchard, jorchard@healthtraveler.net
Medeguide (www.medeguide.com) is an online doctor directory featuring medical and surgical specialists from leading medical centers around the world. Using Medeguide, consumers can search, find, and connect with doctors and hospitals directly for appointments and information. For more information, please contact Carmen Koda, carmen.koda@medeguide.com
Bangkok, Thailand -- Russell Conrad, formerly Regional Managing Director for Admax Network, has joined Medeguide (www.medeguide.com) as Head of Advertising and Sponsorship responsible for developing Medeguide’s online advertising and sponsorship activities. Medeguide is a new web portal to connect patients and doctors online, and is scheduled to launch at the Healthcare Travel Conference in Singapore on June 30, 2009.
Mr. Conrad has extensive digital media and healthcare industry experience having spent eight years with Service Master Corporation, a leading healthcare support services outsourcing company, in various senior management roles in North America, South America and Asia. He later joined Admax Network, the largest online advertising network in Southeast Asia with offices in Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Philippines and Vietnam
Ruben Toral, Medeguide’s founder, said Mr. Conrad was the ideal candidate to lead the company’s advertising initiatives given his experience in healthcare and digital media services. “Russ is a proven executive” noted Mr. Toral, “who has a very unique skill set and a great reputation in the industry. We are very fortunate to have him.”
Mr. Conrad held various senior executive positions at Admax Network, including CEO for New Media, the company’s digital media company. Mr. Conrad was responsible for providing digital media and consulting services for large multinationals, including HSBC, Unilever and Samsung. He was later tapped to head up the regional advertising activities for Admax Network, where he worked with large advertising agencies in seven countries.
At Medeguide, Mr. Conrad will be tasked to help the company develop advertising and sponsorship programs targeted towards large hospital medical device manufacturers and major pharmaceutical companies. He will also be the point man for developing online partnerships and content syndication.
“I am very excited to join Medeguide,” said Mr. Conrad, “because it has so much potential. No site I know of brings consumers, healthcare providers and advertisers together so seamlessly.”
Medeguide (http://www.medeguide.com) is a web portal that helps patients connect with doctors online, and provides international doctors and hospitals an online platform to promote their services and treatment packages. Scheduled to go live on June 30, 2009, Medeguide will feature profiles of leading international hospitals, doctors and treatment packages.
Big hospitals embrace new online platform to market their doctors and treatment packages
Bangkok, Thailand -- Over 20 international hospitals have joined Medeguide, a new web portal to help consumers find doctors and treatment packages. The list of hospitals includes some of the world’s leading medical facilities like Bumrungrad International, Parkway and Christus Muguerza.
Scheduled to launch June 30, 2009, Medeguide will initially feature around 1,000 doctors in over 10 countries in specialties ranging from cardiac surgery to urology. Using the Medeguide portal, consumers can search and find top tier medical and surgical specialists from leading, accredited hospitals in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Latin America.
Medeguide’s founder, Ruben Toral, is recognized as a pioneer in the medical travel industry and expects to have over 5,000 doctors in 20 different specialties by year end. Toral believes that doctors and hospitals need to become more visible on the web, because that is where consumers are looking for healthcare information. “Virtually every medical tourist starts his or her journey online,” says Mr. Toral.
Vishal Bali, Group CEO for Wockhardt Hospitals in India, agrees. “Our experience is that patients, particularly those from overseas, use the web as their primary source of information when researching hospitals, doctors and treatment packages.” Wockhardt, Apollo Hospitals and Max Healthcare, are among the top brand name Indian hospitals that have joined Medeguide.
While Medeguide supports medical tourism, it is also a platform for doctors and hospitals to market their services locally. Medeguide has developed a “Top 10” program to help users find leading physicians by country, specialty and procedure. “Medeguide Top 10 gives users a quick list of the top physicians in their area,” says Mr. Toral.
Theo Seiler, CEO for Asian Hospital in the Philippines, sees Medeguide as a new channel to reach local residents and international patients. “Medeguide is an ideal platform for Asian Hospital because we can use it to promote our doctors locally and globally.”
Medeguide will ‘go live’ at the Healthcare Travel Conference in Singapore on June 30, 2009.
Bangkok (Syndacast), 20 April 2009
Medeguide (http://www.medeguide.com/), a new online doctor search portal founded by medical tourism pioneer Ruben Toral, has formed a partnership with Admax Plus, a leading social media and search engine marketing firm.
Medeguide is a new web platform that helps patients find doctors and treatment packages online. The site will ‘go live’ on June 30, 2009 at the Healthcare Travel Congress in Singapore, and will contain profiles of leading medical and surgical specialists from around the world. This is the first site of its kind aimed at providing international doctors and hospitals an online platform to market their products and services locally and globally.
Medeguide’s founder, Ruben Toral, is a recognized leader in the medical tourism industry. Formerly Group Marketing Director for Bumrungrad International hospital in Bangkok, Thailand, Ruben now provides consulting, branding and marketing support to hospitals and insurance companies as CEO of Mednet Asia (http://www.mednetasia.com). He is also President of the International Medical Travel Association (http://www.intlmta.org).
“Increasingly, patients are using the web as their primary source for healthcare information”, explains Ruben Toral. “Patients want trustworthy, relevant information about doctors and treatment packages. Medeguide does that. We give them information that helps them makes better healthcare choices.”
According to a 2006 Pew Internet study, 80% of American internet users have searched for healthcare information; 51% are looking for a specific treatment and 29% are looking for a particular doctor or hospital.
On the partnership with Admax Plus, Ruben is emphatic "Admax Plus is a proven leader in search engine and social media marketing. They have executed successful campaigns for Accor, Singapore Tourism Board and other top tier clients. No one I know does web based marketing better than Admax Plus.”
Social media marketing is clearly the new frontier in online marketing. The growth of websites like Facebook and Twitter are testimony to the fact that people of all ages are using the web to connect. Wolfgang Jaegel, the founder and Regional Managing Director of Admax Plus, is an evangelist for this new breed of online marketing and clearly sees how consumers, doctors and hospital can benefit from a site like Medeguide.
“When people are looking for a doctor, they usually turn to friends and family for recommendations,’ explains Jaegel, a social media marketing expert, “by combining a web platform like Medeguide with social media marketing you are creating a completely new environment for patients, doctors and hospitals to connect.”
ADMAX Plus (http://www.admaxplus.com) is a leading search and social media marketing company, providing a wide range of services and platforms that include press release and article syndication, social media marketing, search-engine optimization, search-engine marketing, web-analytics implementation and consulting, and online-brand monitoring.
Since the launch of the company, ADMAX Plus has grown to a regional presence and serves global brands including: Accor, Asiativ, LG, Nestle, Ford, Mastercard, HSBC, NIKE, Samsung, Singapore Tourism Board and Symantec
Medeguide (http://www.medeguide.com) is a consumer portal to “find a doctor” and a web based marketing platform for doctors and hospitals. The company sells digital products to help doctors and hospitals promote their services and products online. The company will launch its consumer portal on June 30, 2009 and already has over 20 leading international hospitals and 500 doctors in 10 countries committed to participate at launch.
Ruben Toral Founder Medeguide # 451 165 Sukhumvit 49 Bankok, Thailand Tel.: +662 762 7851 Fax: +662 762 7852 URL: www.medeguide.com Email: ruben.toral@medeguide.com
Bangkok, Thailand – April 27, 2009 – Ruben Toral, CEO of Mednet Asia Ltd. (www.mednetasia.com, will launch a new web portal called Medeguide (www.medeguide.com) to provide doctors and hospitals a platform to market their products and services online. The site will ‘go live’ on June 30, 2009 at the Healthcare Travel Congress in Singapore (www.healthcaretravel-singapore.com), and as a start will feature profiles of more than 700 doctors from over 10 countries.
Mr. Toral is widely recognized as a leader in the medical travel industry. Formerly Group Marketing Director for Bumrungrad International hospital in Bangkok, Mr. Toral was the driving force behind Bumrungrad’s international marketing and branding initiatives. He is also the president of the International Medical Travel Association (IMTA; www.intlmta.org), an industry trade group focused on promoting medical travel.
According to Mr. Toral, the Medeguide platform effectively serves two audiences. For consumers, Medeguide is a one stop source of information on doctors and treatment packages, allowing patients to search, find and connect with hospitals and doctors around the globe. For doctors and hospitals, Medeguide is an online platform to market their services and products to the millions who search for medical information daily.
“Globalization, the internet and consumerism are transforming healthcare,” says the Medeguide founder, “and Medeguide is designed to help patients and doctors connect online. Medeguide is a tool to help patients make better healthcare choices by providing them with relevant information about doctors and treatment options locally and globally.”
Using Medeguide, patients are able to search and find doctors globally based on location, specialty, procedures and board certification, and treatment packages based on country and procedure. Medeguide also features a section called the Medeguide Top 10, featuring leading physicians by country and specialty. Medeguide has already received commitments from leading Joint Commission International accredited hospitals like Wockhardt, Bumrungrad, Parkway and CIMA.
While Medeguide supports medical tourism, it is not designed solely for the medical tourist. As Mr. Toral explains, “Medeguide helps patients find the right doctor or treatment package. That could mean a doctor down the street or halfway around the world. The value we bring to the consumer is choice.”
Medeguide is formalizing partnerships with online advertising and social media and web marketing companies. Mr. Toral is confident that patients, providers and advertisers will quickly adopt Medeguide because it drives engagement and connectivity.
Ruben Toral, CEO of Mednet Asia Ltd., is a recognized leader in medical tourism and healthcare globalization. Formerly Group Marketing Director for Bumrungrad International, Ruben was instrumental in positioning Bumrungrad as the world’s leading medical tourism destination.
With over 15 years experience in healthcare, Ruben has built companies, brands, physician networks in Asia and Latin America and has established himself as a thought leader in healthcare globalization and marketing. He currently works with large US payer networks, international hospitals and information technology companies, and is President of the International Medical Travel Association.
There are about 6 million tourists from a worldwide 600 million tourists with special needs. The Healthcare Travel industry is growing at 15 to 20 per cent annually and it's estimated that total gross medical tourism revenues will rise from $56 billion today to $100 billion by 2012.
It is estimated that the Asian market will generate in excess of USD 4.4 billion by 2012. Governments and service providers have been quick to recognize the potential of Medical Tourism and have leveraged existing strengths and taken concrete initiatives to tap into the larger potential of this as a key revenue generator for their countries' economies.
Interest in Healthcare Travel has been rising, not only among individual customers but also among insurance companies and businesses. Medical tourism is entering a new phase, one in which individual patients will not be the only consumers of medical tourism. Their employers, insurance companies and governments are also part of the equation.
Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress 2009 represents the splicing of two of the world's largest industries: Health and Travel and Tourism. It is bound to have a huge effect and attract wide participation.
Partnership creates single-source solution for leading medical destinations, doctors and treatment packages
Bangkok, Thailand, 26 May 2009: Patients Beyond Borders, one of the most recognized names in the medical travel industry and the go-to consumer guide for affordable, high-quality healthcare overseas, has agreed to be a content partner for Medeguide, a new Web portal to help patients connect with doctors online.
Set to launch June 30, 2009 at the Healthcare Travel Congress in Singapore, Medeguide will provide site visitors with a directory of doctors and treatment packages available at leading US-accredited hospitals around the world.
Patients Beyond Borders will develop content for Medeguide's “Destinations” section, which includes information for prospective patients about popular medical travel destinations throughout Asia, Latin America, and the EU.
This joint effort brings together two medical travel industry leaders: Ruben Toral, founder and CEO of Medeguide, is the former group marketing director for Bumrungrad International hospital and president of the International Medical Travel Association (www.intlmta.org). Josef Woodman, author of Patients Beyond Borders, is an industry veteran with extensive publishing, healthcare, and Internet experience.
The collaboration will provide healthcare consumers with robust information on international medical tourism destinations, leading hospitals and physicians, and treatment packages. “This is a perfect fit,” comments Mr. Toral. “Through this partnership, Medeguide now offers visitors a one-stop source of information that enables them to easily search and find the right destination, doctor, and treatment.”
For Mr. Woodman, the online collaboration with Medeguide is a natural extension for Patients Beyond Borders. Its international Second Edition and several country-specific titles are the world’s bestselling series on medical tourism. "We like the Medeguide model," says Mr. Woodman. "This partnership broadens our online offerings to patients and helps healthcare consumers form early connections with some of the best doctors in the world."
Medeguide (www.medeguide.com) is a Web portal that helps patients connect with doctors online, and provides doctors and hospitals with an Internet platform to promote their services and treatment packages. Scheduled to debut June 30, 2009, Medeguide will feature profiles of leading international hospitals, doctors, and treatment packages. For more information, contact Carmen Koda, carmen.koda@medeguide.com
Speakers include Google and IMS
For Immediate Release Contact: info@medeguide.com Carmen Koda -- +66 2 762 7851
June 10, 2009, Bangkok, Thailand -- Ruben Toral, Chief Executive of Mednet Asia Ltd. and founder of Medeguide, will lead a one day workshop on trends in online healthcare marketing on June 28, 2009 at the Fairmont Hotel as part of the Healthcare Travel Conference in Singapore.
Targeted at doctors, hospitals and tourism promotion boards, the workshop will feature speakers from Google, IMS and Admax Plus, and will covers topics ranging from search to social medial marketing. As more consumers turn to the web for healthcare information, healthcare providers require new strategies to connect and communicate with patients online.
The objective of the workshop, Mr. Toral explains, is to understand online consumer patterns around search and how providers and advertisers can reach prospective patients more effectively using web based tools. “The web is now the go-to source for healthcare information,” says Mr. Toral, “and hospitals are under-utilizing the power of the web to market their doctors and treatment packages.”
Chandrashekar Raghavan, an information and analytics specialist with Google, will discuss search and online advertising trends in healthcare, and will be followed by Russ Conrad, Head of Advertising Solutions for Medeguide, who will talk about online advertising campaigns and different lead generation models. Mr. Wolfgang Jaegel, CEO of Admax Plus, will present a case study on how Singapore Medicine success increased traffic to their website by 500% in just 3 months using web strategies developed by his company.
The workshop is part of a three day healthcare travel conference organized by IIR Life Sciences, a division of the Informa Plc, and will include leading international hospitals and travel organizations, like the Pacific Asia Travel Association (PATA).
Medeguide © 2009-2010
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