MALAYSIA – The International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ) Medical Travel Awards 2015 has named Malaysia as “Medical Travel Destination of the Year”, further boosting the country’s medical tourism sector.
Malaysia won the award, which was handed at the Royal Garden Hotel in London, based on all-round excellence in promoting inbound medical tourism, verified statistics of yearly growth in medical tourists served, evidence of high levels of patient satisfaction and coordinated activities that delivered an increase in medical tourism.
Sherene Azura Azli, the CEO of Malaysia Healthcare Travel Council (MHTC) received the award in London. MHTC was established in 2009 under the Ministry of Health to develop and promote Malaysia’s healthcare travel industry.
A total of 13 awards in four categories (Healthcare Provider and Agency, Marketing, Quality and Service, and Overall Achievement) were handed out at the ceremony.
Malaysia’s private hospitals received several awards during the event, namely Excellence in Customer Service (Gleneagles Hospital, Kuala Lumpur), Best Quality Initiative of the Year (Imperial Dental Specialist Centre), Best Travel Website of the Year (Ramsay Sime Darby Healthcare), International Cosmetic Surgery Clinic of the Year (Beverly Wilshire Medical Centre), and International Dental Clinic of the Year (Imperial Dental Specialist Centre).
Besides that, two hospitals also came in as the most Highly Commended hospitals.
The Imperial Dental Specialist Centre and the Prince Court Medical Centre, also came in as the most Highly Commended hospitals for their travel website and customer service, respectively.
Organised by the IMTJ, which was established in 2007, the annual IMTJ Medical Travel Awards is a prestigious award that recognises innovation, excellence and best practices in the medical travel and medical tourism sector. It is judged by an independent panel of medical travel experts.
Malaysia, as one of Asia’s most recognized developing countries, has immense potential in an increasingly important sector – medical tourism.
Healthcare in Malaysia under the responsibility of the government’s Ministry of Health has an efficient and widespread system of health care, operating a two-tier health care system consisting of both a government-run universal healthcare system and a co-existing private healthcare system. – BusinessNewsAsia.com