Published in 2 May 2023-19:21 pm
EMT2023 interview series with medical tourism experts
Interview with Sandeep Sharma, Executive Director & Founder – Vmarsh Healthcare
and Chairman of the Global Strategy Committee – European Fertility Society,
Dubai – UAE
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The text that you read below is part of the interview that Maria Antonietta Princivalle – Founder ofBookingsMed & EMT– had with Sandeep Sharma. This interview, which was conducted on the Zoom platform, contains important information about the state of health tourism and medical tourism in the post-covid era, the pros and cons of digitalization in the field of medical care, and recommendations to industry activists.
As we are aware that you hold a significant role in a renowned Dubai-based organization and are involved in expanding its operations worldwide, would you kindly introduce yourself and provide us with an overview of your esteemed company?
I’m Sandeep Sharma, the Executive Director and Global Lead at Vmarsh Healthcare. We are a specialized healthcare consulting firm with five offices in Dubai, UAE; Chicago, US; Cairo, Egypt; Mumbai, India; and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. In terms of our services, we are divided into three categories. First is business strategy, which includes everything and anything to help organizations grow, expand, or sustain their businesses.
Our services include franchise expansion, medical tourism strategy, patient journey optimization, manpower assessment, supply chain, and transformation strategy. The second bucket is quality improvement service that helps organizations enhance their performance and output by improving quality and patient safety. One of our key services is assisting hospitals in preparing for accreditations. In today’s world, with so many accreditation options available, many organizations are unsure of which path to take. There are different accreditations available for different missions and visions.
For instance, if an organization is focused on medical tourism, they have different accreditation options compared to those focused on organizational quality improvement. Different organizations require different types of accreditation, and we help them understand which one is right for them. We also assist them in preparing for the accreditation process, which can take anywhere from two months to two years. Our quality improvement services include clinical and operational gap assessments, patient safety protocols, risk assessments, and the development of a model of care. With the emphasis on finding new ways to provide care in different markets, especially with providers, we also consider factors such as the dollar and the price index parity. Prizes, you know, the situations – the geopolitical situation.
So, you know that a lot of things go back into services like value-based healthcare or models of care to make organizations aware of risks from the market or from a geopolitical standpoint. The third area for us is transaction advisory, which includes all services related to the finances of healthcare. Of course, to have a good business strategy and quality, the backbone is always healthy finances. On this side, we offer services such as revenue cycle management, which helps hospitals, clinics, and government entities with buying, selling, acquiring, or merging. Look at things such as acid valuation, profitability assessment reviews, and advisory. So, business strategy, quality improvement, and transaction advisory – those are all three services. Today, we are a team of 50+ consultants spread across six continents. Our philosophy is to have most of our consultants with 20 to 30 years of experience in either a region or a function, rather than having one or two leaders and more junior to mid-level consultants. This approach helps us understand our clients’ vision or problems more in-depth and provide services accordingly.
What changes do you see in medical tourism after the pandemic period?
That’s a very interesting question. In fact, just last year, at one of the conferences in Croatia, I spoke about this. It’s very interesting that there is no one answer for this because every region has reacted differently. What I would say, as a motherly statement, is that the world has become a safer place in terms of patient safety and keeping oneself hygienic and safe. You know, I don’t think if you ever look at the statistics. Over the last hundred years, people never haven’t been more hygienic than they were in the last two years.
Overall, this is a positive trend.
However, if I have to divide this answer into different pieces, I would say that there are countries that have always received patients, countries that were hybrid, and countries from where patients were traveling. When you look at destination countries, they have realized that it’s not just about good brand visibility or having a different world. Class facilities are a lot about making the patients feel safe, connected, and ensuring that going to this destination will be hassle-free and smooth. That’s why the responsibility of hospitals has grown from just providing care to also looking at other aspects such as insurance coverages for international patients, the best flight options for patients, and what the government is doing to support patients from different places. When you look at hybrid countries, I think they’ve had the highest learning curve because of their unique circumstances. Countries have noticed that some patients are still going out despite the pandemic, even though travel has become more expensive and difficult.
On the other hand, they are also learning that patients who are coming into their country have become more risk-averse. If, before the pandemic, someone had a stomach upset, they would easily walk into a hospital and get themselves checked. Now, when someone has a stomach upset, the first thing they do is go online and read what they can do, or call a friend or a doctor, or find different ways to avoid going to a facility. Simply because now they know in their head that, you know what, if there’s… Someone who has COVID or some other infectious disease, and if I catch it, it would make my situation worse than just the stomach ache that I have.
So, with that, patients are trying to find different means of either avoiding a visitation or self-medication, which adds more responsibility to healthcare providers. They need to do two things: first, the talk of the town, which is getting digital, and second, making patients more educated to make decisions and teaching them what decisions they can make and what decisions they should still make. Leave it to their healthcare provider.
With that said, the third country from where patients are always flying out for treatment has actually taken advantage of the pandemic to ensure that, during the lockdown, patients still receive medical attention. Patients could not travel outside, which meant they had to build up their capabilities. So, I see a lot of countries from where patients usually travel out now kind of getting into a situation where they’re building the infrastructure, building facilities, working with different accreditation bodies, and working with different consultants and experts to sort of make their people stay at home and still get that kind of treatment that they would get overseas.
That’s why I see that the things that have happened after the pandemic are heading in three directions. With that said, we have been very busy serving all three types of clients. We have helped destination countries build capabilities to avoid shortfalls.
We have also assisted hybrid countries in classifying which activities patients can go out for and which activities they should avoid. We provide strategies and the necessary infrastructure to support these efforts. And with countries where patients would travel out, as I said, we are helping them build the capability and capacity on that side. So, I think with that said, the dynamic has become very regional or divided into these three groups.
“When you look at destination countries, they have realized that it’s not just about good brand visibility or having a different world. Class facilities are a lot about making the patients feel safe, connected, and ensuring that going to this destination will be hassle-free and smooth.”
In the wake of the pandemic, many places, such as Dubai, are heavily investing in digitalizing their healthcare systems and promoting medical tourism. What is your opinion on this trend?
Well, I would put people into three categories. There are people who really enjoyed digital and always have, even before this boom. There are two types of people now: interested learners who suddenly see the surge to become digital and are trying to learn and understand what’s happening, and those who still prefer conventional old-school methods, which also have their advantages. With that said, I think “digital” itself is a big word and an ocean in its own right, so we need to know where and when digital becomes relevant and where it still is not relevant. As an example, if I talk about working with certain regulators and government entities, they have tried to see how we can make things faster and more efficient.
So, they worked with brilliant technologies and large tech firms globally to build that infrastructure, developing many things and spending billions of dollars and years upon years. However, the challenge that I see there is that it’s always great to have good technology with you, but it’s more important to learn how to use it.
“I think ‘digital’ itself is a big word and an ocean in its own right, so we need to know where and when digital becomes relevant and where it still is not relevant.”
How is technology being used to solve problems in healthcare operations, finances, and marketing? How important is it for healthcare providers to balance the use of digital technology with the need for physical touch and empathy in patient care?
It’s like me saying that I gave someone a Ferrari. But they don’t even know how to drive, so why do they even have the Ferrari? With that said, I think what I’m seeing these days is that tech firms are not just focused on delivering software, tools, or platforms, but are spending more time on knowledge transfer. I think that is always the case because beauty is always in the eye of the beholder. So, a client, hospital, or government needs to understand the value of technology and how to use it.
That’s one of the most important things that I’m seeing these days, and of course, digitally, a lot of problems are being solved. If I talk about operations, there are beautiful dashboards which have come up to show the day-to-day workings of a hospital. They display how operations can be improved, what the waiting times are, where the shortfalls are, where the fees are, and other related information.
If I’m talking about finances, it has also become very beneficial for hospitals to conduct analytics to determine which budgets they allocate but do not use. Could be diverted to other places. When I talk about marketing, I think marketers are having the best time of their lives. Earlier, when I was a brand manager many years ago, it would take six to eight months to develop a brochure, work on it, get it printed, and circulate it. Today, it takes you 10 seconds to go online and post something about what you want to tell the world. Geo-tagging and geo-fencing are working very well with digital and overall context.
“I think what I’m seeing these days is that healthcare tech firms are not just focused on delivering software, tools, or platforms, but are spending more time on knowledge transfer.”
When I talk about going digital – referring back to your previous question about medical tourism – it is most important for patients. Going back to the example of a stomach ache, now they can have a video call with the doctor to avoid visiting the hospital if they feel that they would be more exposed to certain risks. It is a digital world, and as we move forward, it will become even more digital. But one thing that I still tell all my clients and friends is that they also have to know what still needs to be done. Physical touch is important in healthcare because it’s not just about the tangible care on the outside, but also about the intangible feelings of empathy and making a patient feel safe. That’s my overview of digital healthcare.
Watch EMT2023 video interviews on the YouTube channel.
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+Read more about EMT2023:
7th Edition of European Medical Tourism Exhibition & Conference (EMT 2023) will be held in Italy