Contracting with Medical Tourism Referral Agencies

A Workshop for Providers and Facilitators

Workshop and Master Class limited to 50 participants

Medical tourism suppliers often market their clinical and wellness products and programs through an agency agreement.  This document is used by one company to designate another company or individual as its marketing and referral agent. The contract comes with various expectations, roles and responsibilities, standards of conduct and market performance, and other considerations that must be spelled out in an enforceable agreement between parties that may operate in different countries under different laws.

Medical tourism facilitator agreements don't come in a one-size-fits-all model. Some agreements are used by and between medical tourism facilitators, while others may be used to describe and establish a relationship with travel agencies, tour operators, case managers, destination management companies, and even doctors and referral partner clinics. In most instances, these international contracts are used to contract with referral partners for some or all of the services required by patients. In other situations, they may be negotiated between an international referral agency and a local DMC at the treatment destination that coordinates ground transfers, hotel checkins, tour package options. The introductory part of the workshop covers these differences and the nuances that exist in each situation.

In addition to the usual issues surrounding international contracts for services rendered, contracting with medical tourism referral agencies comes with risks and responsibilities for international regulatory compliance, currency and transactional (payment, taxation, etc.) complexities, branding implications, and costs that must be spelled out if they are to be reimbursed. This workshop covers each of these issues and more. Participants will leave with model agreements, language examples that can be used to clarify expectations, plus a library of articles on a USB storage device that include templates, forms, example facilitator competencies, credentialing and qualifications standards criteria, and more.)  These compendium documents alone that are only available with registration and attendance would cost more than the price of admission to purchase from a consultant.

The course is presented in association with the Medical Tourism Guild, and has hired a world-renowned medical tourism industry expert to teach the workshop and Master Class. Registered participants are invited to send or bring their standard medical tourism facilitator agreements to the instructor for individual critique and recommendations that will be offered in front of the class so that everyone can learn from examples and lessons learned. The first day of the course is 100% didactic. The second day of the course is dedicated to hands-on, line-by-line of typical facilitator agreement language in an actual contract, and the individual critiques and recommendations from the supplied (identity redacted) specimen contracts.  Course participants who attend 100% of the workshop and Master Class will receive a certificate of completion.

Course Outline:

Introduction to Contracting with Facilitators:

  • Forging business relationships in medical tourism
  • Contract objectives
  • Contracting strategies and business rules
  • Addressing business risks and liabilities
  • International dispute resolution
  • Marketing by social media and Internet
  • Key performance indicators

Fundamentals:

  • Beginning and ending date
  • The duration of the agreement
  • Recitals of understandings between the parties (offer & acceptance)
  • Definition of specific terms and acronyms or abbreviations
  • Obligations of the agency (privacy, security, branding, conduct, communications, etc.)
  • Credentials and qualifications standards for the agency (attached)
  • Obligations of the supplier (hospital, clinic, hotel, spa, rehab center, doctor, dentist, accreditation, licensure, notifications, credentials and professional criteria, etc.)

Relationship management:

  • Whether or not the relationship is exclusive
  • How the agreement may be terminated (notification)
  • How the agreement may be amended
  • Renewal terms and conditions
  • Renewal criteria
  • Breach of Contract by either party
  • Interpretation and Governing law
  • Regulatory compliance issues and expectations
  • Venue for enforcement of agreement
  • Serving notices of termination or breach
  • Opportunity to remedy material breach

Financial Terms:

  • How commissions will be calculated
  • When commissions and payments will be paid
  • Payment currency
  • Taxes and levies
  • How invoices should be submitted, timeliness, detail level
  • The penalties for late payment
  • Expenses reimbursement, if any

Contract Analysis:

Participants will review a specimen medical tourism facilitator agreement line-by-line to assimilate that which they learned in the didactic portion of the workshop

Master Class Critiques & Recommendations:

In the second half of the second day of the workshop, Dr Todd will review medical tourism facilitator agreements submitted in advance of the workshop by registered participants and offer criticisms, call out oversights and the associated risks of non-performance or practicability issues, and offer recommendations for improvement. Each student will benefit from learning from the mistakes of others and avoiding similar mistakes of their own going forward.

Supplier-Facilitator B2B Networking Session and Reception

This class will also enable you to meet and negotiate with serious medical tourism facilitators and agencies who are attending the workshop.  

A B2B networking and negotiating session will be held immediately following the Master Class critiques session on the afternoon of the second day. Participation in the B2B is included in the registration fee.

Course completion certificates will be presented at the cocktail reception immediately following the B2B session.
WORKSHOP DATES
SEPTEMBER 12-13, 2016 | Denver Colorado

REGISTER NOW

Workshop Objectives

  1. Understand the implications of the supplier-facilitator relationship
  2. Understand the contracting process from beginning-to-end
  3. Understand the terms and conditions that should be included in each contract
  4. Learn how to address specific issues related to liability for professional conduct, quality, safety, and handling of sensitive personal information of the patient.

 

Who Should Attend

  • New and Experienced Medical Tourism Facilitators
  • Healthcare and Wellness Resort Marketing Executives
  • Travel Agents
  • Tour Operators
  • Destination Management Companies
  • Investors
  • Insurers and TPAs
  • Employee Benefits Administrators
  • Professional Clinical Case Managers
  • Government Regulators

VISA LETTER INFORMATION

Generally, a citizen of a foreign country who wishes to enter the United States must first obtain a visa, either a nonimmigrant visa for temporary stay, or an immigrant visa for permanent residence. Visitor visas are non-immigrant visas for persons who want to enter the United States temporarily for business (visa category B-1), tourism, pleasure or visiting (visa category B-2), or a combination of both purposes (B-1/B-2).

There are several steps to apply for a visa. The order of these steps and how you complete them may vary at the U.S. Embassy or Consulate where you apply. Please consult the instructions available on the U.S. Embassy or Consulate website where you will apply.

If you require an invitation letter for Visa and Immigration purposes to enter the USA for the workshop, you must register and pay in full and show proof of travel health insurance cover. Invitation letters take Mercury Healthcare International Education Department 7-14 days to process. Please fill out all the required information on the form completely to the best of your ability.

  • Your name must be listed exactly as it appears on your passport. Any differences between the name on your passport and the name on your invitation letter or other documentation could lead to a delay and/or denial of your visa. 
  • If you are presenting a paper, include the title and session in which the paper will be presented, or if you are exhibiting, please indicate so in your request.
  • Please note that each individual requesting an invitation letter must fill out a separate form. All letters will be sent in PDF form to the email address provided. If a paper letter is required, please respond to the email. Requested paper letters will be sent complimentary through airmail. This option may take a few weeks to arrive. If you wish to expedite the process, a letter will can be sent through Federal Express with the recipient’s Federal Express account number or credit card number with an expiration date. Please also include your billing address in the request email.
  • MHI Education Department reserves the right to request further information regarding the company or affiliation of the attendee to ensure the validity of requests. Meeting attendees need not wait until their paper is accepted to request a Visa Invitation Letter.
  • MHI is unable to contact U.S. Embassies in support of an individual attempting to gain entry to attend a meeting.
  • We recommend that you secure your register and pay for your attendance early. If you are denied a travel visa after registering for the conference 

 

Order Your Copy of the Medical Tourism Facilitator's Handbook Today

 
Medical-Tourism-Facilitator's-handbook-2The Medical Tourism Facilitator's Handbook is an excellent resource handbook for medical tourism facilitators and suppliers alike.  The book was written by the Master Class instructor, Dr Maria Todd, and is the unparalleled, best-selling professional resource book of its kind. Order your copy when you purchase your ticket and it will be signed by the author and waiting for you at the event.  You may also order a copy (print or electronic version) directly from the publisher if you cannot attend the class but still want to obtain a copy for your personal use.

About the Instructor:

standingMKTMaria Todd is an award-winning, internationally-recognized expert on establishing medical tourism facilitator relationships. She is the author of the highly-acclaimed Medical Tourism Facilitator's Handbook.  She brings workshop participants a rare combination of experience and training that includes hands-on experience as a surgical nurse, hospital executive, travel agent, health law paralegal, and owner-operator of the world's largest medical tourism provider network with more than 6000 inspected hospitals and clinics and more than 850,000 physicians across 115 countries. 

Dr Todd worked as a medical tourism facilitator for 30 years from 1983 until 2013.  She currently lectures internationally and consults to hospitals, clinics, governments, investors, and facilitators on medical tourism business development, strategy, marketing, operations, branding, quality certification and accreditation preparation, and contracting with insurers and employers.

Her clients span 5 continents and more than 120 countries.  Maria Todd is credited with designing and establishing the world's first and only Globally Integrated Health Delivery System® for which she was granted a trademark for the new term of art in 2010 by the US Patent and Trademark Office.  Her operational model for network infrastructure, standards, policies and procedures documentation set was licensed to an investor for its exclusive use in 2013 to fast track the operational infrastructure for a medical tourism insurance product.

 

 

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TRAVEL INFORMATION

10 hotels are within a 160 meter walking distance

TRAINING VENUE

600 17th Street, South Tower,
Denver, Colorado 80202 USA

REGISTRATION INCLUDES

  • Check-in arrival welcome reception
  • Workshop Participation (2 days)
  • B2B Meeting Participation
  • Copy of All Slides and Supplemental Materials on USB
  • Specimen Facilitator Agreement Templates
  • Breakfast each day
  • Morning and afternoon break refreshments
  • Lunch each day
  • Post event cocktail reception
  • Hotel discounts (15%)
  • Shuttle transfer discounts (10%)