Think of a Medical Tourism Facilitator Job Similar to that of a New Car Franchise Dealer.
To the manufacturer, the new car dealer (compared to a used car lot salesman) specializes in selling one brand of automobile, although there may be many models from which to choose within a brand franchise. Many facilitators choose to represent many providers instead of specializing in one type of procedure, service, destination or bran
d of supplier.
Too often they bring no differentiation to their own business and attempt to sell cheaper priced services than competitors. This reduces them to the epitome of commodities. The world won't miss them if and when they fail. In fact, the world will likely never know that they existed in the first place. Their office will be just like the abandoned car lot of a new car franchise dealer.
- The brand has certain established standards that the dealership must meet to remain an authorized seller of their brand's products and accessories. Otherwise, they lose their credentials to sell that brand.
- The brand has certain established sales criteria. When the dealership exceeds these standards for sales revenue, units sold, and customer service feedback, they win awards and recognition for achieving sales and service goals.
- The key responsibilities of the sales person are to match customers to the vehicle they seek; communicate financial aspects of purchase; promote vehicles' features to prospective buyers
- The brand expects the sales person to be trained on what to say and how to explain the features and benefits of selecting the manufacturers' brands and set realistic expectations.
- The sales staff is not permitted to close the sale without supervisor oversight to check that all the regulatory paperwork, forms, payment and transactional details and explanation of safety features and other benefits have been thoroughly explained to the customer before leaving the showroom with the vehicle.
What Are the Degree and Training Options?
If you decide to pursue a degree, associate's and bachelor's degree programs are available in healthcare or hospitality or travel management that can teach Medical Tourism Facilitators about the three primary sectors that intersect to build professional competence as a medical tourism facilitator. Typical courses cover advertising, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, sales strategy and tactics, regulatory compliance, financial matters, service, safety, and quality warranties, budgeting and customer relations.
Additionally, certificate programs and individual courses in a number of skills that comprise the roles and responsibilities of a medical tourism facilitator that are available from some technical and community colleges that could help you prepare for a career as a medical tourism facilitator. Unfortunately, there are no college or university courses that combine the necessary intersecting skills from the three main sectors, and panel presentations and short 3-4 hour courses only touch on a single focused skill for the time available.
One would have to pay thousands of dollars to travel, book hotels and pay registrations to get enough learning opportunity at these medical tourism industry conferences because most are not focused on education or skills training, they are focused on networking, B2B meetings, and finding people to pay for add on courses and sponsorships to "get one's name" in front of other competitors with the same objectives - which translates to nothing in terms of revenue for the facilitators, and lots of money for the conference organizers. Many of these conference organizers also prey on unsuspecting new entrants to medical tourism facilitation with certification courses that run one or two days and offer ersatz competencies signified with a fee-based license to post the logo of the certifier on the facilitator's marketing materials - which only amplifies the brand of the certifier and its ersatz competency badge.
Eventually, there will be an Institute for training where one can enroll in a training program provided by working professionals in the three integrated sectors involved in medical tourism. When that happens, there will be several different programs for medical tourism facilitator operations, including programs for prospective facilitators, special needs coordinators (transplant, dialysis, minimally-invasive surgery, large case surgery, second opinion consultations, wellness, rehabilitation, and spa/water-based tourism. There will also be training to help a new medical tourism facilitator understand the risks involved and to help them build a set of quality management policies, practices and procedures required to be worthy of ISO 9001:2015 certification for those seeking global recognition for their commitment to quality and safety.
Where might a Medical Tourism Facilitator find employment?
As a medical tourism facilitator, one might work for a company or a corporation that employs many people to focus on specific parts of the role. One might also work as an employee of a hospital or clinic or at a call center that supports many hospitals and clinics within a network, health tourism cluster or a specific brand of clinic, hospital, spa, or a medical doctor's or dentist's private practice. One might also work as an independent medical tourism facilitator, case manager, destination coordinator, tour operator, or tour escort, or a specialized travel agent. Most facilitators are independent business owners that employ no other staff. In addition to competing with the providers themselves for market share, they will ultimately compete with larger corporate medical tourism businesses which are are increasing in number, brand recognition, and reputation worldwide.
What Might My Job Be Like?
Depending on what type of facilitation business one works for, one might spend days indoors in a comfortable home office or in a professional office or hospital or call center. The medical tourism facilitator is likely to spend some of the time traveling to inspect providers that they represent. Day-to-day, much of the workday is spent seated in an office area. Medical tourism facilitators are typically paid referral fees tied to the packages of medical services and hospitality arrangements that they sell. in some countries, payment for referrals to medical providers is against the law, but many are ignorant of the law and others choose to ignore it assuming they will never get caught.
While many may not have earnings goals or sales quotas to fulfill, they don't make any money if they don't sell packages which can make the job competitive, financially risky, and potentially stressful. Some make no profit whatsoever even though they make a little revenue because they are unaware of their fully-loaded costs to operate their business. Medical tourism facilitators typically work less than 40 hours per week, and they may need to work weekends or evenings in order to meet consumer needs and sales goals.
Some medical tourism facilitators enter the business because they've heard that they will be invited to take hosted trips to exotic places to familiarize themselves (fam tours) with potential destinations and medical tourism service suppliers. Frequently these fam tours are so poorly organized that in order to perform a thorough inspection beyond the fam tour meet and greet and cursory walk through, the medical tourism facilitator must return to the provider's location at their own expense at a later date to finish the quality and safety inspection at the level of depth and granularity required to be able to explain what's available to consumer prospects, leads and clients.
How much startup capital is needed?
This all depends on the amount of training and professional assistance anticipated. Costs for a medical tourism facilitator business can include those associated with:
