Health care consumers, doctors, hospitals, care managers, insurance firms and medical tourism companies around the world will meet online at the first ever International Health Choices (IHC) Expo for three days – 4th to 6th February 2011.
Health care consumers, doctors, hospitals, care managers, insurance firms and medical tourism companies around the world will meet online at the first ever International Health Choices (IHC) Expo for three days – 4th to 6th February 2011.
Julie Munro, IHC co-founder says, “ Medical tourism is changing the face of health care for consumers and doctors, and IHC will show how good is the medical treatment abroad and how to get it.“ IHC co-founder Valerie Alphonso adds, “IHC takes medical tourism to the next level. It will change how people will view their health care choices in the future.”
Providers of global medicine, health care, and wellness solutions will be on display for three days on the internet at the IHC Expo, bringing together people who are looking for immediate, affordable, quality medical treatment with the doctors, hospitals, and clinics that can deliver it and the medical travel agents who can plan and manage the medical journey.
The IHC virtual exhibition will provide visitors and exhibitors with a multi-lingual state-of-the-art 3D virtual event platform. The virtual exhibition is a practical and direct way to gather together people located in widespread communities. Held online, it replicates an exhibition or conference experience including educational presentations and exhibition booths and offers advantages like instantaneous translation, and live video conferencing and product demonstrations. The exhibition is easily accessed via computers in homes. Attendance is free. The target is 10,000 health care customers and 150 hospitals, doctors, and travel companies from 30 countries.
The expo organizers explain why companies should be exhibitors:
- Global coverage of target patient groups for any potential health care consumers as long as they have internet access.
- Multiple languages so you can reach your target patient population in several major languages. The virtual expo will be available in English, Arabic, Chinese, Spanish, and Russian. Simultaneous translations in other languages will be available for selected meetings.
- Cost-effective travel and meeting costs. A standard booth at the virtual expo costs about US$1,000. A similar booth at just one physical venue would cost about US$10,000 for hotel accommodations and flights for 2 staff people, booth, set up and materials.
- At a virtual expo, doctors and managers can have conversations with patients that are one-to-one, direct and private. They can be by chat, by audio, or by video.
- Everyone who visits your booth must provide a real email address. You can ask them to fill out a brief questionnaire regarding their interest. This will already be given to you as an electronic data file. You can do email follow up with each visitor.
Although medical travel conferences are springing up everywhere, an increasing number have been unsuccessful at attracting enough consumers, trade buyers or exhibitors to make them work. After one failed conference last year, speakers were asked by the hotel to pay not only for their accommodation and food, but a share of the conference costs, after the organizer apparently defaulted. Some conferences have been criticized as industry talking shops at which paying exhibitors do get not enough real leads and real business to justify the time and costs of attending. Is the virtual exhibition the answer? Only time will tell.
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