For the previous 4 editions, MTC has had approximately 500 attendees, 30 partners and sponsors and more than 70 speakers throughout the years. MTC helped clinics and hospitals get connections with facilitators and insurance companies, discuss insurance trends and challenges, and every single time EuroEvents empowered the delegates to leave the venue richer with knowledge, experience and connections. During all these years, EuroEvents built many partnerships in many different regions. One of the partnerships with successful cooperation in the region of Georgia and Azerbaijan is the collaboration with Rhazes Global. Rhazes Global is an important ally for
EuroEvents in the region, helping in building connections and contributing towards development of medical tourism. EuroEvents certainly hopes on future collaboration, as the improvement of the numbers and the satisfaction of inbound and outbound patients in the region becomes possible when working together.
EuroEvents built a legacy that brings the event among the top global conferences in the sector of medical tourism.
Make sure to book your spot at this year’sconference to hear successful stories straight from the market and to learn how to deal with challenges in the medical tourism industry.

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For more info visit our event website:www.mtce2019.com

The idea of setting up a private medical center dates back to 1992. Its initiators are famous Lithuanian cardiac surgeons – professors Vytautas Sirvydis and Giedrius Uždavinys. It took several years since the idea turned into reality, but ultimately, the Heart Surgery Center opened its doors in the summer of 1998 in one of the neighborhoods of Vilnius city. The center was oriented towards the patients from CIS countries and it was built using the most cutting-edge and innovative technologies, furthermore, its laboratories and operating-rooms were equipped with the latest medical equipment from European and Japanese manufacturers. Its trustworthiness and high level of service has been ensured not only by the team of the doctors that are well known throughout the country but also by an intensive care unit, which made it possible to carry out complex medical surgeries requiring intensive post-operative care.

Shortly after focusing on cardiac surgery and orthopedics, center managers began to invite professionals from other fields, who had accumulated experience both in Lithuania and in the rest of the world and had earned a good reputation among patients.

Activities were continuously developed and it wasn’t long before a range of services provided by the center has expanded and quickly covered almost all areas and levels of medicine: from consultation with different professionals and medical tests to complex surgeries that have not been performed by any other private medical center since then.

The Heart Surgery Center became a private hospital and health care center Kardiolita Hospital in 2011.

Ongoing Strategy: The Best of Everything

Although the name itself has changed and the range of activities has expanded significantly, the medical center, which has started with staffing it with the best doctors and provision of top-level services, has retained its core of activity to this day. Vilnius Kardiolita Hospital – the only private medical clinic in Lithuania, which, like the public hospitals, has a team of reanimatologists who are on duty all day every day. This enables to perform not only laser and minimally invasive procedures but also the most complex surgical operations.

Kardiolita Hospital employs the most experienced doctors in Lithuania. This is not just a declaration of the health institution made accessible to the public, but also a fundamental background of the company’s philosophy. Professionalism has been encrypted in its genes – after all, these clinics have emerged from the efforts of two topqualified, experienced and respected Lithuanian doctors.

From the very beginning, the center was equipped with the best medical equipment that was renewed over time, yet all its managers and owners have believed that the greatest strength and asset of the medical institution is anything but equipment. The focal points have always been people, their competencies, knowledge, and experience.
Simultaneously expanding its range of services and adding more fields of treatment to its basket of services, Kardiolita Hospital has been continuously inviting new members to join its professional community.

Management was looking for lead doctors – stars in their field of specialization, who had already earned recognition and respect of their patients – and in the long run, the medical center gathered the whole constellation of the country’s best doctors. Today patients looking for the best eye specialist, allergist, gastroenterologist, vascular surgeon, or any other specialist already are aware that very likely such specialist works at Kardiolita Hospital. Dr. Darius Aukštikalnis, dr. Virgilijus Sakalinskas, Prof. Dr. Valerijus Ostapenko, Prof. Dr. Balys Dainys – just a few of the well-known names in the medical community that can be found on the list of specialists working at Kardiolita Hospital. By the way, Prof. Giedrius Uždavinys, who was one of the founders, provides consultations to patients in Kardiolita Hospital.

Not only in Vilnius, not just for Lithuanians

For a long time – up to 2017 – Kardiolita Hospital was the medical center of the capital. Two years ago for the convenience of the patients, its branch was established in Kaunas city, therefore people, experiencing health problems do not need to go to the capital. In addition, more choices in terms of doctors are being offered.
The potential of medical tourism is furtherbeing developed: in our country, patients from the East are looking for highly qualified medical services.
The number of patients coming from abroad has increased significantly when the Dermatology and Aesthetic Surgery Center at Vilnius Kardiolita Hospital opened its door.

It focuses on the following beauty services: plastic and reconstructive surgery, laser treatment for skin care and beauty purposes, removal of birthmarks. Many patients also come to the Obesity Treatment Center, where the weight-related problem is solved in a complex way: patients are consulted by a dietitian, endocrinologist, psychologist, and surgeon.

Over the last few years, consistent work with foreign markets has resulted in the increasing number of European citizens, e.g. Scandinavian, British, and Irish, who are interested in our services. However, the majority of patients are Lithuanians.

The vision of future of Kardiolita Hospital does not differ much from its original vision: to be a medical institution that employs best doctors in the country, and a place where patients solve their health-related problems and satisfy the beauty needs quickly and conveniently. One more thing stays the same: professionalism here as elsewhere goes hand in hand with a warm atmosphere and human attention, which is certainly no less important in terms of health and sensitive life periods than the most modern infrastructure or equipment.

What has changed ?
⇒ Previously, Thiqa cardholders were covered 100% at private healthcare facilities in Abu Dhabi. Now they are covered at 80%.

⇒ Thiqa cardholders were covered at 90% for care sought outside of Abu Dhabi, they are now covered at 50%. However if the treatment is not available in Abu Dhabi then it will be covered at 100%.

⇒ While it remains unchanged in public hospitals, in private facilities in-vitro fertilization treatments have been reduced to one per year, down two from the previous years.

⇒ Expats, ages 40 and up, that are covered under the Abu Dhabi Basic Plan may be subject to pay 50% of their policy’s premium. If their employer decides to implement this, co-payment and percentage are optional.

⇒ The change to the Abu Dhabi Basic Plan also means that workers will have to pay 50% of the policies premium for their wives and up to three children, a fourth child and parents will not be covered.

Initially, some citizens of Abu Dhabi may only view the downside to these changes, but the overall goal is to create a more viable and healthy healthcare sector. Haad is working towards a more sustainable healthcare sector by encouraging competition and further improving the quality and breadth of the healthcare offering. Implementing these changes is an important new step towards fulfilling our vision for a ‘healthier Abu Dhabi’. These measures will further contribute to our ongoing efforts to increase efficiency, standardize operations and increase the sector’s financial viability – for the benefit of the patient, and the healthcare system as a whole,” said Adeeb Al Zaabi, manager of corporate communication department at Haad.
The changes enacted will not only increase patient retention, but will also help to support investors who want to build health services in Abu Dhabi strengthening the sector. This will likely result in less out bound patients and potentially more inbound.

The SK group has been helped by the Baltic nation’s natural beauty, SPA traditions, and noteworthy cultural offerings. But that is just the surface.

“Many factors make Lithuania an attractive care destination: highly qualified and professional doctors, comprehensive healthcare infrastructure, attentive staff with strong language skills, and rather modest prices for an EU country. Plus it’s a very pleasant setting for patients and those accompanying them,” notes Dr Laimutis Paškevičius, the CEO of MDTC, who also heads the Lithuanian Medical Tourism Association and is the chairman of the local medical tourism cluster LitCare.

Convenience

Experience is key for a smooth patient experience in medical tourism, and MDTC has been active in the area for more than a decade. It thus has an understanding of visiting patients’ needs and how to meet them. From scheduling and dietary matters, to help with visas, travel and accommodation. In fact, the center pledges to arrange examination, diagnosis and treatment planning all in one day when needed.

At its modern facilities in Vilnius, the Medical Diagnostic and Treatment Center employs more than 180 experienced medical specialists in 53 fields. It is one of the biggest private healthcare providers in Lithuania. With state-of-the-art imaging and other equipment and five laboratories, it can do virtually any diagnostic tests on-site.

The center also offers 100 types of surgeries as well as rehabilitation. It is certified as meeting medical quality standards from the U.S., Germany and the U.K., and was the first in the country to implement the ISO 15189 international laboratory standard.

Affordable quality

“People come here from highly developed countries for fast, convenient access to quality medical care – often at half the cost they’d pay at home,” the center’s director says. “People also come from less developed countries, often for treatments that aren’t available where they live, at least not very safely,” he adds.

Over a third of MDTC’s foreign patients come from the U.K. and Ireland, making them the company’s biggest source market, according to Dr Paškevičius. Another 20% come from within the Nordic and Baltic region, and about 10% come from Eastern Europe: Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and so on.

Making payment easier, the center can accept most international health insurance plans thanks to its agreements with a long list of major insurance providers. EU citizens living abroad may be able to get reimbursed for treatment at MDTC; those from England may be eligible for reimbursement from NHS England.

Beauty and smiles

The SK group also runs the Sugihara Beauty Therapy and Surgery Clinic, with eminent plastic surgeons, dermatologists and other beauty experts. Like MDTC, Sugihara also enjoys an international reputation for leading specialists, wise and ethical advice, and results that always meet or exceed expectations.

Last but not least is Denticija, a regional pioneer in modern dentistry with 72 skilled dentists at 3 sites in Vilnius and Kaunas. These dental clinics share with the rest of the SK group a focus on international standards of excellence, keeping up with advances in treatments and technologies, and sincere attention to every patient.

No wonder so many international patients are smiling after visiting Lithuania, where companies like SK’s have met their medical, dental and beauty needs so very well.