Medical Tourism Marketing Expert Offers Advice on Reaching Hard Hit US Consumers

    BROOKLINE, MA, November 16, 2009 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Irving Stackpole, President of Brookline-based Stackpole & Associates, presented a workshop on "Marketing to International Patients" at the First International Congress of Medical Tourism on November 4-6, 2009 Julio Cesar Turbay Ayala Conference Center in Cartagena, Colombia.

The global medical tourism sector is estimated to be a $5 billion industry with projected growth of 35% per year for the next three years. Originally the domain of the super rich buying the best medical care in the world as well as adventure travelers seeking the out of the ordinary, today's "average" medical tourist is from the middle class and looking for dental treatments or elective procedures like cosmetic surgery. More complex medical care like orthopedic and cardiac surgeries are on the rise. With more Americans losing their jobs and health insurance coverage, more people are exploring high quality, lower cost international options. Governments and businesses are aggressively seeking ways to find and serve those potential patients. That is where Stackpole & Associates fits into the bigger picture.

Stackpole & Associates, an international marketing, market research and organizational development consulting company with deep roots in health care, is ready to assist organizations seeking to improve or establish a foothold in this dynamic market. The company's President, Irving Stackpole, is on a whirlwind medical tourism tour, presenting workshops on marketing to international customers at the World Medical Tourism Congress in Los Angeles, California and at a dental conference sponsored by the Ramada Plaza Herradura in San Jose, Costa Rica. Colombia is the mid point on his travels which include meeting with potential private and governmental clients eager to learn about medical tourism marketing in Cuba and the Bahamas.

According to Stackpole, "By applying solid business and marketing principles intelligently and with a dash of creativity, we are helping organizations domestically and internationally develop and implement solutions to their most important challenges in healthcare and medical tourism. Our team of professionals has decades of experience in health care that can be directly applied to the nascent field of medical tourism. We are excited to be at the forefront of the medical tourism sector:"

Having just edited and published the book, Medical Tourism Marketing, Stackpole is sure to continue his work educating and working with organizations and individuals to expand the benefits of medical tourism to more consumers internationally. Both the book and presentations about medical tourism are available on the company's web site at www.StackpoleAssociates.com.

Founded in 1991, Stackpole & Associates specializes in designing and delivering market research, marketing consulting, public relations, as well as sales and customer service training to healthcare, medical tourism, human service, and senior living organizations throughout the United States, United Kingdom, Central America and Asia. Stackpole & Associates guides Clients through each phase of developing and implementing strategies and tactics through the application of scientific principles to create innovative and practical solutions to the challenges facing service-intensive organizations.

More information about Stackpole & Associates is available at www.StackpoleAssociates.com.

Irving Stackpole is the medical tourism advisor and consultant for Costa Rica MD Services, http://www.costaricamd.net/index.php?id_edicion=1

About Costa Rica MD Services

The Costa Rica MD web portal offers a monthly wrap up of featured articles in an online newsletter/magazine, www.costaricamd.net, that is dedicated to helping people make connections and informed decisions about their health and the top doctors and dentist as well as medical facilities, clinics and recovery centers located in Costa Rica. The network of connections is between people who have medical or healthcare needs and wants and people with proven expertise who are providers of reliable and affordable medical/health services in Costa Rica.

Contact: Elizabeth Ziemba,(617) 739 5900 x 14, [email protected]

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