Ah, San Diego—sun, sand, beaches… and hospitals.

A report in Stat News says that San Diego is betting on converting plain old tourism into medical tourism, hoping to attract patients to its hospitals with the city's other attractions serving as icing on the cake, so to speak.

A philanthropist has actually funded a marketing campaign pitching the city that way to patients in need of care, but simply advertising the city as a health care destination does not medical tourism make, according to Maria Todd, a business consultant who focuses on health tourism strategy. In the report, Todd is quoted saying, “We have sun. We have beach. We have hotel. We have hospital. We have doctor. Throw them all in a bowl and call it medical tourism? No, it doesn't work like that.”

In fact, it's a lot harder, the report points out. Local hotels have to be equipped to handle the care needs of patients recuperating from various types of treatments, while hospitals need to train doctors to be culturally sensitive to patients coming from different parts of the world—including tending to such requirements as more interpreters, special prayer rooms or even luxury cars to ferry patients to and from the hospital.

And then there's the food issue. Not only do hospital cafeterias need to broaden their menu choices to include global flavors and culinary favorites, they'll have to be able to handle faith-based dietary restrictions.

The report cites Josef Woodman, who runs Patients Beyond Borders, a yearly publication that analyzes the medical tourism industry, saying that just building out that infrastructure can cost as much as $1 million for each culture or part of the world a medical tourism campaign targets.

San Diego, however, is convinced of its other attractions—such as beaches on offer year-round, when all the Mayo Clinic can offer in addition to health care is a Minnesota winter.

So far none of the city's hospitals have kicked in any cash for the marketing effort, saying it's too soon. That could be especially true since people coming to the U.S. for medical care generally seek true cutting-edge treatments, and would choose the Mayo Clinic over beaches for that reason.

But then there's Las Vegas, which has, the report says, built a medical tourism industry by zeroing in on plastic surgery, bariatric surgery, fertility services, and some orthopedic procedures. But they got backing from the gaming and hotel industry ahead of time, then put together the infrastructure to support the pitch they were making to potential patients.

Still, San Diego is game, and determined to make the public aware of what it can offer. In the report, Joe Terzi, president and CEO of the San Diego Tourism Authority, is quoted saying, “We don't think we're going to compete with MD Anderson or Mayo Clinic—they have worldwide reputations and names they've developed. We're really just trying to elevate the opportunity for people to understand that San Diego is a center of health care.”

Instant Insights /

San Diego banking on medical tourism

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