Cleveland Clinic in Croatia: Interview with Joe Sweet, Patient Experience Director

March 15, 2019 – The 5th Annual Medical Tourism Conference in Zagreb brought together a rich collection of international experts, including Cleveland Clinic’s Director of International Patient Experience, Joe Sweet.

It has been another important week in the Croatian medical tourism story, as the 5th Annual Medical Tourism Conference in Zagreb, organised by Euro Events, brought a very international group of stakeholders to the Croatian capital for two days of conference followed by a B2B workshop today, as TCN reported earlier.

Among the impressive list of speakers was Joe Sweet, Cleveland Clinic’s Director of International Patient Experience, whose presentation was entitled Creating a Consistent Approach to a High-Quality Patient Experience. Sweet spoke eloquently about the Cleveland Clinic’s patient experience journey, outlining successful methods to create a successful patient experience culture, as well as innovative and digital patient experience approaches. TCN caught up with Sweet before his flight to learn more about his visit to Croatia.

The Cleveland Clinic in Croatia. This is a great thing for the Croatian medical tourism industry. How did it come about that you are in Zagreb?

Firstly, our CEO Tom Mihaljevic is Croatian. But actually the reason I am here is driven by Ognjen Bagatin of Bagatin Clinic who came to see us in Cleveland to learn about the patient experience and our Patients First initiative. I met with him almost a year ago now, and we really hit it off from that first lunch we had together. I learned more about his personality, his drive and what he is trying to achieve. That was very impressive. And then this opportunity came up with Euro Events to come over and share our story, and Ognjen really connected that, making it happen.

We are interested in spreading the news of who we are and what we do and forming those connections around the world. So we see this as an opportunity to do that, to get out there and build more of those relationships.

Interesting. Tell us a little about Bagatin. Here the clinic is known for its excellence and being very proactive internationally in promoting Croatia as a health tourism destination. How does it rate on a global level?

I think its an up and comer. I know that Deloitte has ranked it as one of the fastest growing startup clinics. He has been at it since I think 1995, and we are keeping an eye out on Ognjen now, since he approached us, to see where he is going and where they are expanding to. And we’re impressed. Impressed with him as a leader, his style, his team. We’ve seen his facilities and are impressed by the organisation, the cleanliness, the professionalism of his staff. So he is doing impressive things, and I think some great things are coming.

How does Croatia rate as a medical tourism destination?

I have to be honest, I am not a medical tourism expert. I was here to broaden the Cleveland Clinic story and our patient experience, and how we handle and support our international patients coming in.

But just from my limited experience of being here these last few days and seeing how it operates and what I have learned at this conference, I see Croatia as a hot spot for people to come and get their healthcare. But then also to enjoy their time here, so potentially to bring their family along, enjoying this wonderful city or visiting the coast. So there are real opportunities and the dual benefit of combining a vacation with medical treatment. I know that there are other beautiful destinations in the world, but Croatia really is a great place to come.

From the Croatian perspective, the Cleveland Clinic has a Croatian CEO. Can you say a few words about Tom Mihaljevic and the impact he has made at Cleveland Clinic?

Yes, absolutely. He was our CEO for our Abu Dhabi facility for three years. He has been in his current role for just over a year, starting in January 2018. His style is very approachable, he is very relatable, he is extremely sharp and has a great communication style. He is an excellent listener. He listens and responds, but he listens more than he responds. He is very articulate, but he is a team player for sure. You can tell that the team aspect is built into him, and he is very family-oriented. You can feel his style and characteristics emanating across our clinic and how our team is responding. He also has a sense of humour which helps with connecting with people, so you feel comfortable right off from that initial reaction and making you feel like he is listening and respecting you.

How realistic do you think it is for Americans to come to Croatia for their medical tourism needs?

I think it could be extremely realistic. I think especially with your soccer team and – sorry not yours (correspondent explanation – I am English, and Joe seemed to be referring to some football match between Croatia and Russia last year, and not the latest match between the two at Wembley…). Oh yes, they beat you. But that really put Croatia on the map.

But in my city, Cleveland, we have over 50,000 Croatians. They are a very tight community and that helps with connections as well. So I definitely think there is potential. There are rumblings in the States about Croatia, about how beautiful it is, the coastline, but I think people still think it’s not Italy. It’s not Greece. But I think if Croatia does more to get imagery of that crystal blue water along the coast, and get that out there into Americans’ heads, then they will come.

Now you also need to figure out how to work with the travel and make it easier.

We have the first direct flights from Philadelphia to Dubrovnik starting this summer.

Perfect. Well if you are asking me should Croatia advertise and market itself in the States, then yes. They just need to figure out the best way to do that.

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For more on the Croatian medical tourism story, follow the dedicated TCN page.