October 23, 2023 – The Crikvenica International Health Tourism conference kicks off in Crikvenica this week. Among the expert international speakers is Sandeep Sharma, who took some time to chat to TCN.
1. Tell us firstly why you decided to come to the conference. Is it your first time in Croatia?
Well a number of reasons:
- We as an organisation are very active in the Central European region with our (Vmarsh’s) services are across all our three solution buckets: Business Strategy, Quality/process Improvement and Transaction Advisory – and Croatia is an ideal market for us
- We have an MoU with the Kvarner Health Cluster on the above lines to work together and support the cluster members to leverage our services, global network and capabilities. The president of the cluster is now also one of Vmarsh’s empanelled experts and team member!
- Finally, Who can say no to an opportunity to come down to lovely Crikvenica, meet old friends/colleagues and make new ones?
This will be my second visit to Croatia.
2. What is the reputation and standing of the Croatian medical tourism industry globally, and what are its strengths?
When we work with our clients (all the way West in Los Angeles to East in Seoul Korea), we and everyone know and recognise Croatia for its gorgeous landscape, untouched nature, yet also for Wellness, spas and lately, sports medicine (given the popularity of the Croatian National football team). This very naturally puts forward a plethora of opportunities for Croatia in medical tourism. We have been discussing with a number of clients to create strategic frameworks and implementation plans around Public-Private-Partnerships, Centre of Excellence with Croatian entities around Wellness, Rehab and Sports Medicine.
3. AI is the new kid on the block. Tell us a little on how it has changed the industry already and how you see things looking in 3-4 years.
As you rightly said “New kid on the block” that is still finding its way. The Kid keeps everyone entertained and engaged, yet needs to learn, grow and optimise its core values!
The present time and the next 3-4 years is what I’ll call the “Beta” phase, meaning the world is still being introduced/coping/learning how to position and co-existent with AI. And during any “discovery phase” there is always a lot of learning, mistakes, adjustments, finding/creating the right spot for a product or service in their lives. The same goes for AI.
4. The human touch is traditionally a core element in healthcare, but with the onset of AI technology, is this at risk of being eroded? How to balance the two?
Spot on! Healthcare needs to remain “Humanised” yet use Tech to optimise. This is what I’ll be discussing during my speech at the CIHT conference in detail. For now I’ll leave you with this analogy – The way we eat food has changed, yet it is still food that we eat! We need to embrace technology and help us do more in healthcare, yet the “Human Touch” needs to remain at the centre stage. The first step to answering question of “risk “and “balance” is “awareness & reflection,” awareness & reflection of your core objectives, a clear understanding of your operations, your patient/customers’ journey cycle so that you can start pinning what to “optimise with tech.” Yet what needs to be retained as “Humane” such a reflective exercise can prevent erosion and long-term effects which may in future be concerning.
5. Are you 100% comfortable with the AI impact on the industry and where it is going, or do you have some concerns?
Frankly I am not, and my reasons are obvious, as you said “AI is the new kid on the block” that needs to be groomed, directed and shaped into how it can help in retaining the “human touch” yet optimise things around it. Currently AI is seeing varied success and – more than success – it’s the excitement of “something new” people are enjoying; yet down the line we all need to think and agree where to draw the line. Indeed there are a number of Operational, Experience, Cost concerns which need to be tamed – and surely it will be. Anything new takes time to settle, be understood and reach an optimum, so is the case with AI.
6. What are you personally hoping to get out of the CIHT 2023 conference?
Meeting old friends, colleagues and clients and making some new ones! Also, the fact about Vmarsh’s Partnership with the Kvarner Health Cluster and given Dr Vladimir Mozetič the Cluster President, also being one of the newest additions to the Vmarsh Team, there is a lot to be done in the region. We are busy in Croatia and are loving it !
7. Your company Vmarsh specialises in medical tourism strategy. What advice or suggestions do you have for the Croatian medical tourism industry to become stronger on the global stage?
As an organization, there a number of services we cover under the three solution buckets mentioned above (Business Strategy, Quality Improvement and Transaction Advisory); Many of these put together in combination of The Medical Tourism Strategy can enable Croatian Healthcare entities to first assess the current state of the market and where they stand in it (the good, bad and changes needed in lieu to their vision/organizational and business goals). Based on this draw out its strengths in alignment to the true and latest market needs (In case of Croatia it is clearly Rehab, Wellness and Sport Medicine) and finally use our help to leverage these with innovative models and international tie-ups with other regions and countries who are in need of such services through PPPs, G2G strategies, Franchise expansion programs, Patient and physician exchange frameworks etc. Such exercise have done wonders for many government and private conglomerates in furthering their name on the medical tourism map. And we clearly see Croatia already having many great advantages to leverage!
You can learn more about CIHT 2023 on the official website.
