Joyce Alumno launched her career in global healthcare management after a personal family experience with a private hospital. Joyce, the Philippines country manager for Aster DM Healthcare Group, was formerly the manager of a 5-star resort at the time of her father’s admittance into a private hospital ten years ago. During his stay, she observed many areas of hospital service that needed improvement.
Her experience managing the resort, along with her observations at the hospital led to her approaching the Philippine government with ideas on how hospitality and healthcare would work together to benefit the country.
“I believe there is definitely something for the healthcare sector to learn from the hospitality industry. In healthcare we are too focused on just delivering medication and other clinical services. We somehow lose point of actual care of the patient. Something beyond the clinical care, more of the emotional care. Not just for the patient, but for the family that is actually tending to them, ” says Ms. Alumno.
As fate would have it, three years ago Joyce became involved in the accreditation of hospitals. Last year, Joyce was invited by the Philippine Minister of Tourism to become an assessor for accommodations. “We are at a point when we are trying to combine both the standards for healthcare and hospitality through another certification. That is where Temos certification comes into play.”
Hospitals often already have some form of accreditation before receiving Temos certification.
Joyce says that countries develop medical and hospitality standards based on cultural expectations and needs. She believes the future of medical travel accreditations will remain different for each country. Some countries, like Indonesia, who do not have their own standards often reach out to accrediting bodies in other countries to help create a set of guidelines for their country based on cultural needs. Some Philippine medical organizations are accredited by MEDH. Medical providers in the Philippines like to reach for MEDH certification because of the cultural aspects and cultural sensitivity.
As well as her role with Aster DM, Ms. Alumno is the founder and executive director of HealthCORE, the center for global healthcare management and medical tourism research and communications in the Philippines. Joyce is also the regional representative for Temos certification of Germany.
Aster DM Healthcare is headquartered in Dubai. Since its inception, Aster-DM Healthcare has grown from one clinic to over 200 medical establishments. Recently India has become a major player in medical travel, and Aster-DM has opened AsterMed City, a 40-acre island to serve as a healthcare hub. The medical tourism island has 1,100 beds, and soon will have a hotel and conference center.
To contact Joyce Alumno e-mail her at: jsalumno@gmail.com or call her at: 0063 917-891-8998