MAAYO SEEKS TO BE AT PAR WITH TOP MEDICAL FACILITIES SOUTHEAST ASIA
Maayo Medical aims to be the healthcare provider of choice in Southeast Asia, company executives said yesterday.
“We want to be very specific about Southeast Asia since it is where the major medical tourism facilities are located, in such places as Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore,” said Dr. Teodoro Kintanar Gonzales, Maayo Medical chief executive officer.
He added that the outpatient healthcare establishment on the corner of UN Ave. and Plaridel streets in Mandaue City, Cebu was designed at the outset to be a medical tourism facility.
To achieve its goal to be at par with well-known facilities in the region, Maayo Medical invested heavily in innovative health systems and processes, the latest medical equipment, people and a modern building.
Solutions to healthcare challenges
Maayo looked at the common problems experienced by people who seek medical services and sought to address these with innovative solutions. An integrated health information system that comes with centralized electronic medical records allows doctors and patients easy access to consultation notes and test results, according to Maayo Medical business development executive Dr. Giselle Gaviola. “This means that if a family physician thinks you need to undergo an eye consult and refer you to the eye department, your medical records will be accessible from there. Medical results for x-rays and other tests are likewise available to the Maayo doctor without the need for a patient having to get these from the imaging or laboratory departments,” Gonzales explained. Gaviola said their main reasons for implementing a fully integrated system are to provide patients a seamless healthcare journey, reduce the waiting time for a diagnosis and make treatment convenient for both doctor and patient. Maayo is the first medical facility in the country to have a fully integrated health information system.
Patient journey at Maayo
Dr. Emerson Donaldo, medical director, said that when patients go to Maayo Medical for the first time, they are greeted by a hospitality- trained receptionist called the Migo who takes their information and queues them for a specialist of their choice. “If they just know they’re not feeling well and don’t know where to go, they are brought to the triage where medical frontliners evaluate them and refer them to a suitable doctor,” Gaviola said.
Since the general consultation suites ( aptly called since these were designed to be comfortable and calming) always have all types of medical specialists, patients do not have to wait hours to be accommodated and they have the option of relaxing in plush lounges or at the coffee shop on the ground floor while they wait for their turn.
The wide and high-ceiling makes the center looks more like that of a hotel than a medical facility, and the escalators in addition to the elevators give patients easy access to the consultation area on the second floor.
DOH-endorsed medical tourism facility
Maayo Medical has been endorsed as a medical tourism facility by the Department of Health (DOH).
“Our promise is comfort. We want patients to feel comfortable so we did away with the dark and small waiting rooms and narrow corridors that are common in many medical facilities. Our building helps you get well,” said Gonzales.
He added that Maayo Medical is positioned to get an accreditation from the Joint Commission International ( JCI), the gold standard for all medical establishments worldwide as part of the requirement of DOH for the endorsement.
This doesn’t mean that Maayo will cater only to medical tourists. What it means, according to Dr. Gonzales, is that all patients will be served with the same quality of care they would get from top medical facilities in other countries.