Dr. Nizar Zein highlighted the benefits of telemedicine during the 4th International Congress of Tourism of Health and Welfare in Santo Domingo.
On September 7th, in an exclusive interview to DoHealthWell® at the event the expert physician detailed the benefits of Telemedicine for patients and how telemedicine has improved their medical services.
“Telemedicine is a win-win situation, is good for the healthcare facility and good for patients as well,” said Dr. Zein while explaining that access is one of the challenges of healthcare.
Dr. Nizar Zein is the leader of the center for liver diseases and liver transplantation at the Cleveland Clinic and Chairman President of Global Patient Services, which takes care of the international patients that travel to their facilities.
According to the also Chief of Hepatology and the inaugural endowed holder of the Mikati Foundation Chair in Liver Diseases, telemedicine “allows patients to access high-specialty facilities easier and faster.”
Other features of telemedicine, as explained by Dr. Nizar Zein:
- Affordability, sometimes all the patient needs is an opinion, they don’t necessarily need to travel;
- Continuous communication. Before telemedicine, once the patients went back to their countries, there was no communication;
- Effectiveness. More efficient health care.
Dr. Zein described that the department he manages has over 100 employees and receives thousands of international patients each year, from around 130 countries worldwide.
The Global Patient Services department:
- Process the requests;
- Facilitates medical appointment;
- Book hotel;
- Arranges transportation;
- Set schools for the children of those who need medical treatment for an extended period.
Watch the full interview above or on our Youtube channel DoHealthWellTV.
Dr. Nizar Zein at the Congress
Dr. Nizar Zein participated in the International Patient Experience panel, moderated by Dr. Jose Natalio Redondo, President of Grupo Rescue, the health network leader in the Dominican Republic.
“It is a great honor to be included in such a high-profile panel, our colleagues, we all have a common mission to provide healthcare globally, and I think we share that mission,” he said on the interview about the panel.
On his official Twitter account, @NizarZeinMD, the MD praised his fellow panelist at the congress: “Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, NY Presbyterian, Baptist Health, and Grupo Rescue. One common mission of sharing knowledge and serving patients globally.”
Cleveland Clinic, Johns Hopkins, NY Presbeterian, Baptist Health and Groupo Rescue. One common mission of sharing knowledge and serving patients globally. #clevelandclinic #domincanrepublic #medicaltravel #PanelDiscussion pic.twitter.com/M5YG2lsFv6
— Nizar Zein, MD (@NizarZeinMD) September 7, 2018
For Dr. Nizar Zein, the panel’s strongest point is the experience that all the panelist brings because “each one of them has years of experience in caring for international patients,” he stated.
He sat down along Andrea Dacquino, Director of International Business Development, Marketing, and Communications at Global Services, New York-Presbyterian; Dr. Mario A. Mendez, Corporate Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Baptist Health, and Soraia Angiuoli, Director of Business Growth and Relationship Development for Patient Services & National Capital Region.
Medical Travel destination
He shared several reasons to believe in the Dominican Republic as a medical travel destination.
- Is a major hub for tourism;
- Millions already visit the country;
- Located in a “very inconsistent medical care” Caribbean region and Central America;
- It can serve the region in addition to improving the economy and the wellbeing of the country.
It turns out that the Dominican Republic is a common place for this global doctor, who acknowledged he had visited us more than 30 times.
“Do you dance Merengue, bachata?,” I asked, to which he replied: “I was married to a Dominican, so I do!”, he acknowledged during the interview.
Who is Dr. Nizar Zein?
Bio is from Cleveland Clinic.
Dr. Zein has received several awards, including the American Liver Foundation Scholar Award, the Cleveland Clinic Innovator Award and the Distinguished Faculty Award for Research Mentorship.
He has been recognized for academic excellence by the Syrian American Medical Society and honored for his leadership and community service by the Ana G. Mendez University of Puerto Rico as the recipient of Presidential Medal in 2011. He was elected to the Board of Governors of the Cleveland Clinic in 2015.
Dr. Zein’s research focuses on improving disease and treatment outcome in patients with the Hepatitis C virus before and after liver transplantation. He has authored over 200 publications and has been the Principal Investigator of several large clinical trials.
He held several patents and established a research group at Cleveland Clinic focused on 3D printing of solid organs.
Dr. Zein is actively involved in the education of fellows and residents being trained at the Cleveland Clinic. He has been recognized by the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine Teacher of the Year, a distinction that reflects his commitment to the education and mentorship of young physicians.
He has served as the editor of “The Year in Gastroenterology and Hepatology”, associate editor of the American Journal of Gastroenterology, editor of “Liver Transplantation” and an editorial board member of Hepatology and Gastroenterology.