PHILIPSBURG–Residents of St. Maarten who are interested in having cosmetic, plastic or dental surgery in Colombia can now have it done with less hassle, thanks to the new Aboutti Platform (About You About Your Health) service launched recently by Colombian medical tourism company Coomeva.
Launched in March, the Aboutti Platform is a marketplace for medical services. “It is the amazon for medical services. You can go online on this platform and buy what medical service you need with your credit card. As easy as that,” Coomeva International Business Unit Medical Director Natalia Estupiñán told The Daily Herald.
St. Maarten residents who use Aboutti will have access to plastic and cosmetic surgery, dental treatments and all kinds of medical treatment not covered by their medical insurance. Aboutti currently offers four categories of medical treatment in Colombia: integral medicine, dental, vison, and cosmetic and plastic surgery.
“At the moment, we have treatments at the best hospitals in Colombia. They have JCI [Junior Chamber International – Ed.] commission, ICONTEC accreditations and bilingual specialists in three cities: Bogotá, Cali and Medellín.
“Aboutti not only allows you to buy your medical treatments online, but also allows you to see the comments of other users and each user can rate the service we offer. Aboutti will also let you book your hotel if you need one and your transport if needed,” said Estupiñán.
Clients using the service will receive an experience, she said. “You will have VIP treatment with a bilingual companion who will be there for you guiding you through the hospitals and making this journey an easy and a great one.”
For plastic surgery Aboutti works with Clínica Las Vegas, Clínica La Mujer (located in Bogotá), San Vicente, CQB and Clínica Porto Azul. When it comes to plastic and cosmetic surgery, Aboutti is a 25 per cent cheaper “than other countries” and for integral medicine, it is about 30 to 35 per cent cheaper.
“At Aboutti you will find your whole package with all the services included. If you only buy the medical treatment and no hotel, neither transportation, the medical cost will include a personal and bilingual customer service that will be right by your side through the whole process,” Estupiñán said.
Addressing concerns from persons who are interested in plastic and cosmetic surgery, but have grave concerns about medical mishaps occurring while they are under the knife, she said: “First, you need to trust your surgeon or your treating physician and that trust is based on academic credentials. Review where the specialist works and his/her academic background and experience.
“Second, be aware of the place you will be having your procedure. The procedures should be done at hospitals with full accreditations.
“And third, in case of any medical mishaps, at Aboutti you will purchase your medical insurance that will cover your medical complications.”
She said Coomeva has a wealth of experience in the medical tourism industry in Colombia. “We were pioneers of medical tourism and we’ve been working on this for 21 years. We have received around 30,000 patients, providing them medical treatments and logistics, so this makes us the most experienced company when we are speaking of medical tourism in Colombia. We work with public and private insurance companies around the Caribbean.
“Since we have that kind of experience, we learned to understand our patients, their needs, their expectations and how to provide them an excellent customer service. All of this made us think: what happens with all those persons out there who are not insured? What happens when one of them wants to have a dental whitening? What happens with the people who want to have an extra help with plastic surgery?
“This is when we realised it – we will offer our service based on the huge experience we have, our VIP treatment and all the clinics we offered in Colombia through a different system. This is how we created Aboutti.”
S.E.L. Maduro and Sons is the broker for Coomeva for St. Maarten and for the majority of the Eastern Caribbean. General Manager Sjaoel Richardson said Maduro Travel has been evolving its travel-related business practices from simply selling airfare tickets to full vacation experiences.
“As such we are now Dominican Republic specialists where we have contracted rates with over 50 hotels and can offer transfers throughout the country. Added to that, we offer a wide variety of activities in the Dominican Republic. We are in the process of establishing the same in Cuba, which we are starting off with a group travel of 50 persons on July 16.
“As we are exploring other travel markets and its niches, we are now also focusing on Colombia. Colombia offers everything for all sorts of travellers, from shopping in metropolis Bogotá to extreme sports in Santander to cultural and historic sites in Cartagena.
“As Colombia is worldwide well-known for its quality of medical services and medical tourism, it falls within our philosophy of offering our clients full packages. Aboutti.com is the perfect online tool and anonymous towards the travel agent. We will start a promotion via social media in which we will make a code known that will give a discount when purchasing services through Aboutti.com,” Richardson said.
Estupiñán is a graduate of Pontificia Universidad Javeriana in Colombia and holds a Master’s degree in Epidemiology. She has been working with Coomeva since 2016.
Coomeva has been working in the area of medical tourism around the Caribbean for the past 21 years. It works with public and private insurance companies around the Caribbean, including in Curaçao, Aruba, the Caribbean Netherlands (Saba, St, Eustatius and Bonaire), St. Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, and Trinidad and Tobago.
Locally, Coomeva is an intermediate for insurance companies in St. Maarten for patients travelling to Colombia for medical reasons. The company currently works with Social and Health Insurances SZV and NAGICO Insurances. Estupiñán was in St. Maarten July 4-6 to promote the Aboutti Platform and to meet with stakeholders.
Persons can access the new Aboutti Platform via
website www.Aboutti.com . Travel can be booked via Maduro Travel.
Source: The Daily Herald https://www.thedailyherald.sx/islands/78394-coomeva-offers-easier-access-to-plastic-cosmetic-dental-surgeries-in-colombia
View comments
Hide comments