Medical Tourism News Roundup!

Medical Tourism isn't just growing - it's exploding! If we somehow missed clarity, medical tourism is taking a trip abroad to find necessary or elective medical or surgical procedures at a much better price point. Like buying your prescriptions from Canada, but a little more involved.

Just in the last week we've seen a great number of news stories pop up on the web and I'll be tracking these stories every Wednesday and rounding up the important points to let you follow what the media is saying about the amazing world of medical tourism.

Most notably, Oprah has published a guide to medical tourism on her website that walks through most of the different procedures and options that are available abroad.

The New York Times addresses the subject of medical tourism in the shadow of current health care legislation in place. Their verdict?

No matter what Congress does with health care legislation in the next few weeks, one thing is already clear: the result will not do much to control the climbing costs of medical care in the United States.

And that is why many employers and insurance companies may seek savings by encouraging patients to travel abroad for treatment.

Offshore medical care is usually significantly less expensive than in the United States, and the wait times are often shorter. A heart operation that might cost $130,000 in this country could cost $18,500 in Singapore or $10,000 in India.

As communication and commerce becomes easier between great distances, borders dissolve and popping over to Mexico for a gastric sleeve surgery does not come across as that daunting.

From Reuters:

The World Egg Bank (TWEB), an international
agency for the donation of human eggs to infertile women, announced a first-of-its-kind partnership with a European fertility clinic to provide American women with in vitro fertilization (IVF) of donated frozen eggs at or less than the cost of staying home for such treatment.

If you were not aware of how much this industry has grown, check out the report on The Medical Tourism Association's 2nd annual World Medical Tourism and Global Health Congress:

Over 60 countries participated in the conference which focused on the high quality of care and the investment in healthcare throughout the world. The conference also featured Ministers' Roundtable where Ministers of Health and Tourism addressed the opportunities and challenges of the industry in their respective countries.

We'll be bringing relevant headlines every week with some commentary as to what you should expect in the ever-growing field of medical travel and tourism.

Medical Tourism: Are Major Changes in Health Care Afoot?

A recent article posted by India Report identified several major changes in Health Care, more specifically, the medical tourism industry.

"Medical Tourism: Are Major Changes in Health Care Afoot?"

"According to a recent survey conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, the practice of "medical tourism" -- traveling internationally for medical care -- will explode over the next few years. In fact, the survey forecasts that the number of people turning to medical tourism will increase from 750,000 to 6 million by 2010.

Patricia Look, an HR benefits subject matter expert with J. J. Keller & Associates, points out that the concept of medical tourism has been around for a number of years; however, escalating health care costs in the United States have caused it to become more accepted and even favored by some employers and insurers.

"While there are many factors to consider," states Look, "cost seems to be the biggest. It's easy to see the draw ... when a heart bypass procedure that costs $130,000 in the U.S. can be done at an accredited hospital in Singapore for $18,500 or in India for $10,000, for example."
So, what does this mean to our understanding of health care? "Change is in the air," says Look. "The American Medical Association (AMA) has acknowledged the impact of medical tourism on the health care industry by issuing guidelines for employers, insurance companies and other entities that facilitate or incentivize medical care outside the U.S.
Look goes on to mention three trends already emerging…” to view these trends, please follow the link to the rest of the article.

http://bit.ly/no17s

"WellPoint Jump-Starts Medical Tourism Trend"

September 14, 2009

While browsing for articles today I found a very interesting article entitiled "WellPoint Jump-Starts Medical Tourism Trend" written by Ken Terry (author of the book, RX for Health Care Reform) at bnet.com regarding medical tourism. The medical tourism trend will be huge in the years to come. Here are the first few paragraphs of the article with the link below to view the whole. In my opinion, bnet Healthcare is a great place to keep up with industry trends.

“Healthcare providers and insurance companies have long been at odds over reimbursement, coverage, and pre-authorization issues. Now, it appears, physicians and hospitals may soon have another bone to pick with health plans, over medical tourism.
Wellpoint, the largest U.S. health insurer, is conducting a pilot of medical tourism with Serigraph, a specialty graphics company with operations in Wisconsin, Mexico, and Asia. Serigraph employees have the option to travel to India for non-emergency surgery. Paul McBride, vice president of health care management and services for WellPoint, says that it makes sense to do these procedures in India, where the cost is 80 percent lower and the quality is just as good as in the U.S. WellPoint, which would like to expand its test, is focusing on cardiac and joint-replacement operations that require a two-week hospital stay.
Other health plans are also slowly beginning to cover medical tourism. Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina, for instance, has created an international network of doctors and hospitals covering Thailand, Costa Rica, Ireland, Turkey and other countries. A number of self-insured companies are also letting their employees seek care abroad.
The AMA, which last year approved guidelines for U.S. residents who travel abroad for medical care, estimates that about 150,000 people did so in 2006. The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions estimates that this number will increase to 16 million over the next decade. That could cost physicians and hospitals billions of dollars in lost revenues. "
http://bit.ly/za7jW

Medical Travel Statistics

The statistics for individuals willing to travel for medical care are incredible. I just found this artile that I thought was very intesting. To use some of the quoted figures:

"The number of Americans who would consider going abroad for treatment is a subject that comes up regularly. Many people who talk figures are only using wild guesses. Others rely on dubious research, designed to guarantee an answer that supports their sales pitch. The research trade calls these loaded questions ‘when did you stop beating your wife’ questions. This year we have two new independent surveys, not commissioned by anyone in medical tourism, but by top international researchers. The most recent is from Gallup. Results are based on telephone interviews in April 2009 with 5050 adults
the Gallup Poll found that up to 29% of Americans would consider travelling abroad for major medical problems. 24% would seek cancer diagnosis and treatment abroad. Americans are less likely to say they would consider travelling abroad for hip or knee replacement (15%), heart bypass surgery (14%), or cosmetic surgery (10%).
When the same question was asked, but on an assumption that costs are cheaper and the quality of treatment equivalent to the USA, the percentage prepared to travel increased to:
40% major medical problems
37% cancer diagnosis/treatment
27% hip or knee replacement
27% heart bypass surgery
20% cosmetic surgery
Asking the above of people with no health insurance increased to:
51% major medical problems
46% cancer diagnosis/treatment
41% hip or knee replacement
36% heart bypass surgery
30% cosmetic surgery

People in the Midwest are the least willing to consider obtaining treatments outside the country; those in the West are the most willing. Southerners are also below average in their willingness to obtain treatments outside the country, with the exception of hip or knee replacement.
The data suggest the 50 million Americans without health insurance are motivated by costs and would be more likely than those with health insurance to consider seeking medical care abroad. A sizable minority of Americans view th healthcare diagnosis and treatment available beyond national borders as something they would consider using."

To see the full article, go to the International Medical Travel Journal at:

http://www.imtjonline.com/articles/2009/americans-going-abroad-medical-care/

Your Medical Record

For those interested in Todd's information from yesterday's post go to www.lifetrackllc/todd.oldfield and view his web-site.

"Your Medical Record in Your Wallet"

I spoke with a colleague of mine today, Todd Oldfield. He is working with a fantastic new product. I called him after an e-mail he sent to me because I thought that it was a great companion to medical travel. This product is an electronic card that stores all of an individual's medical information in one place. Imagine travelling overseas for surgery and having to make several calls back to various physicians in your own country because the overseas physician needed more information. With this product, you carry your medical records with you everywhere (and not just overseas).

What a fantastic way to ensure coordination of care when you have multiple physicians. I can't tell you how many times I had patients that were receiving contradictory treatments from doctors because either the healthcare providers didn't communicate or the patient failed to tell their healthcare provider that they were receiving a different treatment for the same illness. (Unfortunately I believe it is usually the latter, patients don't know that every physician needs to know everything in which they are receiving treatment-but then, the healthcare provider also doesn't routinely ask about all other physician treatments either).

I took the below information from Todd's website. Please visit his web-site, it is listed below.

"More people die from medical errors each year than from colon cancer and breast cancer combined. The easiest way for you to protect yourself from these errors is to insure that the medical staff treating you have the most up to date, and accurate information possible, when you need it. LifeTrack allows you to have this information with you at all times.

The LifeTrack software has much more functionality than just a personal health record. It allows you to securely store information that you would need in the event of an emergency. You can store financial information and other critical information. You can also store information about your kids including photos and information on their after school activities. This could save precious time in the event they were missing."

www.lifetrackllc.com/toddoldfield

"Medical Tourism Primer for Physicians" -article review

I recently read an article entitled "Medical Tourism Primer for Physicians" from a web-site http://www.medicaltraveltoday.com/. The article is written by Laura Carabello. The introduction is what caught my eye:

"As healthcare in the United States has been changing rapidly over the past few decades, so has the manne in which healthcare has been provided, billed and paid for. There is an increasing need for Americans to reach beyond domestic borders to the international community for certain medical procedues, treatment, and care at more affordable costs. This impacts not only consumers and their physicians, but also employers, benefit plan payors, administrators, and other industrystakeholders-including America's hospitals. This article provides a framework for discussion points for physician-patient communications regarding medical tourism"

In the article, she provides costs comparisons, theorizes that more insurers will start taking advantage of global competition, discusses accreditation bodies such as Joint Commission, and other items of interest. It is a four page article, quick to read, with lots of information. It can be found at the following site.

http://www.medicaltraveltoday.com/MTTE08/Mar_Apr_2008_291-294.pdf

Happy Birthday to Me

Well, no work today for me! It is my princess day (Happy Birthday to me) and I don't know how I will be celebrating but probably with a big 'ole mojito. Unfortunately it will be a long time before I will be able to get a "hall pass" to repeat last year's birthday party. I was able to celebrate with two dear friend in Priano on the Italian Rivera! This year will more than likely be on my back deck sipping Mojitos with Peppermint straight out my garden. But you know what? life can't get any better than that.

What is “sleeve gastrectomy”?

Here is more information provided to me by one of the physicians we work with in Tijuana on “Sleeve Gastrectomy”

In December 2007, the Chair of the VA Central Office Bariatric Surgery Work Group asked the VA Technology Assessment Program (VATAP) to assemble and review the literature on gastric sleeve resection for obesity treatment to support clinical guidance regarding the use of this procedure in the veteran population.

Gastric sleeve resection or “sleeve gastrectomy” (SG) is an unbanded form of vertical banded gastroplasty, where a majority of the stomach is resected to reduce stomach size. Up to now it has been used in staged weight loss as a first stage procedure prior to biliopancreatic diversion or gastric bypass to reduce surgical risk in high risk patients. Preliminary evidence has shown that gastric sleeve resection may achieve substantial weight loss, thus generating interest in its use as a single-stage bariatric procedure, particularly its laparoscopic version (LSG).

For more information, go to www.destinationnewyou.com

Position Statement on Sleeve Gastrectomy

Here is some information regarding bariatric surgery that was recently released and provided to me by one of our medical doctors in Tijuana.

Guidelines and policy statements: An Aetna Clinical Policy Bulletin on Obesity Surgery considers sleeve gastrectomy to be an investigational procedure.2 The American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery (http://www.asbs.org) issued a “Position Statement on Sleeve Gastrectomy as a Bariatric Procedure” in June, 2007. Based on similar findings from their evidence review, they stated the following:

“The ASMBS recognizes performance of sleeve gastrectomy may be an option for carefully selected patients undergoing bariatric surgical treatment, particularly those who are high risk or super-super-obese, and that the concept of staged bariatric surgery may have value as a risk reduction strategy in high-risk populations. It is suggested that surgeons performing sleeve gastrectomy prospectively collect and report outcome data for this procedure in the scientific literature. In addition, it is suggested that surgeons performing sleeve gastrectomy inform patients regarding the lack of published evidence for sustained weight loss beyond 3 years and provide them with information regarding alternative procedures with published long-term (≥ 5 years) data confirming sustained weight loss and comorbidity resolution based upon available literature at this time"

To see whole article go to www.destinationnewyou.com

Definintion of Medical Tourism

I wanted to provide you with a place to start your research on medical tourism. To understand it a little more. Go to to Wikipedia as a starting point. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism
“Medical tourism (also called medical travel, health tourism or global healthcare) is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of traveling across international borders to obtain health care.

Such services typically include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. However, virtually every type of health care, including psychiatry, alternative treatments, convalescent care and even burial services are available. As a practical matter, providers and customers commonly use informal channels of communication-connection-contract, and in such cases this tends to mean less regulatory or legal oversight to assure quality and less formal recourse to reimbursement or redress, if needed.

Over 50 countries have identified medical tourism as a national industry.[1] However, accreditation and other measures of quality vary widely across the globe, and there are risks and ethical issues that make this method of accessing medical care controversial. Also, some destinations may become hazardous or even dangerous for medical tourists to contemplate.”

Americans Travel Overseas for healthcare everyday

Did you know that some 6 million Americans go outside the U.S. for health care each year, and insurers are starting to cover more of those services. Companion Global Healthcare, a Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina subsidiary, includes 13 hospitals around the world in its network, and BlueShield of California offers the Access Baja health plan covering medical care in northern Mexico. The Joint Commission International has given its stamp of approval to more than 170 hospitals outside of the U.S. Forbes/HealthDay News (4/8).

Surgery in Mexico

Last fall, my friend Hugh came to me because he needed surgery and no insurance (he was in between jobs and his insurance had lapsed). He ended up going to Tijuana, Mexico and had his gall bladder removed for a fraction of what it would’ve have cost him out of pocket here in the states. While he was down there, he started talking to them about others who travel from the states to their office for services. He was amazed at how many people actually travel out of the country each year for procedures that they can’t afford here. He knew I had a background in healthcare sales and called me and asked if he thought we could set up a program where we could help people get the surgeries they want and need safely. There are horror stories out there of people who travel overseas for surgeries and come back with complications. So, last fall, I made a couple of trips to Mexico to meet with the doctors and the surgeons. They are absolutely wonderful people. We are working with a couple groups of Doctors now that are all board certified in the specialties and have been providing their services for many years. Many of them teach medicine at the University in Tijuana. They are kind, conscientious, and have excellent follow-up with their patients. Their clinic is beautiful and better equipped than many of the facilities you can find here, stateside.

It took a lot for Hugh to sell me on the idea to set up a medical travel company but after I met with the physicians, I was “sold”. We set up Destination New You as a referral source for people who need surgeries but can’t afford them here. Our first site is Tijuana because its so close and easy to get to. Patients, after being cleared by their physician, fly into San Diego and are escorted across the border and taken directly to the clinic. From the clinic, they are then driven to the hotel of their choice. We have negotiated prices with two hotels and one Bed and Breakfast.

My favorite place is Sadie’s Bed and Breakfast but Sonya, the owner, has not installed an elevator, so if your post-surgery requires that you can’t climb stairs, it might be a bit hard. Sonya and her mother moved down from San Francisco to set up this B&B and it is absolutely gorgeous. You can see it if you go to our web-site. I can’t wait for my next trip to Sadie’s. Their hospitality is fantastic!

What's wrong with Health Care?

My first blog! Who would’ve thunk it? When my friend Eric told me I needed to have a blog my question to him was, “what’s a blog”. Then my education began. So, I’ve gone from last week, not knowing what a blog was to this week, posting my first one. It kind of feels like being Peter on Family Guy when he gets that job where he has his own broadcast called “Do you know what grinds my gears?” Well, I will tell you what “Grinds my gears” is the cost of healthcare in this country.

My husband and I are both self-employed so we have to pay for our own healthcare coverage and it is not cheap! We chose a highly deductible HSA plan which we love; however, it has its drawbacks. We have a $5000 deductible. Because of this, we “shop” our healthcare a lot. We find that many of the physicians will offer a lower price to you if you tell them you have to pay for the service out of pocket. It has made us very conscience of how much we are spending on prescriptions too. We found that our credit card company, Capital One, has a prescription plan. When we go to Kroger’s now to get our prescriptions filled, what used to cost me my $45 co-pay, is now only $11 with my Capital One prescription card.
My friend David owns a company called “Dreaming with Entrepreneurs”. He has had some health issues lately. He does not have insurance and has been fighting with his healthcare providers to negotiate a payment plan at a discount. One thing that he discovered is that he is possibly being billed twice for the same service from two separate entities. I’m telling you, don’t trust what is on your bill from your healthcare provider. Make sure you scrutinize everything! Ask questions! Get answers!

My son had a sore throat that wouldn’t go away so we took him to the doctor. They swabbed his throat right there in the office for strep and made a determination that it was negative. Several months later we received a bill where they sent the specimen to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital to be tested again. The bill was over $200 and we were not informed that it was going to be sent out for a “confirmation” test. The healthcare provider doesn’t ask you if you have insurance to cover services, they just provide it and bill you for it later. As a consumer, we have to be a lot more savvy about what we ask when we go to the doctor. What I used to take for granted, I no longer do and unfortunately, I am learning to ask the questions ahead of time only after being stuck with a huge bill. So, as Peter would say “and that’s what Grinds My Gears!”

Test Blog Post for Destination New You

This is a test. More to come.