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