1. With a shortage of physicians in the US, doctors are busy enough. The are eager to shift their payor mixes from low reimbursment to higher paying patients, but , with the exception of doctors starting practice, they don’t need more patients that might be a headache.

2. Doctors are used to a doctor-to-doctor referral model, not a patient- to- facilitator to institution model. They will continue to push back until there is a comfortable global healthcare referral platform.

3. Doctors are suspect about the value offered by facilitators. Unless they see a tangible return on investment, they are unlikely to engage intermediaries who they see as non-medical professional trying to skim revenue from an industry that is overhyped.

Medical travel is in the early stages of its life cycle. One of the tipping points will be when providers have confidence in the system and the business model.

Arlen D Meyers, MD, MBA
www.medvoy.com
www.careconnectix.com

Here are some success factors to consider when building an inbound medical travel unit:
1. Tight referral networks to non-US physicians
2. Hospital infrastructure dedicated to inbound patients
3. A physician staff willing and able to accomodate the needs of inbound patients
4. Travel and hospitality destinations that are attractive to inbound patients
5. Non-hospital travel services that are user friendly-airport, customs, visas, etc
6. Profitable product and service offerings
7. Telehealth and telemedicine connections for pre and post care
8. Accomodations for insurance, cash or other revenue cycle management
9. Strong sales and marketing functions
10. Easy to get to
11.Package pricing with transparency
12.Quality metrics with transparency

Consider this “doctor’s dozen” when trying to attract foreign patients. Experience indicates that successfully accomodating non-US patients requires a substantial modification of existing policies and procedures.

Arlen D Meyers, MD, MBA
www.medvoy.com
www.careconnectix.com

In addition, we have created a global care social network at www.careconnectix.com . Please join us there for free.

Thanks for joining us. Please send your comments and suggestions to arlen.meyers@medvoy.com

That said, investors are still clinging to the promise of big returns fueled by patients losing their health benefits because of high unemployment, the aging population requiring more units of care and exploding costs of healthcare. If you think the medical travel industry is set to explode, there are some areas of investment to consider:

Foreign Healthcare infrastructure

Foreign Travel and hospitality infrastructure

Tools and support companies

Supporting global healthcare insurance and travel products

Firms in the medical travel supply chain

Expatriate retirement health cities and communities

Like other industry sectors, gold, for example, you can invest in the product itself, the people who create the product, or investments that pools risks, like mutual funds or exchange traded funds.

Look for companies in markets where the supply of care does not meet the demands of a growing middle class, that provide products and services delivering low, cost high volume care, and that provide platforms and infrastructure designed to reduce transaction costs for billing and collecting and value-based information.

So, what does a surgical hotel offer?

How does a hotel providing services to a postoperative patients and their companions provide value and differentiate themselves?

A surgical hotel, part hospital-part hotel, would offer the following:

1. location convenient to healthcare facilities
2. transportation to facilities/airport/other
3. availability of emergency medical care
4. amenities
5. sensitivity to the needs of specific postop patients; connected rooms.
6. things to do for companions
7. information and communication technology links with providers
8. alternative/complementary services for postop patient
9. security
10. privacy/confidentiality in check in and exits
11. disability accommodations in architecture, transportation vehicles
12. medical concierge
13. accommodate in-room stay by nurse or companion
14. availability of equipment to take vital signs by medical professional
15. availability of wound management supplies
16. online medical education and postop care resources
17. nutrition counselor, special dietary restrictions
18. evacuation preferences
19. brand awareness and snob appeal
20. new design for bedding and furniture?
21. allergy free environment
22. medication reminder system (part of automatic wake-up call system?)
23. mini-kitchen facilities
24. real time patient feedback and request system
25. panic button
26. prevention of nosocomial (need a new word for hotel acquired) infections
27. modified housekeeping schedule
28. separate parking a minimal distance to room
29. wheelchair management
30. quiet
31. bathroom amenities (antibacterial soap, hand lotion, etc)
32. antibacterial surfaces on furniture
33. billing and collecting interface with medical insurance ?
34. disposable cell phones for companions
35. pet accommodations?

The global medical travel industry in rapidly growing and expected to reach $1B by 2012. Developers and the hospitality industry have an opportunity to participate and profit by offering differentiated, value added services to patients and their family members and companions that accompany them for care away from home.

You may have heard the term “smile makeover” or “smile design” recently, but what exactly does that mean?
A smile makeover uses a variety of cosmetic dentistry techniques to achieve that elusive perfect smile that we see on the likes of celebrity and models. The techniques would vary depending on what you need – be it missing teeth, broken or deformed teeth, tooth discoloration and more. Some of the following techniques could include:
Dental Implants

Dental implants replace any missing teeth. The implant base is fused into the jaw and then a natural looking crown is fitted on top. Crowns and bridges are often placed on top of dental implants.

Teeth Whitening

Age, illness and lifestyle choices (such a drinking coffee/ tea / red wine) can stain your teeth over time. Teeth whitening will lighten your teeth to your desired color

Porcelain Veneers

Porcelain veneers are paper-thin, custom made porcelain shells that are bonded onto the front and side surfaces of your tooth

Inlays and Onlays
Usually made of porcelain, inlays and onlays are matched to your tooth color to provide a durable and stain resistant surface

Cosmetic Re-contouring

Cosmetic re-contouring reshapes the gumline and may lengthen or improve the look of teeth that appear smaller due to gum tissue overgrowth.

Despite it’s growth, I think patients are still confused  about the multiple products and services that all seem to be the same. If you are considering offering medical travel benefits to your employees or are  considering leaving home for care, here are three questions you should ask  that might help you separate the wheat from the chaff.

Who do you get connected to?

The traditional referral model is your doctor, someone you trust,  refers you to another doctor for  specialty care or consultation. In most instances in medical tourism, however,  a facilitator or other intermediary  connects you  to a hospital or ground agent partner in another country who connects you to a doctor on the medical staff of the overseas hospital. All those steps can be confusing, add middle-man costs, and create opportunities for errors.

How do you establish some kind of relationship with the consultant before leaving home?

Since it is impractical for you to see your foreign consultant preoperatively face to face, take advantage of facilitators, like Medvoy, that can help connect you to your doctor using telemedicine communications technologies.

What’s the difference between one facilitator and the other?

As the market matures, industry players are creating ways to differentiate themselves and break from the rest of the pack. In general, facilitators compete on price, access, service, experience and their product. Just as Hermes sells quality, Wal-Mart competes on price and Nordstrom’s is know for service. Decide what’s most important to you and pick a facilitator that will deliver.

Some of us will turn inward and will seek ways to set goals and fit more into our ever hectic schedules. Many will be trying to fight the holiday bulge and race off the gym holding steadfastly to our resolutions. The holiday retail numbers were strong, economic indicators are improving and even the typically droll economists are optimistic about 2011.

• Will 2011 be the year that you take care of those lagging health problems? One in five Americans put off going to the doctor due to the economic climate, so demand for procedures such as knee arthroscopy or a hip replacement is likely to increase.
• Will this be the year that you finally get over the fear of the dentist? Prothodontists can help restore your smile through implants, bridges and fixtures, while Cosmetic Dentistry deliver an entire “smile makeovers”- filling in gaps, veneers, whitening teeth, etc.
• Or will this be the year that you will finally has that cosmetic surgery procedure done? Newer methodology for facelifts and eye lifts (Blepharoplasty) utilizing a laser can significantly lower downtime and get you back to work looking refreshed in no time.

The year has just begun – what do you want to with it?

Many surveyed agreed that

• more transparency and less ambiguity surrounding the price of healthcare would help.
• Eighty-six percent of healthcare actuaries surveyed recommend making prices for treatments available and more visible to patients.

In other findings, the society’s survey of 600 actuaries found:

• 90 percent think that reducing the number and severity of medical errors will help reduce costs.
• 88 percent believe that fighting fraud and abuse within the system can be at least somewhat effective at lowering costs.
• 8 percent recommend making quality of provider care more available to patients.

Among consumers surveyed, 37 percent feel they could better control their own healthcare costs if healthcare providers–or their insurance company–told them about the costs of medical services and outcome quality.

Thirty percent believe they could better control their healthcare costs if, before beginning a medical procedure, the physician told them about the cost of the procedure, the number of times he had performed the procedure, and results.

However, not everyone is so optimistic about their ability to control healthcare expenses. Nearly four in 10 consumers doubt they can do much to rein in individual healthcare spending.