Tag Archives: global healthcare

Vetting your Doctor

The term medical tourism is a bit of a misnomer as it downplays the serious nature of choosing a doctor – whether in your home country or abroad. The questions below, while not exhaustive, give you some guidance on choosing your doctor wisely.

What are your academic credentials?

Look for specialized training in the chosen field, such as plastic surgery / cosmetic surgery, bariatrics, orthopedics, fertility training, prosthodontics, etc. Many doctors have international training in the US and Europe and may be American-board certified which helps to put US patients at ease. High-quality doctors collaborate internationally and regionally so also, think twice before underestimating a surgeon if they have graduated from a reputable medical school overseas. If you’re not sure – ask MedVoy!

Are you accredited?

International accreditation for providers include: Joint Commission International JCI, Trent Accreditation Scheme (TAS) and International Organization for Standardization (ISO), while the International Board of Medicine and Surgery (IBMS) certifies physicians. Furthermore, many countries also have stringent national standards that follow international guidelines. One example is Colombia, where hospitals follow international non-profit ICONTEC standards that are identical to ISQua standards. Hence, all accredited hospitals in Colombia are subsequently accredited by ISQua. Malaysia also has the Malaysian Society for Quality in Health (MSQH) that acts as an independent, not-for-profit organization to ensure safety and quality.

How many of these surgeries have you performed?

Experience is one of the most important elements towards a successful outcome. Whether the doctor performs the surgery every day or a few times a year is significant! Do they specialize in a certain area? A cosmetic surgeon such as MedVoy’s partner Denver Cosmetic Surgery that specializes in the aging face is going to give you a better outcome than a dilettante. Find out how many of these surgeries the doctors has performed. Also, make sure that the actual surgeon will be performing the surgery and not a subordinate.

What materials do you use?

There is a wide range in quality in the materials used – so ask! Are they from a reputable company like Johnson and Johnson or Boston Scientific? Do they provide a guaranty? MedVoy’s partner Travel and Smile in Peru will uses German-made noble metal crowns and that are the standard in the US and Germany and gives a lifetime guarantee on quality. Make sure that you know this before you are actually there.

This list does not cover all the questions which is why it’s important to work with a well-established medical tourism company.


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Global Healthcare Speaking Engagement

Due to his expertise, experience and invaluable insight on medical tourism, Dr. Arlen Meyers, MedVoy’s Co-founder,  President, and Chief Medical Officer will be an invited speaker for the upcoming Medical Fusion Conference to be held in Las Vegas, NV, November 5th-8th 2010.


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Medical Spa MD Interview with MedVoy Cofounder, CMO, President

MedVoy’s Chief Medical Officer, Cofounder and President, Dr. Arlen Meyers, was recently interviewed by Medical Spa MD.

In this interview, Dr. Meyers defines medical tourism as “leaving home for care. It can be inbound, (someone from Mexico coming to the US), outbound (leaving the home country to go to another country) or domestic. There are local, regional, national and international medical tourism clusters developing throughout the United States and around the world.

It is estimated that global medical tourism is a $100B global industry expected to grow significantly over the next few years. While no one can know for certain the effects of the recent US healthcare reform bill, rising costs, lack of supply of physicians and the demand for technologies and treatments continue to expand and fuel the growth of the industry.

The most common procedures sought by patients considering medical tourism are cosmetic surgery and dentistry, bariatric surgery, IVF and short stay procedures in urology, orthopedics, ENT and ophthalmology. That said, because of the onerous costs of some procedures in the US, patients are seeking life-saving cardiac surgery in India, proton beam irradiation in South Korea and living donor liver transplants in Asia.

The entire interview may be found here.


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Why should doctors care about medical tourism?

Medical tourism, defined by Deloitte as the process of “leaving home” for treatments and care abroad or elsewhere domestically, is growing rapidly. The recent US healthcare reform debate has heightened awareness of global healthcare options that are affordable, high quality, accessible, and, in some instances, not available or approved in the US. These options are so attractive, that an estimated 750,000 US citizens traveled abroad for medical care in 2007 and the number is expected to double next year.

While medical tourism represents a small sliver of the total US healthcare bill, it will continue to expand and surgeons should be aware of this emerging industry for several reasons.

First, patients are inquiring about global healthcare options because they have high insurance co pays and deductibles and are looking for less expensive care. Second, more and more health insurance companies are offering medical tourism plans to their customers to save money. Consequently, the role of the specialist as the treating physician may morph into something else.

Surgeons may increasing be called on to deliver preoperative assessments, communicate with consultants overseas and follow the patient after surgery. Finally, the globalization of healthcare will challenge the existing models of care in the US and providers, including otolaryngologists, will need to adapt to thrive.

While medical tourism is growing, there are significant barriers to widespread adoption. These include, among others, establishing normalized quality of care measures, malpractice issues, health insurance coverage, continuity of care challenges, international health care information exchange, security and confidentiality, global infection disease control, and the challenge of developing trusted international referral relationships. New reimbursement models, for example, paying for otolaryngologists to communicate with foreign providers by email, telemedicine or other electronic medical records systems will be necessary to create an incentive to participate.

While these obstacles are daunting, I believe they will be rapidly overcome and medical tourism will continue to emerge as an attractive option for a small but significant part of the healthcare marketplace. Surgeons should educate themselves and prepare for the change.


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