Tag Archives: medical tourism facilitator

Five things will need to happen before medical travel gets real

Despite the research reports, eco-devo white papers, industry analyses and industry marketing hype, medical travel/medical tourism is still an early stage industry looking for the right formula for success.

In my view, five things will need to happen before medical tourism and global healthcare referrals get real traction: 1) the creation of a sustainable business model, 2)global healthcare IT connectivity and integration, 3) a physician generated global healthcare referral network, 4) a global regulatory, legal and socioeconomic ecosystem, and 5) patient awareness and acceptance.

The creation of a sustainable business model
Industry players including payors, providers, partners and facilitators are still looking for the the most successful way to make a profit and scale the business. With an eye towards what happened when Expedia disrupted the travel agency business, participants understand that margins for travel arrangement services are thin and that there is high price elasticity for global medical care. Few have found the magic key that fits the lock that opens the doors to profits. Payors and employers are hesitant to accept the value proposition without a better way to reduce their risk and demonstrate tangible, meaningful cost savings to their insureds and employees.

Global healthcare IT connectivity and integration

The US national healthcare information architecture is evolving. Eventually, the network will be a portal to the world and will allow for seemless, secure, confidential transfer of personal health information thus assuring some continuity of care and quality improvement. Similarly, it will take a while for health information systems to evolve in host countries that can talk to non-host systems. Short term solutions, like personal health records or mobile health applications, might fill the void temporarily.

A physician generated global healthcare referral network

Most medical tourism models connect patients to healthcare facilities, bypassing doctors in the initial stages. Doctors will get in the game when the model feels better, and they have the resources and ability to make referrals to consultants directly, like they do now. Since MedVoy was founded by an American doctor, MedVoy connects patients directly to doctors which is unlike other facilitators. Given the rise of international members, professional medical societies should be more proactive in building global referral networks, rather than seeing them as threats to existing domestic members.

A global regulatory, legal and socioeconomic ecosystem

The barriers to adoption and penetration of medical travel are many and include liability, reimbursement, quality assurance and impediments to continuity of care. As healthcare goes global, so will the rules and regulations that facilitate or obstruct its use. How about a World Trade Organization Treaty on Medical Travel?

Patient awareness and acceptance

According to the most recent polls, 50% of consumers understand the meaning of the term “medical tourism”, leaving home for care. Social network buzz and media stories find the medical travel story sexy, particularly given all the noise about escalating healthcare costs and consumers, employers and payors are hungry for more information. Moving patients from awareness to intention to decision to action, however, will take more time and use innovative marketing approaches directed towards granular market segments.

Global medical travel is projected to be a $1B industry by 2012. While the bones are in place, it will take more time to add the flesh. Until then, to quote Karl Mauldin, people won’t leave home without it.

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Three Things to Know about your Doctor

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A recent Deloitte report on medical tourism predicted that outbound medical travel from the US could reach upwards of 1.6 million patients by 2012, with sustainable annual growth of 35 percent. If you are one of the many potential patients seeking high quality, affordable care outside of the US, you should know three things about your provider before boarding the plane: who they are, how and where they practice, and what are their results and outcomes.
The first question, who they are, probes the provider’s education, qualifications, experience and reputation. Most of this information is usually accessible on the doctor’s website and can be verified on accreditation organization websites or professional association resources. Check to see whether the practitioner is board certified by a reputable US or foreign specialty board and if they are a member of the national specialty society or association.

Secondly, ask how and where they practice. For example, plastic surgeons and dentists are likely to practice and operate in private clinics or ambulatory surgery facilities removed from a hospital setting. Some may even own the clinic and they should divulge that information to you. If something goes wrong during a procedure, make sure you understand how and where you would get emergency care, how you would be transported there, and who would pay for it. In addition, unlike more and more hospital facilities that are being accredited by the Joint Commission International, (click for a list of accredited hospitals) the organization responsible for making sure hospitals adhere to acceptable practices and procedures, independent, free-standing facilities frequently are not similarly examined or accredited.

Finally, and perhaps the most difficult information to find, is the outcome and results of a given procedure. Ask ” How many of these operations do you do in a week, a month or a year ?” Also, inquire about the number of cases that result in complications, the need for revision surgery or significant morbidity i.e. something that unexpectedly doesn’t work the way it should after surgery, or postoperative death. Most doctors, including those in the US, will be unable to give you an accurate answer because they don’t keep good records or have an unreliable system to keep track of results. Sometimes the best you can do is to talk to someone who has had a similar procedure.

Getting information about a doctor and his or her results in not easy, wherever they practice. The more information you know, however, the better you can determine whether surgery away from home makes sense.

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Connecting to your Doctor through your Terminal

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In our recent blog, (What’s Hot), one of our emergent trends was telemedicine. Innovations have made the world flatter and have helped with continuity of care, which is absolutely essential in global healthcare. By providing global information and communication technology networks, patients can now get a preoperative consultation and postoperative tele-care wherever and whenever they need it. While not always appropriate, in several instances, like cosmetic surgery/plastic surgery or procedures that involve mostly postoperative wound care, telemedicine image and data devices can be utilized to monitor wounds and healing while maintaining contact with the patients – regardless of location.

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Testimonials in Global Healthcare

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A few months ago, we blogged about finding a reputable medical tourism facilitator in How do I find the best medical tourism company?

Another important factor is… a patient testimonial. Does the medical tourism facilitator have reference from past customers who were delighted by both the service provided by the company AND the doctor?

If not, you may want to think twice….

Anne Marie from Virginia

Looking in the mirror I saw sagging cheeks and droopy eyelids and I knew it was time to do something to reverse the “old” look. I also knew I wanted to find a surgeon who was the best with no regard to where he or she was located.

After searching the world, I was lucky enough to find, with the help of MedVoy, Dr. Edmond Khoury. He specializes in only faces so I knew he was performing the kind of face procedures I needed daily, not monthly. My experience with Dr. Khoury was incredible. Minimum pain, little downtime, totally natural look and, best of all, no one knows I had anything done! Friends and family just know I look great. Thanks to MedVoy for helping me find this fine surgeon.

Sincerely,

Anne M.

To read more, please visit: http://mycommunity.in/medvoy/testimonials.php

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Global Healthcare Speaking Engagement

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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

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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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Cost vs. Quality in Medical Tourism

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We encounter on a daily basis patients who heavily price shop when it comes to getting medical treatments abroad. Price shopping is good however there needs to be a balance maintained . Some questions which you have to ask yourself or your facilitator before travelling abroad are as follows

1. Is the hospital abroad accredited?

2. Is the surgeon abroad doing the procedure American Board certified?

3. What kinda protections your facilitator or the hospital guarantee in terms of post complication surgery?

4. Has the facilitator visited those countries, hospitals before? Or are they blindly sending you to a place where they have never been?

5. Ask for the resume of the physician/surgeon

6. Share as much as medical history possible to the surgeon /hospital abroad in a more private, secure compliant manner so as to make sure that the price quoted are realistic. You dont want to end up paying more at the hospital than what was quoted.

Good upfront planning and by working with the right facilitator who has good experience will definitely play a tremendous factor in ensuring your safety, cost savings and more important getting the surgery done in a high quality setting with superior care of service.

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Choosing the right Medical Tourism Facilitator

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With rising healthcare costs, more and more patients are travelling abroad for medical treatments. However before doing medical travel, one should invest the time and effort to do some careful planning. You don’t have time to do all the research? No worries! That’s why there are medical tourism facilitators. Medical Tourism Facilitators such as MedVoy can help arrange travel, accommodations, transportation, medical procedures abroad and also provide information about the estimate procedure price, destination, hospital, and surgeons plus put together a detailed medical travel plan. So how do I know if I am working with a good medical tourism facilitator? Here are some questions to think about while choosing a medical tourism facilitator:

1. First make sure the company is legally registered and not a company with just a website. The best place to check is the Secretary of State where you can find the incorporation information plus any unresolved issues.

2. You need to make sure that you are working with a company based in U.S. not elsewhere. The legal recourses in other countries might not be as supportive as here in U.S.

3. Ask your facilitator what your recourses may be if you experience a problem.

4. Don’t let the facilitators influence or make decisions for you. Your selections should be based on your own needs and what’s important to you. However the facilitator should provide detailed information on all the questions you might have to make you well informed.

5. Make sure you are working with a reputed company that has healthcare professionals involved. You need professionals who can act as your patient advocates and understand about medical procedures.

6. Is the company insured? Ask for evidence.

7. Find out if the facilitator has visited the hospitals you are being referred to?

8. Are they a certified medical tourism facilitator ?

This is just a subset of questions but I hope you understand the importance of working with the right medical tourism facilitator.

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Medical Tourism: Planning for the worst

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None of us likes to think about it, but death following elective surgery or a procedure happens. If it happens while you are overseas, it can be particularly traumatic and difficult for your survivors. Whether you have surgery in Miami or Mumbai, here are some things to do to prepare:

1. Be sure you have a living will and a durable power of attorney. These documents, describing who is your surrogate and empowered to make medical decisions if you are unable, are extremely important for those taking care of you. If you travel overseas for care, be sure to bring a copy that can be included in your medical records. Include the names and contact information for those who should be contacted in case of an emergency.

2. Consider how you will return the body to a designated place. Discuss this with your provider and identify options before you need them

3. If you have life insurance or survivor benefits, check with your insurance agent or company to confirm that your policy will cover events that occur outside of your home country.

4. If you are using a medical tourism facilitator, discuss with them how they can help you handle the situation and what kind of contingency plans they have in place.

Fortunately, postoperative deaths are unusual for most elective procedures. Should it happen, however, you should have a plan in place to minimize the stress of dealing with an already difficult situation.

Arlen D Meyers, MD, MBA
Chief Medical Officer

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