Tag Archives: Orthopedics

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.

Phenomenal academic guidance team that operates under cheap custom essay writing services for international pupils.

Connecting to your Doctor through your Terminal

Leave a reply

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.

At whatever time the unit buy cheap essays on google, learner evolve into more intelligent!

Healthcare Open Enrollment Period

Leave a reply

It’s that time of year again… open enrollment for your health benefit plans. Most Americans are frustrated because their healthcare care bill is increasing… yet again… and this is exacerbated by the global recession and the confusion surrounding healthcare reform. Colorado is projected to see a healthcare increase of 14.4% in 2010 – slightly higher than other states due to the large number of small businesses in the state.

Large employers with 100 or more employees will often receive utilization and cost data and are in a much better position to manage their health care cost through aggressive plan management strategies and tactics. Small employers (and individuals) generally do not receive utilization and cost data plus often rely on the pooling of risk since they have a higher probability of costing the system more than the dollars they contribute through premium payments – since “everybody pays for a few”.

The misperception in healthcare is that cost and pricing for the same clinical procedure is relatively the same from provider to provider yet clinical costs vary significantly from zip code to zip code, state to state, and country to country.

Domestic and international medical tourism introduces transparency and helps to lower healthcare cost. There are scores of articles on lowering your out-of-pocket healthcare cost in 2011 that may help marginally. However, MedVoy is in a position to help individuals, employers and employees save real money on healthcare – contact us for details.

Brilliant scribblers stick around for you in the indicated educational site www.homeworkhelper.net/, which saves worldwide scholars.
These men here at https://order-essay-online.net/ scribble awesome dissertations on line.

MedVoy visits the Chihuahua Medical Cluster!

Leave a reply

Chihuahua Cathedral

MedVoy visits the Chihuahua Medical Cluster

The Chihuahua Medical Cluster in Chihuahua Mexico (less than a two hour flight from Houston), is a collaboration of the government, business, and medical community to provide high-quality medical care and to become a global leader in international healthcare.

With a strong colonial heritage, Chihuahua has a legacy of three centuries of hospitals and plans are already underway for additional hospitals. Meetings with Chihuahua Mayor Alvaro Guillermo Madero MuÒoz and Secretary of Tourism, Minister Hector Valles also unveiled plans for future tourism initiatives – a highlight being a Swiss-made tram being installed in Copper Canyon later this spring. Copper Canyon, a group of canyons twice as deep and five times longer than the Grand Canyon, is an unspoiled gem with breathtaking scenery.

For more photos of hospitals and Copper Canyon, please click here.

CIMA Hospital Chihuahua

CIMA Hospital is an international partnership of US and Mexican investors and the 150 physicians who practice at CIMA. Already ISO 9000 certified, CIMA Hospital is undergoing the JCI accreditation process, to be completed in June 2010.

Executive Wellness Screenings utilize GE Millennium MG Nuclear Imaging Environment (GENIE), which provides an intuitive user interface that goes well beyond the nuclear stress test. The General Health Council recently awarded CIMA Chihuahua the most important recognition in Mexico – recertification as a high-specialty hospital – and the Mexican Association of Private Hospitals has also recognized it as a Hospital of Excellence. Other specialties are: Bariatrics, Plastic Surgery, Cardiology, Angiology, Endoscopies, Orthopedics, Angioplasty, Lung and Heart Transplants.

Oncology Center of Chihuahua

Part of the CIMA Hospital Center, Oncology Center of Chihuahua is a brand-new, holistic, state-of-the-art cancer treatment center that is part of an international collaboration with Southwest Oncology Center of Scottsdale, Arizona.

The only TomoTherapy machine in Latin America, at a cost of $2.8M USD, fuses CT, MRI, and PET Scan simulations for contouring and allows for the most precise angles to be used, which can pinpoint tumors previously thought untreatable. With an on-site psychologist, nutritionist and private suites, treatment options include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.

Clinica Cumbres

Clinica Cumbres, an American-designed Ambulatory Surgery Center, was built in cooperation with the JCI to follow the current US trend where 70% of clinics are for outpatient care. Clinica Cumbres has been JCI accredited since its inception in 2008, providing multi-year transparency, 100% electronic files and the ability to work with insurance providers.

With private rooms and an English-speaking staff, the average stay is six hours and patients are monitored every ten minutes. Specialties include: Angiology, Anesthesiology, Angiology, General Surgery and Gastroenterology, Plastic Surgery, Ophthalmology, Orthopedics, Otolaryngology, Pathology and Urology.

Evolve into outstanding and rewarding student with a aid of essaywriterservice.net/ portal!
Bright global company www.homework-writer.com/ that indicates cultural immunity!

Orthopedics and Medical Tourism

Leave a reply

Aside from elective procedures, such as plastic surgery, orthopedic surgeries are an increasingly popular option in global healthcare because patients may be un-insured, underinsured or somehow denied benefits. Cost savings are significant as the prices of procedures like total knee replacement and hip replacement surgery costs on average $35,000 and $50,000 respectively in the USA. The total costs of the orthopedic procedure are clearly lower in international medical tourism due to arbitrage, exchange rates and relative cost of living. However, even in the domestic medical tourism space there are significant discounts when the costs are calculated on cash versus insurance basis.

It is possible to live pain-free! For a list of providers: http://www.medvoy.com/procedure/orthopedic-knee-surgery

Cool essays service through http://www.essaydragon.com sincerely fantastic academic crew.

Vetting your Doctor

Leave a reply

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.

Check our mate organization http://domyhomework.guru for wired literacy.

Medical Spa MD Interview with MedVoy Cofounder, CMO, President

Leave a reply

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.

Resourceful international association https://writinghelpfor.me/ that publishes educational freedom.