Evidence shows that if patients seeking specific high-risk surgeries or treatments would chose high-volume hospitals for their care, this could save more than 4,000 lives annually. However, due to the lack of data currently available today and interoperability issues in EHRs, evidence based referrals are not widespread.

MedVoy’s evidence based referral workflow has the ability to incorporate any evidence based metrics into its referral process thus making sure that the patients are referred to the right facility with the better processes, and positive outcomes.

source http://www.academyhealth.org/Training/content.cfm?ItemNumber=1691

See MedVoy’s recent launch of their referral management software at the Health 2.0 Conference.  The Health 2.0 Conference selected MedVoy because of how it is transforming the current referral paradigm from an onerous paper shuffling process to an interactive patient portal that can integrate with existing EHR systems and that facilities continuum of care. 

Watch the video of the launch at the Health 2.0 Conference!

Last week, MedVoy was one of a handful of companies selected to launch at the Health 2.0 Conference in the Silicon Valley.  The Health 2.0 Conference focuses on showcasing cutting-edge innovation that’s transforming health and health care, which is why MedVoy referral management platform was selected – as it transforms the referral process from being an onerous paper shuffling process to an interactive patient portal that can integrate with existing EHR systems.

Some emerging trends from the Health 2.0 Conference:

Technology empowers patients

Using patient self assessment tools, consumer can now utilize technology to take health care into their own hands, such Smartphone apps and devices to track such things as, exercise levels, monitor blood samples, medication adherence, biometric devices, and yes, even breathing.  These types of transformative technology can be utilized to bring about long term behavior changes to improve overall health

Healthcare Reform Guidelines

The Affordable Care Act has some crucial stipulations, such as the transformation to Electronic Health Records (EHR) and the convoluted “meaningful use guidelines.”  MedVoy helps with meaningful use by offering a lightweight patient portal that is using with the existing EHR.  Another topic was the paradigm shift from the existing reactionary patient-doctor model to a proactive model with improvements to preventive care and early detection of health problems which is helping to drive a cornucopia of consumer devices.

Big Data is bigger than ever!

Big Data continues to dominate the discussions at the conference, with the increased use of technology, consumer devices, EHR, biometrics, human genome mapping, information exchanges, pricing transparency, etc, – there is now, more than ever data that ever which is an exciting time for data scientists and analysts.  The key will be to integrate the data and leverage the right tools in order to bring about the transformative change that is possible with this data and to improve long term healthcare outcomes.   Talk to one of our experts today if you need help with making sense of your big data.

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.

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.

Large deductibles mean that patient will pay out-of-pocket for many of their medical expensive. As more and more Americans are tightening their belts, they will be looking elsewhere to lower their medical cost. This will raise demand for diagnostic tests (colonoscopies, endoscopies, CT scans, MRI), overall health screenings (Executive Wellness Exams) as well as other procedures, such as orthopedics, ophthalmology and others. Global healthcare can help to fill in the gaps to provide solutions to help families struggling with rising healthcare costs.

What do you think?