Patients with passports | BRIAN NEWSOME | THE GAZETTE

Pramod Goel likens his dotcom to online travel sites Priceline, Travelocity or Expedia. But go to make your travel plans, and the differences between PlacidWay.com and the others soon become apparent. Rather than choosing a departure date and destination, you’ll be asked to:

- Choose a treatment

- Choose a region or country

- Choose a health care option

Depending on your preferences, you will be pointed to places as far away as India and Thailand for procedures that include open-heart surgery and total hip replacement.

The Castle Rock businessman’s startup is just the latest stage in the evolution of medical tourism, a booming industry in which sightseeing and surgery collide – or, as his Web site characterizes it, “Exotic journeys to wellness.”

For years, Americans have been traveling out of the country to get less costly treatment, most notably to Central and South America for elective procedures such as cosmetic surgery. These days, changes in health care – rising costs at home and higher-quality care abroad – have made medical tourism increasingly mainstream. Not only are more people going, but they are going for medically necessary procedures. Some employers are even offering insurance benefits to employees who seek treatment in other countries.

In 2006, about 150,000 Americans traveled overseas for health care, nearly half of them for medically necessary surgeries, according to the American Medical Association. Jonathan Edelheit, president of the Medical Tourism Association, said as many as a million people worldwide will travel out of their home country for medical care by 2010. A May 2008 study by McKinsey & Company, a corporate research firm, came up with a much smaller number – about 60,000 to 85,000 inpatient medical travelers a year internationally – but still acknowledged the likelihood of growth.

Responding to the trend, the AMA on June 16 approved new guidelines regarding medical tourism: “Until there is significant action at home, patients with limited resources may turn elsewhere for care,” said AMA Board Member Dr. J. James Rohack, in a news release. “It is important that U.S. patients have access to credible information and resources so that the care they receive abroad is safe and effective.”

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Tummy Tuck & Cosmetic Surgery in Argentina | Personal Experience with Dr. Brosto

I am very happy to provide you with my personal experience and why I felt so at ease with my decision to travel to Argentina to be operated by Dr. Brosto. I, as yourself, felt a bit afraid to travel to a foreign country for surgery as I had heard horror stories of complications, risks involved with having any medical procedure outside of the United States. I live here in San Francisco, CA.

The most important elements in your assessment of any doctor is to obtain as much information about the doctor as possible, evaluate his credentials, his dedication to quality, his upholding your best interest, and most importantly, his evaluation of your health and any potential risks prior to surgery. Thorough communication and taking the opportunity to speak with Dr. Brosto directly prior to your visit is also a key to your feeling completely at ease and confident with your decision to trust this process.

I highly recommend, as I did myself, that you also have a full health assessment from your own physician and communicate your desire for cosmetic surgery and if he/she feels that based on your current health assessment, that it is safe for you to proceed. Take a copy of your assessment from your physician to Argentina upon your decision as the doctor will also perform his own medical assessment with a certified cardiologist as well as medical testing processes prior to his performing your surgery.

I will speak from my heart now and convey my own experience. I had been seeking for qualified cosmetic surgery at affordable prices here in the city for many years prior; however, I knew that it would expensive and most of the doctors that I interviewed were qualified, perhaps, but I did not feel the heart to heart connection with them. To them, I was all about the money they would obtain from me for their services. And their fees were so high that I knew I could not afford it for many years to come. I did not feel they were very personable to me nor did they truly care about me or have my best interest in mind.

In 2004, I began to research the internet in order to possibly find an option that would provided me with an opportunity to obtain quality cosmetic surgery of the highest caliber from a licensed and fully credited doctor at an affordable price here in the US. The only options made available to me were programs that supported student surgeons in obtaining patients to operate on in order that they obtain the practice they needed to complete their residency prior to becoming certified cosmetic surgeons. Upon their interview of myself, they declined me as a patient because I was too young and they preferred more elderly patients that would give the student surgeons patients that would require surgery for drastic and dramatic changes. I would not be able to provide them this opportunity and again, the program was designed to aid the student in their practice. I did not provide them with enough challenge for this endeavor.

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World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress : 09 September 2008

World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress Highlights

World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress will pre-arrange meetings and connect you with top international hospitals, medical tourism companies and other professionals, Self Fnded Health Plans and Insurance Companies and assist in the development of new relationships and valuable new contracts.

• Over 40 Exhibitors and up to 1,000 attendees
• Over 50 U.S. Healthcare and Insurance Companies Interested in Outsourcing Surgeries Overseas.
• Guaranteed Networking Sessions and Meetings with Top International Hospitals, Medical Tourism Companies, US Insurance and Healthcare Companies
• Industry Players from over 30 Countries
• 500 “Buyers” invited from the United States, Canada, European Union and other countries looking at sending patients overseas
• Special Networking Sessions and one on one pre-arranged meetings

Click Here to request additional information about Medical Tourism Annual Congress in San Francisco, USA

 

This event has one sole purpose, to put Insurance Companies, Self Funded Employers, Health Insurance Agents and Healthcare Companies in one place together with International Hospitals, Medical Tourism Companies and Medical Tourism Experts for the ultimate educational learning and networking event. This event is meant for US Employers and companies to create new relationships and new contracts in the area of Medical Tourism, as well as to learn how to properly implement Medical Tourism into a US health plan with success. The Medical Tourism Association will pre-arrange meetings and connect international hospitals with executives from top US healthcare companies to assist in the development of new relationships and valuable new contracts. We will also help International Hospitals in attracting patients from the Middle East and Asia. 

This is the one event per year where US health Insurers, TPA’s, Self Funded Employers and Health Insurance Agents have the opportunity to meet the top executives from the leading international hospitals. It’s time for the US Marketplace to seriously step outside the box and look at Medical Tourism as a real solution to the rising costs of healthcare.

Medical Tourism is the Ultimate Consumer Driven Benefit Tool!

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Changes in Attitude: More Insurance Companies Approving Medical Care Abroad

Over a half million Americans travel abroad for surgery on a yearly basis. Escalating health care costs in the United States, as well as difficulty in receiving medical care due to rules and regulations by HMOs, has prompted frustrated Americans to seek health care elsewhere. It is a well-known fact that foreign destinations often offer medical procedures identical to those in the United States for a fraction of the cost.
 
The reduction in cost is not attributable to any lack of quality, education or retraining. As a matter of fact, many foreign destinations use state-of-the-art equipment and procedures not currently in use in the United States. In addition, many foreign health care providers do not experience the burden of carrying large amounts of malpractice insurance that is now required in the U.S., and which drives up health care costs. Medical tourists have saved nearly $20 billion dollars in health care treatments, procedures and surgeries in the past year by traveling abroad for their medical needs.

For example, heart bypass surgery in the United States may cost an individual over $130,000. The same procedure costs under $7,000 in India or $35,000 in Korea. Likewise, a hysterectomy in the United States may cost between $20,000 and $30,000, while the same procedure in Costa Rica costs less than $5,000.

In many cases, foreign medical destinations are not only luxurious, but include the latest state-of-the-art technology and equipment available in various fields of practice. It is common for medical care contracted through a medical tourism provider to also include 24-hour observation and care as well as private nursing and private room facilities.

Not to mention the fact that individuals who travel abroad for medical care are also able to enjoy a bit of vacation time in unique or exotic locations such as Thailand, Singapore, India, Brazil, Argentina, South Africa and more.

Changing Opinions on Quality Health Care
The old saying, “If you can’t beat them, join them”, seems to be holding true for many major medical and health insurance providers in the United States. Because finances are at the bottom of individual decisions to travel abroad for medical care, American health care providers are finally paying attention.

For example, CIGNA, a large carrier in the United States, is considering offering reimbursement for hip and knee surgeries in foreign destinations. Other insurance companies and their subsidiaries, such as Companion Global Healthcare Inc., of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina, is beginning to offer international care as an option available in their basic health insurance plans. Indeed, many healthcare service providers are expecting and anticipating that medical tourism will be standard in the healthcare field by 2015.

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