Medical Travel Today

THIS WEEK IN MEDICAL TRAVEL TODAY
Volume 2, Issue 22
by Amanda Haar, Editor

Partnership seems to be the theme of the summer for much of medical travel. In recent weeks I’ve had the opportunity to speak with representatives of three separate companies that have struck up international partnerships, some the first-of-their-kind, that will no doubt facilitate the “mainstream making” of global healthcare.

In this issue you’ll find a conversation with Paul Brough whose Massachusetts-based company, Pinnacle Health, recently announced a partnership with Medtral New Zealand. Brough shares with us how he came to select Medtral as a partner and what he expects from the partnership.

We’ve also got INDUSTRY NEWS covering issues from Jordan to Jacksonville, the newly declared “America’s Health Center.” Plus, in our MEDICAL SPOTLIGHT, we take a look at IVF treatments around the world.

In future issues we’ll feature excerpts of my conversation with the other partnering companies I mentioned in the opening.

As always, we welcome your comments, story ideas, and press releases.

Cheers,

Amanda Haar, Editor
ahaar@cpronline.com

Paul Brough
President and CEO
Pinnacle Health

Pinnacle Health, a Massachusetts-based preferred provider organization (PPO) providing network and administrative services to self-funded employers, recently announced a groundbreaking partnership with Medtral New Zealand. Through the partnership, Pinnacle is now able to offer an affordable and attractive medical travel option to its clients and members.

Medical Travel Today recently had the chance to speak with Paul Brough regarding this exciting new direction for his company.

Medical Travel Today (MTT):How long have you been looking at the option of medical travel for your clients?

Paul Brough (PB): It’s fairly recent for us. The truth is, we’re in an age of converting to consumer-driven healthcare in this country. As high deductible plans become the order of the day, the emphasis shifts to high quality and lower cost.

When you start looking for higher quality care with lower cost options, you start to get into the area of price transparency. That’s a tough sell in this country, but it’s a space we’re trying to get into because, number one: that’s where the future of healthcare is headed; and number two: there’s no need for apologizing for what you do if you take this approach. It’s all right there for everyone to see and understand.

In a global sense, there’s been many articles written about the potential for medical travel, but there’s always been the pause for questions like, “Gee, how good’s the quality?”; “Where is this place?”; “How safe is it?” … and so on.

Those were questions I also had, but when I was introduced to Medtral, those issues simply didn’t exist anymore.

They address both the quality criteria and the cost issue that cause many employers to hesitate.

MTT:Was medical travel something employers were asking you about or is this something you decided to bring to them?

PB: It’s more something we’re gearing up for related to consumer-driven healthcare and the push toward options.

Already we’re seeing large employers embracing it. Hannaford, for example. They’re one of the pioneering companies looking at the subject.

I felt we needed to gear up and be ready with the option. I don’t feel the need to push this on folks. It’s coming on its own. People are looking for the best quality at the best price. And right now, medical travel looks like one of the most promising options.

MTT: What are your expectations for the offering?

PB: The whole overseas market is geared to certain types of surgical procedures that are very costly– the types of procedures where the savings could be dramatic.

That’s mostly higher end procedures like orthopedics, cardiac, and others. My feeling is that people will ultimately seek out other procedures, but these will be the backbone of the industry.

It’s going to take some time—how much, I’m not certain. But I anticipate the offering being picked up and consumers taking advantage of it.

MTT: What attracted you to Medtral as a partner versus other providers?

PB: I came across their name in the media. At that time, I hadn’t heard of New Zealand as a medical travel option. It piqued my interested, so I pursued it with some research and phone calls. The more I learned, the more I liked.

New Zealand overcomes many obstacles in both the employers’ and consumers’ minds.
For many, the notion of medical travel conjures the idea of traveling to a third-world country for care. New Zealand doesn’t conjure that image. It’s perceived as first-world.

And, of course, for the employer, there’s the concern about quality. They want to know, “Is this really a quality option to offer?,”; “Should we allow it?”; “Will it hurt us?”

Again, those questions aren’t issues with New Zealand. You’re looking at first-class quality.

MTT: Did you consider other countries?

PB: Only very cursory. Not that other countries don’t have quality operations, but once I made an initial contact with Dr. Watson of Medtral, I really stopped looking.

He was very professional, was open to the idea...it just felt like a great fit. And the more we talked about working together, the better the fit got to be.

MTT:And how has the offering and partnership been received by your clients and members?

PB: This is very new. We haven’t yet presented it.

In this industry, things tend to trickle down. Once the big players start engaging, we can start looking for changes and interest occurring from our clients.

But so far we haven’t seen any of the major insurance companies jump into the arena in a big way. They’re still waiting and watching and gauging the general reaction of consumers and employers. Quite honestly, many of the insurance companies are for-profit and part of the whole transparency issue is how do big insurance companies make a lot of money on medical tourism. If, through medical travel, the employer knows full well what the true cost is, they’re going to want to see that money back in their premiums. Large insurance companies haven’t yet figured out how to make it work for them.

This is the ever-changing market, and this is why consumer-driven healthcare is going to be a very different space for all the players. When you turn the spotlight on companies getting excessive fee schedules, well, consumers won’t be happy. They’re trying to figure out how to get around it.

About Paul Brough

Paul Brough has extensive hands-on management experience in managed care, HMOs, and health insurance. As executive director, he helped launched, Health Net, Inc., which was the largest physician- and hospital- owned managed care network in Maine; and Yale Preferred Health, Inc., an HMO that achieved significant growth under his leadership. Mr. Brough built his career and reputation in healthcare starting in the 1970's by advancing from director of underwriting at New England Mutual Life Insurance Company to underwriting officer at Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Illinois to vice president and chief financial officer at Central Massachusetts Health Care, Inc.

SPOTLIGHT
Skip Brickley

Transmarx , LLC, is providing the leading platforms for exploring and understanding how the convergence of consumerism, economics, policy, and technologies are transforming the delivery cost and quality of healthcare in the United States and globally. Transmarx provides forums for discussions regarding the need to find solutions for improving the health of individuals.

Skip Brickley
Director, The Medical Travel RoadShow and Your Health Expos for Transmarx, LLC

Medical Travel Today recently spoke with Skip Brickley, director of The Medical Travel RoadShow and Your Health Expos for Transmark, LLC, regarding the 2009 series of medical travel expos to be held in cities across the country.

Medical Travel Today (MTT): What inspired the Medical Travel RoadShow and Your Health Expos, and what is their purpose?

Skip Brickley (SB): The expos came as a result of our business-to-business Consumer Health World Conference, which provided focus on how consumerism is pushing the healthcare delivery system to provide more choice, cost reduction, greater access, and accurate information for the consumer/patient. As a logical extension of these programs, we were motivated to provide to consumers the ability to physically and virtually connect with health and travel options through our consumer expos and Web site. The emergence of world class medical care in foreign destinations benefits the consumer by allowing greater choice and affordable prices. We see a direct relationship with consumers taking charge of personal health and exploring their health and care options. The expos will also allow international medical providers a showcase for their medical capabilities and tourism appeal in their host countries. It is no accident that many of the more affluent U.S. citizens travel outside of the United States for many of their medical procedures. We feel that the opportunity for international care will be an option for many low to middle income Americans and believe our expos will be a great source for consumers to explore and engage those options.

MTT: Who is your primary audience for these expos?

SB: Today, consumers who have adequate health insurance will typically travel abroad for elective non-insurance covered healthcare. Our consumer expos are geared toward individuals who use their own resources to pay for healthcare, either because they are self-insured or underinsured, or they are seeking elective or other procedures that their insurance doesn’t cover. Certainly they are looking for the highest quality of care at prices substantially below those in the United States. This age demographic will likely be from 40 to 70 years of age. Also, while affluence is not the most important measure, some indication of ability to pay for services, such as household income or net worth, is important. Also, we think individuals who are managing chronic health conditions are more likely to be looking for affordable solutions. Self-employed individuals are also an important segment of our audience, and we feel they would benefit greatly from international care access.

MTT: Why should employers consider sending their employees to one of your expos?

SB: As employers and employees are understanding the short and long term benefits of a healthy life style, we offer employees the ability to examine first- hand what options are available to them to improve their health. Clearly, it would make sense for human resources and benefits executives to gain exposure to and insight from medical travel provisions as part of the company’s health plan benefits, especially if that employer is already investigating or considering including medical travel benefits.

MTT: Has this kind of national medical travel expo tour ever been done before?

SB: To my knowledge, no one has undertaken a national schedule of medical travel expos. While there are some consumer health expos out there, we are not aware of any related to medical tourism, although I am aware of an event in Seattle last year that we understand attracted about 8,000 visitors to a medical tourism expo.

MTT: How did you go about choosing the cities for your expo tour?

SB:While not an exact science, we looked at markets with relatively high household income, high average education, diverse population -- including Asian and Hispanic concentrations of workers and households -- technology centers, significant levels of uninsured households, and enough population from which to attract visitors. Initially, we are focusing on border states/markets (like Texas, California, Florida, and others), places from which foreign travel is a bit more convenient. We also have paired markets with back-to-back weekend expos in an effort to minimize travel and logistics for the international exhibitors.

MTT:What can consumer expo visitors expect to gain?

SB:We believe that consumers have a genuine desire and need to learn more about their health options and how they can benefit from international care. For everyone this will be a convenient “up close and personal” introduction to medical travel and personal health options. We believe the convenience of expos being in or near their home town will be a real draw for visitors.

MTT:What does Transmarx hope to gain from this national tour of expos?

SB:By bringing in the very best local and international providers of health and travel services and solutions to the consumer in each region, we hope to attract between 3,000 to 6,000 attendees.

MTT:In what way do the Medical Travel RoadShow and Your Health Expos tie into the upcoming elections?

SB:We feel that by learning more about healthcare options and becoming a more informed healthcare consumer, individuals will gain insight and be able to make better decisions on the type of healthcare system we have today and our ability to access quality affordable care. This kind of knowledge will aid the evaluation of those representing our healthcare values when the time comes to elect this country’s leaders.

About Skip Brickley

Skip Brickley has been creating industry-leading conferences since 1993 when he produced and managed conferences for Adweek Magazines. His focus has always been on identifying trends and issues that have the power to transform the way an industry does business and goes to market. In the mid 1990s, Skip’s firm, eMarketWorld, created and produced leading conferences in a number of industry sectors including healthcare (eHealthcareWorld); Marketing, Advertising & Publishing (@d:tech); as well as Travel, Financial Services, Entertainment, Automotive, and others. EmarketWorld events were held in the U.S., London, Amsterdam, and Latin America.

INDUSTRY NEWS

World Medical Resources Makes its online Debut

A new online international medical travel directory made its debut at the end of July. Updated weekly, World Medical Resources (http://www.worldmedicalresources.com/) is intended for consumers and offers general interest articles about medical travel and a directory of global hospitals, physicians, and medical travel planners.

According to a release issued by World Medical Resources (WMR), “WMR’s goal is to be a resource for the medical traveler - from the time that the person begins to consider the idea, all the way to finding a physician to provide post care after the completion of the trip.”

International care facilities and providers may contact WMR at sandy@worldmedicalresources.com for information on being included in the directory.

Companion Global Healthcare Welcomes CIMA Hospital to Overseas Network

Columbia, S.C. – Companion Global Healthcare Inc. recently announced that CIMA Hospital in San Jose, Costa Rica, has joined its network of accredited, overseas hospitals. The addition means Companion Global Healthcare’s clients may choose CIMA, along with the company’s other network hospitals, for surgery and other medical services at rates lower than those typically charged in the United States.

CIMA, a state-of-the-art facility operated by International Hospital Corp. of Dallas, Texas, is a full-service hospital that holds the prestigious Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation.

“This agreement represents an important step and significant validation of how we provide high-quality, affordable medical care to our patients,” said Dr. Gary Wood, International Hospital Corp.’s chairman and CEO. “For the past 12 years, we have provided a U.S. standard of care to hundreds of thousands of patients in Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico, and helped build the private acute care hospital industry in Latin America. Today’s announcement represents a significant expansion toward an even greater good.

“Our goal is to continue to provide the safest medical care in Latin America.”

CIMA (www.HospitalCima.com) is the eighth hospital accepted into Companion Global Healthcare’s network, which includes facilities in Costa Rica, Thailand, Singapore, Turkey, and Ireland. All network hospitals are JCI accredited.

Companion Global Healthcare (www.CompanionGlobalHealthcare.com), headquartered in Columbia, S.C., provides assistance to clients who travel to any of its network hospitals around the world. It offers a single launch point for appointments, travel arrangements, case management, and follow-up care in the United States.

Companion Global Healthcare serves individuals, as well as employers and insurance companies that have included the Companion Global Healthcare network in their own benefit plans. All BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and BlueChoice HealthPlan of South Carolina members have access to Companion Global Healthcare’s services.

“We are proud to welcome CIMA into our network of JCI-accredited hospitals,” said David Boucher, Companion Global Healthcare’s president. “CIMA represents another attractive option for our individual clients, as well as the health insurance companies, self-insured employers, and limited benefit plans that rely on Companion Global Healthcare’s services in order to offer their members and employees a lower-cost option for healthcare.”

“Costa Rica is only a short flight from the United States, and CIMA employs English-speaking physicians, nurses, and staff who are ready to treat American patients,” said Carole Veloso, CIMA’s CEO.

Jacksonville's Medical and Tourism Industries Unite as America's Health Center
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The City of Jacksonville, Florida,Visit Jacksonville, and executives from local medical facilities announced a medical tourism initiative that will brand Jacksonville as “America’s Health Center.” The program aims to increase visitor demand and recognition of Jacksonville’s diversity in patient care, medical businesses, and tourism resources by uniting the marketing efforts of the various institutions under one umbrella.

Jacksonville is gaining prominence as a hub for the life science and health care industry. It is home to an impressive network of world-class medical facilities lauded in such areas as research, cancer treatment, clinical trials and cardiovascular, and children’s care as well as a number of biotech companies. Due to this presence, the region has become more attractive as a destination for medical meetings and conventions.

The initiative is anchored by 11 medical partners participating in the program, which include:

“In bringing together Jacksonville’s well-acclaimed medical facilities for the universal goal of welcoming visitors, we are showcasing the wide-range of expertise of the city’s life sciences industry,” said Madeline Scales-Taylor, board chair for Visit Jacksonville and community relations administrator for Mayo Clinic. “With the large number of highly specialized services, technology, and research positioned in Jacksonville, the city truly lives up to the brand ‘America’s Health Center.’”

The dedicated medical tourism Web site, www.VisitJacksonville.com/medical, serves as a resource for the three medical tourism markets: patients and their families in the area for extended patient care; medical meetings and conventions; and business-to-business meetings with local medical products and services companies. The site compiles detailed information on the 11 medical partners, visitor and hotel information, and meeting planning services. Through the Visit Jacksonville Web portal, visitors can book their trip by utilizing the organization’s Travelocity partnership.

Visit Jacksonville president and CEO, John Reyes, stated, “Jacksonville’s perfect temperatures, meeting facilities, beaches, and attractions make the city an exceptional destination for a medical-related meeting or as a place to heal during a patient’s top-rate treatment. We want to welcome those patients and their families, as well as medical business-to-business travelers and convention attendees to experience our healthcare resources and lifestyle.”

Council to set, apply standard healthcare accreditation standards

By Hana Namrouqa, Jordantimes.com
AMMAN, July 17, 2008 - In order to improve medical services and ensure patient safety, the Health Care Accreditation Council (HCAC) was officially launched on Wednesday.
HCAC, a nonprofit organization, was established to draw up, revise, and classify national healthcare standards in line with the requirements of the International Society for Quality in Health Care.

HCAC chairman of the board of directors, Saeed Darwazeh, said yesterday that the council is the product of two years of work with various healthcare providers, adding that the organization aims to improve healthcare services not only in Jordan but throughout the region, through the application of internationally recognized and accredited standards.
“The council comes in response to the need for a national independent body, which serves as a steward of healthcare accreditation,” Darwazeh told reporters in a press conference yesterday to announce the launch of the council.

He noted that the HCAC was jointly developed with the Ministry of Health and the USAID.
According to Darwazeh, eight hospitals from the Ministry of Health, two from the Royal Medical Services, two university hospitals, and five private health service providers are currently included in a pilot project to raise awareness on the council’s accreditation standards.

“The Ministry of Health passed a law that obliges public hospitals to seek the council’s accreditation. We currently are working to draw up a timetable for all the Kingdom’s hospitals to acquire accreditation certificates,” the former health minister said.
“If the issue was left without deadlines, hospitals will not be encouraged to apply for accreditation. Therefore, enforcing a timeframe is necessary to improve healthcare services,” Darwazeh told reporters.

The council will examine hospitals’ compliance to its standards and accordingly grant accreditation to healthcare facilities that meet them, he said.

“In order to ensure continuous adherence to our standards, the accredited facility will be visited by our teams two years after granting accreditation,” Darwazeh said.
He noted that the accreditation can be revoked if a hospital fails to act on, or prevent medical errors.

Hospitals seek grading to attract high-net-worth patients

Tribuneindia.com - Indian corporate hospitals are gearing up to attract more high-net-worth patients, including those from overseas, with the promise of validated service and in some cases even U.S. accreditation.

Apollo Indraprastha (Delhi), Wockhart Hospital (Bangalore), and Sri Ramachandra Hospital (Chennai) are a few that have embarked on the long and costly process of seeking accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI) of the United States, according to industry sources.

"Though this involves huge expenditure and a long process, JCI accreditation is being sought by some top hospitals to give them credibility on a par with the best of global healthcare institutions," said a senior official of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
"Take the case of Thailand and Singapore, which have benefited by having JCI-accredited hospitals," the official said.

Assigned by the Health Ministry, the CII National Committee on Health has prepared a report on how hospitals seeking to attract overseas patients can be graded according to their facilities and patient care.

"The group will present its report to the ministry and the Quality Council of India (QCI) by the end of the month. We are keen that QCI be given the mandate for giving accreditation to hospitals," the official told IANS.

The CII team is in the process of finalizing the document that will frame benchmarks on how hospitals from nursing homes to tertiary care hospitals can be graded and given accreditation.

The benchmarks, much the same as those for hotels, will give indications of the type of facilities and care a patient can expect in a given hospital.

Currently, around two dozen hospitals of varying sizes, including Apollo Indraprastha, Christian Medical College (CMC) at Vellore, and five state-owned ESI hospitals in the National Capital Region are among those that have had their facilities graded by noted rating agencies ICRA Ltd and CRISIL.

"After one and a half years of research on benchmarking, we started providing grading services two years back. So far we have graded around a dozen hospitals. Only some make their grading public," said Amul Gogna, executive director of ICRA Ltd.

"What started as an exercise to meet the demands of insurance companies, which expressed concern at independent evaluation of services in hospitals they were covering, has become a voluntary exercise sought by individual hospitals," said Gogna.

The parameters employed by rating agencies are facilities, processes followed in patient care that is measured through the outcome, physical infrastructure, staff, safety aspects, standardization of processes, the out-patient department, in-patient, diagnostic, and other procedures.

"A major emphasis is on how the diagnosis and treatment regime is decided on," said Gogna.

The benchmarking has been done taking into account the patient survey module and inputs from the medical fraternity, including from overseas.

While not reflective of the cost of service, the grading reflects service provided, including after care.

Industry sources feel a time will come when market forces will themselves start filtering out hospitals that are not providing proper care.

While some hospitals would like to overlook their low marks in the Indian grading, Apollo Indraprastha Hospital is eagerly awaiting results of its two-year effort to get international accreditation that would pave the way for more demand from overseas.

Ten percent of Apollo Indraprastha hospital patients are currently from overseas.

"Because the JCI accreditation is an international benchmark, we are keen to get it. We have covered all the groundwork, and are now awaiting a visit from a JCI team to validate our standards," a hospital spokesperson said.

In an attempt to match global standards, Apollo Indraprastha has had to turn around several of its earlier practices to put patient safety and welfare at the forefront, including keeping patients informed about what is happening during every step of the treatment.

Posh hospitals branching out to beauty, wellness programs
By Tessa Salazar, Philippine Daily Inquirer

MANILA, Philippines—Are beauty, wellness and prevention programs the way to go for high-end hospitals?

The Asian Hospital and Medical Center in Alabang, Muntinlupa, has a new concept for integrating disease prevention and overall wellness. It recently held a lay forum titled “Asian Beauty and Health Secrets” in which physical enhancement and health—from cosmetic procedures to nutrition—were discussed.

AHMC also launched its new facilities, the Sleep Laboratory and the Golf Performance and Sports Rehabilitation Center, and the Executive Health Screening (customized lifestyle screening program).

The Sleep Laboratory provides treatment on snoring and sleep apnea. The Golf Performance and Sports Rehabilitation Center provides golf-specific physical training and treatment of golf-related injuries.

Revolutionizing Healthcare

Theophil Seiler, chief executive officer of AHMC, said in a statement that integrating the concept of beauty and wellness and the addition of new facilities and services “strongly communicate our vision of revolutionizing healthcare and part of our expansion plans this year.”

Recently, Medical City announced the construction of its wellness spa. The hospital is also adding 10 stories to its 5-story Nursing Tower 2. An Inquirer report said the Medical City is expanding its hospital facilities to cater to the growth in medical tourism and domestic healthcare demand.

The Medical City, which is located on Ortigas Avenue, is a 40-year-old private hospital that serves some 420,000 patients, including 380,000 outpatients, a year. It also has facilities such as The Palliative Care Center where patients with terminal illnesses are given holistic healthcare.

St. Luke’s Medical Center also offers a broad range of executive checkup (ECU) packages and wellness programs. According to the medical center, patients can choose an outpatient executive check-up package or enjoy a comfortable one- or two-night stay at St. Luke’s.

Trigram America Joins the Center for Health Value Innovation, Supports
Education and Awareness of Medical Travel Options

CHICAGO, Ill./ST. LOUIS, Mo.– August 11, 2008 – Trigram America, LLC (www.trigramamerica.com), providing consulting expertise and resources on medical travel to employers, health plans and other benefits stakeholders, today announces its membership in The Center for Health Value Innovation (www.vbhealth.org), the nation’s premier organization dedicated to establishing value and producing evidence for sustainable health and financial improvement.

“We look forward to becoming part of a synergistic network of business professionals who are in a unique position to explore and implement options for their corporate workforces,” states Bruce Barwick, chief executive officer of Trigram America. “The interest level in medical travel grows daily, but employers are grappling with a myriad of issues. Our role is to get through the clutter of information and hype, and help leaders to make informed decisions that optimize safety, quality and cost-savings.”

Trigram will be sharing its expertise in the medical travel industry with members of the Center, and values the opportunity to connect with innovators and health strategy experts in value-based health design. Barwick adds, “Trigram will be working with the Center during the next month to survey its innovators regarding medical travel. This information will be useful as the discussion of medical travel expands.”

Cyndy Nayer, president of the Center, says, “Trigram embodies the spirit of innovation and adds a new dimension to our membership roster. Medical travel may present an opportunity to impact healthcare cost trends, and employers are now interested in learning more about the benefits. Trigram represents a resource for education, information and support.”

Trigram maintains extensive partnerships in the industry and understands the complexities of introducing an international benefit.

“Our consultants help employers, health plans, insurers and other stakeholders to develop an effective infrastructure and operational plan for medical travel that will generate significant cost savings while ensuring quality care,” adds Barwick.

Member inquiries: www.vbhealth.org or cyndyn@vbhealth.org.

About Trigram America LLC
Trigram America works with its clients to educate, assess and implement the best possible solutions for medical travel. We further client understanding of medical travel and medical tourism, evaluate the benefits, and create and implement programs to generate optimal savings and employee satisfaction. Visit www.trigramamerica.com

About The Center for Health Value Innovation
“Driving the value of healthcare investments.” Launched in 2007, The Center for Health Value Innovation is a not-for-profit (501c3) organization representing industry stakeholders committed to sharing the evidence that value-based health designs improve health status and reduce health cost inflation. Visit www.vbhealth.org.

DESTINATION

We're currently working on a new DESTINATIONS feature. To access archived DESTINATIONS, simply click on the links below:

This past July 25 marked the 30th anniversary of the arrival of the world’s first in vitro fertilization (IVF) baby, Louise Brown. Dubbed the “test tube baby,” Brown served as both a source of controversy and a beacon of hope to infertile individuals and couples worldwide. Since her birth, nearly 3.5 million IVF-assisted babies have joined Brown on the planet. And with new options in care and treatment, that number is expected to continue climbing at an even higher rate.

According to the 2002 Survey of Family Growth, infertility affects 7.3 million people in the United States. This figure represents 12 percent of women of childbearing age, or 1-in-8 couples. Approximately one-third of infertility is attributed to the female partner, one-third attributed to the male partner, and the remaining one-third is caused by a combination of problems in both partners or is unexplained.

Rising costs, lengthy wait times, limited insurance coverage, and denial of services due to age or other factors, are driving more and more Americans, and others worldwide, to go abroad to get pregnant.

Germany, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, Cyprus, and the Czech Republic are just a few of the many countries now doing their best to attract IVF patients to their fertility clinics.

According to Ira Nissel, CEO of IMS Global Limited (www medicaltourismforyou.com), his organization treats patients from “mostly Canada, Britain, Nigeria, Cyprus, and Eastern European countries.” He notes that while cost is a major appeal to patients, so are success rates.

Equipped with the latest equipment and highly skilled physicians, international IVF centers tout high success rates. However, prospective patients should look closely at success rates when choosing a destination because data can be collected and interpreted in many different ways.

Other factors influencing patient satisfaction with IVF treatment include the atmosphere and state of the facilities, staff attitude, and additional options, including the ability to choose the ethnicity of the egg donor.

For example, Star Hospitals (www.starhospitals.net) a North American healthcare service, provides patients the opportunity to choose egg donors from specific parts of the world. Factors such as physical appearance and family medical history can be included as part of the consideration.

According to an online poll conducted by Infertility Network UK (), respondents who had sought treatment abroad reported an “88 percent level of satisfaction.”

According to the same poll, “among those who were dissatisfied, 47 percent experienced problems due to language and communication difficulties and 37 percent due to unregulated practice.”

Prospective patients also need to consider that treatment times can be quite lengthy, often lasting five weeks.

Asia’s biggest landmark healthcare congress – Global Health Conference (GHC) 2009—Announces Its Agenda:How Should Future Models in Healthcare Delivery be Re-Tooled to Handle Disease Management?

Disease management will directly impact the future models of care. But what shape and form these models will take is of question. Will we see more of specialized hospitals? If so, where will they be located? How will innovative ‘disruptive’ technologies help the future healthcare cities and hospitals cater to and deal directly with new disease management?

The future of healthcare delivery lies mostly in disease-based intervention programs. The healthcare cities and hospitals of the future will greatly benefit from a clearer understanding of how to effectively integrate disease management into future facilities and core competencies to be built.

Another contributing factor that will shape future care models is the growing number of highly valued patients globally – many of whom are crossing international borders in search of quality care and access. How should hospitals convert their centers of excellence to cater to this growing sector? How can they adequately build capacity and expertise to ensure they are able to meet new and growing demands?

Leaders in global healthcare will be tackling these issues head-on at Asia’s biggest landmark healthcare congress, GHC 2009, which will feature two co-located events, “Healthcare Cities & Hospitals of the Future” and “Crossing International Borders” (February 23-26, 2009, Singapore).

Attn: Ms Catherina Koh
Conference Director
Magenta Global Pte Ltd
DID: (65) 6391 2539
Email: catherina.koh@magenta-global.com.sg with subject code “GHC-MTT”

Healthcare Travel Congress set to tackle major issues in medical tourism industry
Text Box:

DUBAI - Major issues relating to the $50 billion global medical tourism industry are to be discussed by international experts in Dubai this autumn at the world’s first global congress dedicated to the subject. Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress 2008 will take place at the Al Bustan Rotana Hotel in the emirate from November 2-4, and organizers have revealed there has been unprecedented interest from medical professionals and institutes across the world looking to participate.

“It’s been simply overwhelming the caliber of people wanting to take part in the event,” says Sietske Meerloo, marketing manager at IIR Middle East. “Medical tourism is one of the fastest growing industries in the health and tourism sector, and because of Dubai’s position as a global hub, everyone knows that the Healthcare Travel exhibition in November is the place where deals will get done.” She adds, “We’re seeing big names and less well known health providers in the industry from all over the world signing up to take part.”

Medical tourism is expected to become a $100 billion dollar industry within the next four years, and countries in developing parts of the world are increasingly looking at ways to adapt their health systems to attract business.

However, the phenomenon of patients crossing borders to receive treatment in foreign lands for any type of condition one cares to imagine is not without risk.
Issues are being addressed as quickly as patients are being treated. These issues can range from whether small private clinics in Thailand have received appropriate international accreditation to treat foreign patients to whether there’s a negative impact on a local health service’s ability to treat local patients.

Meerloo indicated the healthcare travel event is the ideal platform to address these issues and generate solutions to them. “Obviously there are huge networking opportunities for participants, but a major element of the event is to address the major issues,” she says. “Whether it’s international accreditation or bioethics, healthcare travel is all about tackling these issues head-on.”

Although there are many issues to be discussed, the positive outlook for the medical tourism industry is apparent. It’s an exciting time for the sector, and as more countries offer their services to foreign patients and more insurance firms enter the market, the range of treatments on offer becomes broader.

This fact hasn’t been lost on the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is keen to boost the number of foreign patients already visiting the country. Nasser Khalifa Al-Budoor, the assistant undersecretary for International Relations and Health Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Health, suggested the country is set to become a popular destination for health tourists.

“We don’t have exact figures on the number of people coming for treatment yet, but numbers are increasing for health tourism,” he says. “They trust our clinics for treatment. We have a good product with good pharmacies. The cost of medication and treatment is high, and people looking for lower costs are now coming to Dubai,” he added.

For further information please contact:
Peter Donnelly
Science Correspondent
Life Science Division
IIR Middle East
T: +971 4 407 2743
M: +971 50 429 7105
peter.donnelly@iirme.com