Medical Travel Today

THIS WEEK IN MEDICAL TRAVEL TODAY
Volume 2, Issue 24
by Amanda Haar, Editor

If consumer happiness is a meaningful standard by which we can judge how the medical travel industry is doing, then, at least according to a recent study conducted by WorldMed Assist, we can conclude that we’re doing well. Very well.

The study, detailed under INDUSTRY NEWS in this issue, found that among surveyed consumers who had completed a medical journey, twice as many rated their international care as superior to their past domestic experiences.

That’s good news for this emerging industry that continues to evolve and gain attention from a variety of groups. One group that will be focusing specifically on medical tourism is the World Stem Cell Summit 2008. Also covered in this issue’s INDUSTRY NEWS, Robin Smith, CEO of NeoStem, will speak to the summit on the significance and growth of medical tourism.

Also recently speaking of the significance of medical tourism was Medical Travel Today's publisher Laura Carabello. Carabello was a featured guest on TravelTalk Media. Click here to hear her interview: http://www.traveltalkmedia.com/TTR_760kfmb.html Finally, we’d like to acknowledge Medical Travel Today's one-year anniversary and thank you, our readers, for your continued interest and support. As always, we welcome your thoughts and story ideas. (And if you’re thinking about sending us a birthday cake, I’m partial to carrot cake.)

Cheers,

Amanda Haar, Editor
ahaar@cpronline.com

Wouter Hoeberechts
CEO, WorldMedAssist

Recently, Swiss Re’s Commercial Insurance announced that it had selected WorldMedAssist (www.worldmedassist.com) as the company’s preferred partner to provide medical logistics to manage the medical travel options for current and future policy holders.

Medical Travel Today had the opportunity to speak with Wouter Hoeberechts, CEO of WorldMedAssist, to learn more about his company and its new relationship with Swiss Re.

Medical Travel Today (MTT): Tell me about your new partnership with Swiss Re and how it came about.

WouterHoeberecths (WH): Yes, we signed a contract with Swiss Re a couple of weeks ago. It’s exciting because it’s the first time a major U.S. insurer committed to being active in medical tourism on a national level. It is the critical step required to enable employers to reduce their medical costs by offering high quality, lower cost medical procedures outside the United States.

As one of the leaders in the medical tourism industry, we are fortunate to have been considered for a partnership by many institutions. Swiss Re sent us a request for proposal (RFP) at the end of 2007. It was a very intensive process. They truly did their due diligence on us spanning more than seven months, and at the end of the day, we were chosen as their partner.

MTT: Can you tell us about the RFP? What were they looking for? How many other companies were in the running

WH: I’m not sure exactly how many companies received the original RFP, but I do know that there were several rounds with strict requirements for each round. In terms of what they were looking for, it was a very, very in-depth and extensive review process.

There were a lot of questions around the vision of our company. What’s our philosophy? Our motto? What do we think the future will look like? They were looking to make sure that we were on the same page now and in the future.

Our focus on customers is absolutely number one with us. We’re committed to doing everything ethically. And that’s not just marketing fluff. We were actually the first ones in the industry to publish a set of ethical guidelines (http://www.worldmedassist.com/medical_tourism_guidelines.htm).

Our service edge comes from making things easy and patient advocacy. Swiss Re asked us a lot of questions in both areas.

They were also concerned about how we select hospitals. They wanted to know that there was a true process and we weren’t working with just anybody that contacted us. I think the fact that we have just five hospitals we work with speaks to the fact that we’re very selective.

Our philosophy behind the small number is that we want to partner with only the highest quality providers, and we want to keep the number limited so that we truly have a partnership with them. We’re not looking for someone to just have a transaction with but rather, a partner who wants to make things better for patients as much as we do.

In fact, in addition to resolving issues on an ad hoc basis, each quarter we work with our partner hospitals to look at specific instances and trends. We tell them where we’d like them to improve and note where they did well. Obviously, we know we can always improve as well so we ask for open feedback.

They’re very receptive to the feedback. After all, they know we have the ears of the patients so they want to listen and make the necessary changes. That entire process was very important to Swiss Re.

Also, we provided a lot of quality data from our partner hospitals. That made Swiss Re very comfortable.

There were also questions around our team. We have an excellent team. We have nurses instead of sales people doing case management, a medical doctor on staff, marketing staff, and communications people. And since earlier this year we’ve had staff targeting the institutional market. The person in charge of this market came to the position with 30 years of experience in the insurance field, so he can speak the language and fully understands the issues of the market.

There was also a lot of discussion about liability protection. How are we protected, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements, and so forth.

My background is in process improvement and strategic management consulting. So our company’s processes are documented, very well organized, and we have a scalable model that’s ready to grow. This is true for our information technology (IT) infrastructure as well. We have proprietary software that allows us to grow quickly.

Plus, there was good chemistry. Right from the start it felt right. I think we all felt like, “Yeah, this is a good fit and we can work together.”

On Swiss Re’s list of “must haves,” we came out on top.

MTT: Are you the only provider their members can work through in order to be covered?

WH: We’re the preferred provider. A client could work with another medical travel company, but we’re the one Swiss Re will refer people to when asked.

Similarly, if a company comes to us looking for a re-insurer, we would refer them to Swiss Re.

MTT: How have things changed for you since the announcement?

WH: Prior to the press release being issued, we received a lot of what I call tire-kicking calls. These were from all players in the institutional market: insurance companies, third party administrators (TPA), brokers, and employers. Since the press release, the volume of inquiries is up, and it’s definitely more than tire kicking. Now these conversations are moving forward and moving quickly.

MTT: Are you finding more insurance companies are open to medical travel?

WH: Definitely. Last year we had a lot of interest but it was at a very basic level. Sort of a ‘what is this thing called medical travel?’ kind of query.

Then at the start of this year, the questions became much more in-depth in nature. They’re asking about rate structures and quality indicators. They are much more serious now. Interest is up and so is understanding.

MTT: Obviously insurance coverage has been an obstacle for consumers, and this new product, to some extent, removes it. I’m interested in your perspective as a facilitator about what other major obstacles still exist for the consumer interested in accessing global care.

WH: I think the biggest obstacle—the issues around liability protection—will resolve itself when the insurance companies get involved. And as we’ve seen, that’s already happening.

Other than that, education is the biggest obstacle. It really is a nascent market that has had a tremendous amount of buzz. However, there are a still a lot of people out there who have never heard of medical tourism or have misconceptions about how it works and what risks are involved.

We need to look at raising awareness and increasing education. The fundamentals of what we do are so good that there really aren’t a lot of changes needed on the execution side. We just need to make sure consumers, employers, insurance brokers, and insurance companies truly get it.

About Wouter Hoeberechts

Wouter Hoeberechts is the CEO of WorldMedAssist. He is an entrepreneur and management consultant specializing in business process. Prior to starting WorldMedAssist, he did management consulting for multi-industry clients such as General Electric, Hewlett Packard, BMW USA, Mercedes Benz USA, and Clorox.

INDUSTRY NEWS

BridgeHealth International, Inc. Partners With Passport Health to Provide Continuum of Care for Medical Travelers

DENVER, CO/BALTIMORE, MD - September, 2008 - Extending its commitment to provide clients with a streamlined continuum of care, BridgeHealth International, Inc. (www.bridgehealthinternational.com) today announced a partnership with Passport Health (www.passporthealthusa.com), the nation’s largest provider of travel medical services. BridgeHealth, a premier service provider to businesses and individuals for the delivery of international medical care, now offers the Passport portfolio of comprehensive pre- and post-travel medical services that include destination-specific travel information, travel medicine immunizations, specialty travel products, and international travel health insurance.

“BridgeHealth is well-positioned to optimize the medical travel experience, providing personalized guidance and expertise that helps individuals to address every aspect of their journey to better health, including options for accessing care prior to leaving the United States and upon their return home,” says Victor Lazzaro, Jr., CEO of BridgeHealth. “This partnership further strengthens our program offering and provides BridgeHealth clients with peace of mind before, during, and after their medical travel excursion.”

Passport Health counsels 60,000 clients each month and has 166 locations nationwide in 35 states. Their Travel Medicine Specialists administer and prescribe vaccinations and medications recommended by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization (WHO), and other world surveillance organizations that constantly monitor outbreaks and other health hazards that affect travelers when they arrive at their destination.

Passport Health is backed by a staff of professionals that includes board-certified physicians and registered nurses who have completed rigorous training in the field of travel medicine and immunology. They will provide BridgeHealth clients with destination-specific counseling and immunizations, medications, specialty travel health products, medical evacuation insurance, travel insurance, passport and visa expeditor services, and any necessary follow-up care and services.

Passport Health Travel Medicine Specialists will:

Assess health history and individual needs based on itinerary
Provide the latest information on health risks, required and recommended immunizations, safety precautions and security tips, and medical evacuation
Discuss precautionary measures for dietary and recreational activities
Administer and prescribe immunizations and medications

According to Fran Lessans, founder and CEO, Passport Health, “We’re proud to align with BridgeHealth and be a part of a medical travel program that always puts patient safety first. The supplementary, end-to-end medical care that Passport Health will provide to BridgeHealth clients takes all the guess work out of the medical travel equation.”

About BridgeHealth International, Inc.

BridgeHealth International, Inc. (BridgeHealth) is the premier service provider in the burgeoning medical travel industry, founded with a vision “to create a trusted bridge to the world of international healthcare.” BridgeHealth serves health plans, insurance carriers, employers, third party administrators, individuals accessing benefits via voluntary benefits plans, health and affinity card programs or Consumer Directed Health Care Plans (CDHP), and individual consumers seeking medical travel options. Visit www.bridgehealthinternational.com.

About Passport Health
Founded in 1994, Passport Health is the largest doctor-recommended provider of vaccines in the nation. They currently operate 166 locations nationwide in 35 states. Passport Health’s services include adult and adolescent immunizations for international travel, back-to-school, immigration and naturalization, military readiness, disaster relief, medical tourism, and bioterrorism response. They specialize in travel vaccinations, like Japanese encephalitis and yellow fever. Vaccine services for employers and schools include on-site clinics for flu, meningitis, and more. Passport Health has provided anthrax vaccinations and smallpox vaccination training and has worked with the U.S. military, Post Office, and Federal employees, and currently runs a 24/7 immunization call center for the Department of Defense. Visit www.passporthealthusa.com

Star Hospitals.net Featured on Employee Benefit Adviser podcast

Ontario, Canada –Rapid access to quality care and treatment at significantly lower costs are key drivers for American and Canadian employers who are beginning to send employers to India, Singapore and Thailand. Kumar Jagadeesan, president of Star Hospitals.net (www.starhospitals.net), a North American healthcare facilitator, shared his views on medical travel as an employee benefits strategy during an in-depth interview for Employee Benefit Adviser’s (EBA) podcast show, Raw Bar: eba.podhoster.com/index.php?pid=8172&cflag=1

“A knee surgery would cost up to about $50,000 in the United States, while it costs $10,000 in India,” Jagadeesan states. “With certain dental or eye surgeries, employees also get a vacation opportunity. People who’ve been in pain for years come back to live a very normal life. It’s an opportunity to get back to a normal life, at an affordable price, within the shortest length of time.”

Employers in the United States are beginning to introduce medical travel as a viable option to their employees. Star Hospitals.net and India-based Star Health and Allied Insurance Company, LTD recently joined in a strategic partnership focused on collaborating with a U.S. and Canadian-based health insurance companies to offer comprehensive, affordable, country specific policy for quality medical care in an international setting.

Star Hospitals.net has carefully selected world-class hospitals for international patients. They are JCI (Joint Commission International) ISO or NABH accredited offering world-class care by highly qualified and experienced doctors. This means similar health care at an affordable price, a true win win option for employers and their employees who seek treatment overseas in countries such as India, Singapore and Thailand. Therefore, tremendous cost savings and quick access to treatments that are cost-prohibitive in the United States will result, and Canadian patients will be able to avoid and escape the long waiting lists in Canada.

“When questioned about the consultation and patient pre-assessment,” Jagadeesan adds, “the beauty of the entire program is that we act as an extension of the hospital, serving as their marketing arm. We do free consultations, walk the patient through every step, and ensure our patients are making very informed decisions.”

From the time that the patient calls Star Hospitals, a doctor will consult with them, evaluate the reports, identify the best doctor for the treatment, negotiate cost on the patients’ behalf, and come back with a few options depending on the choice of the destination and where the patient wants to go.

“We arrange for a teleconference with the patient,” adds Jagadeesan. “We go back and set up an appointment with the doctor for the treatment and also assist patients with making travel plans such as attaining a visa, airfare and accommodations, etc. When the patient arrives, we meet and greet them at the airport, take them to the hospital, and assist them throughout their entire visit.” For those patients who travel with a companion, Star Hospitals has an extensive companion program.

“I think companies need to see this as a great opportunity available for their employees,” Jagadeesan adds. “There’s a huge cost in healthcare spending that can be decreased drastically without any compromise in quality.”

For a free consultation and to speak with one of our doctors, please call our toll free number at 1-888-7827-012

About Star Hospitals
Star Hospitals is a North American healthcare service offering affordable and timely treatment abroad through a network of hospitals throughout India, Singapore, and Thailand. For more information please visit www.starhospitals.net or call 1-888-STAR-012

Industry's First Survey of North American Medical Tourists Commissioned by WorldMed Assist

Concord, CA -- September 2, 2008 -- People from the United States and Canada are leaving their country for medical care, and they come back happy. Very happy.

When respondents were asked to compare care they received in a U.S. hospital with their international experience, there was no contest: of those who had completed a medical journey, twice as many rated their international care as superior. Weighing heavily in this assessment was the care and attention they received from their international medical team, and the extensive array of pre-op testing.

Respondents gave very high satisfaction scores to the professional skill, experience, and competency of their medical team and to the quality of their treatment facility. As testament to their overall satisfaction, 98 percent would consider offering a recommendation of going abroad for medical care to others in a situation similar to theirs.

To better understand why North Americans choose to have medical procedures done in a foreign country, medical tourism company WorldMed Assist commissioned the industry's first in-depth survey of North American patient experiences, querying over 1,200 people who'd contacted the company in the past year. The response rate was over 12 percent. The on-line study was conducted during August 2008 by marketing research expert Right Hand Research.

Survey results clearly point to the need to change the "medical tourism" moniker for the industry: people are overwhelmingly interested in the quality of their medical care, and rank tourism activities a very low priority.

While it was no surprise that a majority of respondents have no medical insurance at all or weren't covered for the procedure they were researching, what was surprising is that a relatively low level of savings would motivate them to consider international health care: nearly 15 percent would be satisfied with a savings under $5,000, and over half fell under the $10,000 mark.

"In a country like the United States, where a hip replacement costs $54,000, such savings can easily be achieved," said WorldMed Assist CEO Wouter Hoeberechts. "Hip replacement in India, for instance, would save a patient more than $40,000 -- including travel and lodging costs -- and would be performed by surgeons at the top of their field in a facility patients rate as five-star."

Although saving money is the primary motivation to engage in medical tourism, credentials of the medical team abroad is the clear determinant for choosing a destination for treatment.

The study also evaluated the performance of medical tourism companies who are clearly doing a good job in facilitating medical travel. These companies, such as WorldMed Assist, connect patients with highly qualified hospitals and doctors, obtain medical evaluations, arrange logistics, and advocate on patients' behalf throughout their journey. The overall satisfaction with medical tourism companies was 95.7 percent.

The study dispels the myth that arranging aftercare is a significant issue associated with medical travel: only two respondents that completed their trips reported this as a concern.

"Evidence of high satisfaction rates in this study will encourage more businesses and insurance companies to continue adopting medical tourism as part of their employee benefit plans," projects Hoeberechts. "People with full healthcare coverage will still be interested in medical travel in order to get access to world renowned specialists and surgeons. People with partial health insurance would be motivated to go abroad for treatment by cost savings."

The survey is available for purchase through this link.

New Medical Tourism Facts 2008 and Figures Report Available

Medical Tourism Facts and Figures 2008 is a business report for anyone interested in this industry. It is not a consumer guide, and not a directory. With no advertising or sponsorship, it is totally independent and will become an annual publication.

By sifting fact from fiction, it provides a market overview, information, and analysis of available figures and outlook for the industry. It looks at the major and minor destination countries and the ’wannabes.’

It offers detail that is not readily available elsewhere.

The report offers a picture of the trends and strategic corporate developments worldwide. It distils the important up-to-date facts into a succinct document.

It explodes the myths of accreditation and the difference between medical and other accreditation. For all international accreditors, it lists all current hospitals and those pursuing accreditation.

Pages 200
Cost £ 600
Author-Ian Youngman, specialist business writer on medical tourism
Email: pinewoodlodge@aspects.net

NeoStem CEO to Speak at the World Stem Cell Summit 2008 Regarding the Significance and Growth of 'Medical Tourism'

NeoStem, Inc., which is pioneering the pre-disease collection, processing, and long-term storage of adult stem cells, recently announced that the Company's CEO, Robin Smith, M.D., M.B.A., has been invited to participate at the World Stem Cell Summit on September 22-23, 2008, on a panel to discuss Medical Tourism.

Many individuals that seek alternative and advanced forms of medical treatment leave their home country each year to seek medical treatment abroad. Their key objectives, according to the McKinsey Quarterly (May 2008), are to obtain advanced technologies and better medical care than they could find in their home country, quicker access to medically necessary procedures, and lower costs for medically necessary procedures.

NeoStem believes it could benefit from medical tourism as, according to the McKinsey Quarterly (May 2008), 40 percent of the people traveling to seek medical treatment travel to the United States. Our network in destination cities in the United States, such as New York, Miami, San Diego, and Los Angeles will afford individuals who live outside the United States easier access to adult stem cell collection centers.

"We have already begun to see international interest as evidenced by a collection performed at a NeoStem center in New York last week on an individual who lives in Dubai," says Dr. Robin Smith, chairman and CEO of NeoStem.

Perhaps more intriguing is the recent Deloitte 2008 Survey of Health Care Consumers, which indicates that medical tourism is set to explode in growth over the next 3 to 5 years for people going outside of the United States to seek medical care. According to Deloitte, whereas in 2007, 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care, it is anticipated that by 2010 this number will grow to 6 million.

Dr. Smith stated, "NeoStem believes that individuals in increasing numbers will seek safe and effective stem cell therapies abroad that are not yet approved in the United States, and many important clinical advances will be in hospitals and clinics outside the United States. We believe that we could gain value from this by including medical tourism in the Company's future business strategy."

Smith adds, “Through NeoStem's efforts to develop our business model of collecting and storing stem cells of concerned and proactive adults, we have made connections with a range of physicians who are developing advanced therapies using autologous adult stem cells outside of the United States and recognize how important it is for people to have readily available and accessible, autologous stem cells for therapies and treatments. We look forward to the World Stem Cell Summit as an opportunity to share the knowledge we've gathered and to help make these medical advances a part of everyday medical practice.”

The World Stem Cell Summit annually brings together representatives from the entire spectrum of professionals involved in the future of regenerative medicine. Dr. Smith will join a panel that includes Dr. Graham Creasey, professor of Neurosurgery, Stanford University Medical Center, to discuss the risk and promise of medical tourism. This year's World Stem Cell Summit is presented by the Genetics Policy Institute and hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Stem Cell Regenerative Medicine Center and the WiCell Research Institute. The Summit takes place at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison, Wis.

About NeoStem, Inc.
NeoStem is managing a network of adult stem cell collection centers in major metropolitan areas in the United States, enabling people to donate and store their own (autologous) stem cells when they are young and healthy for their personal use in times of future medical need. The company has also recently entered into research and development through the acquisition of a worldwide exclusive license to technology to identify and isolate very small embryonic-like stem cells (VSELs), which have been shown to have several physical characteristics that are generally found in embryonic stem cells.

Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, statements regarding the future of medical tourism and NeoStem's participation in that future. Forward-looking statements reflect management's current expectations, as of the date of this press release, and involve certain risks and uncertainties. The company's actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of various factors. Factors that could cause future results to materially differ from the recent results or those projected in forward-looking statements include the "Risk Factors" described in the company's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company's further development is highly dependent on future medical and research developments and market acceptance, which is outside its control.

Contact:
NeoStem, Inc.
Robin Smith, Chief Executive Officer
T: 212-584-4180
E: rsmith@neostem.com
www.neostem.com

Doctations, Inc. Connects Physicians with Pharmacies across the Country
Doctations, Inc. Completes SureScripts® Certification

GARDEN CITY, NY -- Doctations, Inc., developer of unique internet-based medical system DocPatient.com, announced today that it has partnered with electronic prescription information provider SureScripts. The partnership will allow DocPatient.com to further empower its physician-patient relationship utilities by offering secure access to vital patient prescription records. Doctations has completed certification as a SureScripts Certified Solution^TM. Through the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange^TM, operated by SureScripts, DocPatient.com users will now be able to electronically and securely exchange prescription information with community pharmacies.

This includes prescription refill requests, which physicians can receive via their office computer instead of their fax machine. Refill authorizations or denials, can then be electronically communicated back to the pharmacy with a just a few clicks of a computer mouse, thereby eliminating many of the faxes and phone calls associated with the traditional refill process. New prescriptions can also be sent electronically directly to pharmacy computers before a patient ever leaves their physician’s office.

In 2006, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) reported that more than 1.5 million Americans are injured every year by medication errors. In the same report, the IOM recommended that all prescriptions be written and received electronically by the year 2010.

Doctations, which has already integrated services on DocPatient.com for healthcare providers, patients, doctors, medical transcriptionists, and medical billers, provides a secure platform for communication and information retrieval between patients, doctors, and healthcare providers. With the addition of SureScripts, physicians visiting DocPatient.com will be able to find important prescription information they wouldn’t be able to get ahead of time without the service.

“Integrating SureScript’s Pharmacy Health Information Exchange^TM into DocPatient.com’s existing clinical community allows the doctor-patient relationship more efficiency,” said Louis Cornacchia III, M.D., F.A.C.S., and President and CEO of Doctations, Inc. “Having an online prescription service tied in with our existing services brings us one step closer to integrating that relationship.”

About Doctations, Inc.
Doctations^TM Inc., is a company dedicated to creating innovative new, internet-based means of transacting healthcare. The goal is to make healthcare more accessible to patients, and to substantially improve the process of generating medical documentation in all venues of healthcare: the physician’s private office, the physician group’s office, the ambulatory surgery center, and hospitals. We bring users the benefit of electronic medical records without the burden or expense of difficult-to-use software. We also believe that free-market forces with appropriate government regulation is the best means of achieving improved doctor-patient relationships and have concluded that the internet provides an excellent means for achieving this vision for catalyzing change that will improve healthcare for patients and doctors.

For more information, please visit: www.doctations.com.

About SureScripts
Founded by the pharmacy industry in 2001, SureScripts® operates the Pharmacy Health Information Exchange^TM, which facilitates the secure electronic transmission of prescription information between physicians and pharmacists and provides access to lifesaving information about patients during emergencies or routine care. Working collaboratively with health plans, health systems, technology vendors, and health policy leaders, SureScripts is committed to improving the safety, efficiency, and quality of the prescribing process. More information about SureScripts is available at www.surescripts.com.

Author Josef Woodman Appears on Al Jazeera
Josef Woodman, author of Patients Beyond Borders appeared earlier this week on the Riz Khan show on Al Jazeera to discuss medical travel. Al Jazeera is the world's first English language news channel to have its headquarters in the Middle East.

Woodman’s segments may be viewed by clicking the following links:

Part I

Part II

DESTINATION

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

In preparing this issue’s Medical Spotlight on Cardiac Care, we turned to Josef Woodman, author of Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Travel for some insight into the current size and state of the market. As reported in his book, Woodman says: “Although we do not have reliable, aggregated numbers for the international community (nor does any other entity we’re aware of), our research indicates that most U.S. medical travelers seeking cardiac care cross borders for angioplasties and stents. These are comparatively expensive procedures with predictable outcomes and relatively brief diagnostic and recovery periods. Most U.S. medical travelers seek cardiac care abroad due to cost savings (30 to 80 percent, depending upon destination) and sometimes for the quality of care and follow-up. Despite the recent and voluminous media coverage on the subject of organ transplants, less than 1 percent of medical travelers seeking cardiac care cross borders for heart transplant procedures. Patients doing so should only travel to fully accredited hospitals in destinations recognized for quality of healthcare.”

Woodman notes that the most-frequented destinations for cardiac care include India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, and South Korea. Also on that list is the United States. Institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic treat thousands of international patients annually. However, the retail cost of treatments largely limits their patient base to wealthy international patients.

According to Kenneth Maysm, senior director, Hospital Marketing & Business Development at Bumrungrad International in Bangkok, “In 2007 we had about 11,000 outpatient visits and 1,200 inpatient admits by international (ie, non-Thai) cardiology patients. Some of these are tourists who had unexpected heart problems while on vacation in Thailand, but the majority make the trip to Thailand for treatment.” Mays says the number has been rising steadily as more people travel to get better care at affordable costs and with quicker access to good surgeons than they can get in their home country.

Bumrungrad has two cardiac operating theatres, two cardiac catheterization labs, a coronary intensive care ward (CCU), and rehabilitation facilities for cardiac patients. They employ more than 20 cardiac specialists and have received disease-specific accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI) for their myocardial infarction program.

Mays cites the Middle East (mainly the United Arab Emirates [UAE], Oman, and Qatar), Banglades, Unites States, Myanmar, and Ethiopia as the top sources of international heart patients with patients mainly traveling for angiograms, angioplasty (PTCA), bypass surgery (CABG), and diagnostic procedures such as computed tomography (CT scans), expressed sequence tag (EST), and electrocardiogram EKG.

Dr. Michael Moreton, international medical coordinator at the nearby Bangkok Hospital Medical Center, also cites the Middle East as a primary source of the cardiac patients.

“Our biggest number of (cardiac patients) are from the Arab Gulf States, UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Kuwait about 56 percent in all. Other neighbours, Loas, Cambodia V-N, and Myammar, come next. Then Japan and then the western countries, United States about 4 percent and the United Kingdom 3 percent.”

Despite a number of negatives to overcome this year, including the rising price of airline tickets and ‘perceived’ political unrest, Moreton says, “The number of International patients is increasing every year.”

In terms of trends, Bumrungrad’s Mays says, “We are seeing less open heart surgery, more interventional cardiology, and advanced imaging and diagnostic techniques. In the future we will see laser surgery, RF ablation, and other minimally invasive techniques that are becoming important. Further down the road we expect stem cell treatment to play a role, but for heart treatment it is still experimental and not yet proven in clinical studies.”

* Not reimbursable. Note: U.S. charges are list prices. Physician and certain other fees are generally excluded. Prices at non-U.S. hospitals are all-inclusive other than for Panama, which does not include surgeon’s fee. Medicare amounts represent typical reimbursements to hospitals.
Sources: Patients Beyond Borders, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services

A report from TheMcKinsey Quarterly published earlier this year noted that while only 9 percent of the travelers seek lower costs for medically necessary procedures, this segment has the greatest potential for growth. The report also noted that the required savings for uninsured U.S. medical travelers is more than $10,000 -- a number easily achieved with most cardiac procedures.

One major area of consideration for all prospective cardiac care patients is continuity of care. At this point, how international institutions approach the issue varies dramatically. Follow-up care and the need for additional procedures must be taken into consideration, and perhaps with more weight than cost considerations, before deciding to travel or not.

MedTrava to Sponsor The Medical Travel Road Show in Kick-off Locations Dallas and Austin, Texas

Saturday, October 25 through Sunday, October 26, 2008
Dallas, Texas, Hilton DFW Lakes
Saturday, November 1 through Sunday November 2, 2008
Austin, Texas, Renaissance Hotel

Austin, Texas – August 21, 2008 –As the medical tourism industry continues to grow in popularity, healthcare companies have begun to sponsor medical conferences to help increase consumer awareness and understanding of this new trend. MedTrava (www.medtrava.com), a Texas-based medical travel company dedicated to helping patients obtain high-quality, affordable, offshore healthcare in India, recently announced their sponsorship of The Medical Travel Road Show in Dallas and Austin.

“The Medical Travel Road Show is excited to be working with a company of MedTrava’s status and reputation,” states Skip Brickley, CEO of Transmarx, LLC, one of the country's premier conference and trade show producers. “As a leading medical tourism company, MedTrava is a valuable sponsor, and we look forward to working with them.”

The Medical Travel Road Show, a medical tourism expo focused on bringing healthcare information and advice to the masses, features exhibits on medical tourism, healthy living, free health screenings, and more. The show brings together hospitals, providers, medical travel experts, spas, and wellness centers from around the world to offer health education and guidance.

“Given the rising cost of healthcare in the United States, more and more Americans are choosing to travel overseas for their medical treatment. Heart surgery, total hip resurfacing, knee replacements, gastric bypass, dental, and cosmetic surgery are all popular treatments being sought overseas” says Poonam Dhawan, founder and CEO of MedTrava. “With the emergence of 5-star hospitals, with highly qualified doctors, and savings of over 60 to 80 percent, it’s no surprise that nearly a million medical travelers are already heading overseas for treatment. We are excited to sponsor The Medical Travel Road Show, which offers a one-stop venue for consumers to get insight into the medical tourism process, global providers, and international patient experience,” she adds. “Not only consumers, but companies evaluating medical travel will benefit from this first of a kind expo.”

Registration for the Dallas and Austin expos will soon be active. For general questions or assistance with registration, please contact Willie Moreno at 804.266.7422 ext. 7408 or willie@transmarx.com. Admission to Your Medical Travel & Health Expo is $5.00 per person when pre-registering online at www.themedicalroadshow.com. Bloggers, go to blog.themedicalroadshow.com.

About Your Medical Travel & Health Expo
Your Medical Travel & Health Expos are organized to provide consumers nationwide with information about traveling outside the United States for quality medical care at a fraction of the cost. Expos will be held throughout 2009 in cities nationwide. Visit www.themedicalroadshow.com.

About MedTrava
As one of India’s top medical tourism companies with offices in Texas, Hawaii, Bangalore, and New Delhi, The MedTrava Group is dedicated to empowering individuals and organizations in their effort to receive the highest quality healthcare at the most affordable costs. MedTrava connects clients to a network of leading medical experts and facilities, and their hand-selected, rigorously pre-screened, internationally accredited network allows clients to save as much as 70 percent over the cost of comparable procedures in the United States. Visit www.medtrava.com

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”

DUBAI – The Ministry of Health in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is at the forefront of developing the necessary infrastructure to attract medical tourists. That’s according to Nasser Khalifa Al-Budoor, the assistant undersecretary for International Relations and Health Affairs at the UAE Ministry of Health.

“We have a department here establishing this," he said. "We’ll be ready to start receiving patients coming here with their families, whether for plastic surgery, knee replacements, or cardiovascular. We have so many hospitals, with Johns Hopkins, Harvard, some of the biggest names in the world are here doing work."

Al-Budoor acknowledged that in the past the Middle East would never have been considered a destination for medical tourists, but the situation for the UAE had changed completely.

“People would go to London for shopping with their families and receive a check-up or undergo a small operation. Now Dubai is ready for this,” he said. “We have so much to offer now, with certified hospitals from international agencies.”

Health tourism is a global phenomenon that is allegedly worth $50 billion annually depending on who you talk to. The actual size of the industry is up for discussion. This is but one of many issues in an area of medicine that is attracting a huge amount of attention.

These issues are set to be discussed at the Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress 2008 to be held at the Al BustanRotana Hotel in Dubai from November 2-4. SietskeMeerloo, marketing manager at Institute for International Research (IIR) Middle East, indicated that the event is expected to provoke some heated debate.

“There are so many issues relating to medical tourism, and because the area is developing so quickly it’s becoming essential that hospitals, insurers, and policy makers, to name a few, work together closely to streamline processes to cater to this market,” she said. “We’re expecting a great deal of debate at the event, and hopefully we’ll see some practical solutions adopted for many of these issues.”

Medical tourism is already proving to be highly competitive with developing nations offering cheap, quality healthcare. The Ministry of Health in the UAE believes it can find a niche in this market and has endorsed the Healthcare Travel Exhibition & Congress 2008 in which it’s participating.

“I’m really happy to see IIR [highlighting] medical tourism for the first time,” Al-Budoor said. “We have so many hospitals ready to receive patients from abroad.”

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

Health Tourism Development Seminar to Take Place in Dubai

A 5-day seminar on Health Tourism Development will be held in Dubai October 12-16, 2008.The Seminar will be conducted by Constantine Constantinides, M.D., Ph.D., chief executive of healthCare cybernetics.

The Seminar Program can be viewed and downloaded at: www.healthtourismenterprise.com/Documents/Dubai-Seminar-October-2008-V2.pdf