Hospitals See a Drop in Non Insured Patients

According to a recent report in Nytimes there has been a slow down in paying patients or in other words patients without insurance.

While the full effects of the downturn are likely to become more evident in coming months as more people lose their jobs and their insurance coverage, some hospitals say they are already experiencing a fall-off in patient admissions.

"Some patients with insurance seem to be deferring treatments like knee replacements, hernia repairs and weight-loss surgeries — the kind of procedures that are among the most lucrative to hospitals. Just as consumers are hesitant to make any sort of big financial decision right now, some patients may feel too financially insecure to take time off work or spend what could be thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses for elective treatments."

“The numbers are down in the past month, there’s no question about it,” said Dr. Richard Friedman, a surgeon at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York, although he said it said it was too early to call the decline a trend.

While the drop-off in patient admissions may still seem relatively slight, hospital executives and consultants say it is already having a profound impact on many hospitals’ profitability.

For more coverage on the Economic impact on Hospitals and healthcare click here

Wall Street Journal Bullish on Medical Tourism To India

WSJ in a recent published article feels that the only one sector totally unaffected by the recent economic downturn is the Medical Tourism Industry .In fact the WSJ in its artcile claims that increasing healthcare costs are forcing many US Companies to outsource healthcare both elective ad serious surgeries to india.

Earlier medical tourism specially to India was dominated by "uninsured patients" or patients that did not have insurance cover for surgeries like Knee Replacement,Hip Surgery. However in a development that could have far reaching for Indian Corporate Hospitals like Wockhardt Hospitals and Apollo, insured patients too will be coming to India for medical treatements

Next month, Apollo Hospitals, India's biggest health-care company, will for the first time treat employees of a non-Indian company, Wisconsin-based Serigraph Inc., for certain elective procedures.

The costs will be picked up by Serigraph's insurer, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield. Employees will receive travel and concierge help, including free plane tickets for patient and companion, plus post-operative care upon return to the U.S. There will be no co-payments.

It's a trial program, but the economic benefits aren't in doubt: A cardiac bypass can cost about $100,000 in a U.S. private hospital. On a purely financial basis, it's enormously appealing. The U.S., don't forget, is where soaring employee health-care costs have helped drive the auto industry into the ground.

"They desperately need to cut costs. And what's true for auto makers is true for corporate America," says Vishal Bali, chief executive of Wockhardt Hospitals, one of Apollo's India-based rivals and a leading Indian Super specialty Hospital.

About 150,000 foreigners sought elective medical treatment in India last year. The numbers have been rising by 15% a year as foreigners gradually come to understand and realize that India's just fine for joint replacements and root canals.

Turkey to Hold First Medical Tourism Fair from 26th-1st March,2009

Turkey has primarilty attracted medical tourists specially from Europe.Turkey, though is a recent entrant in the Medical Tourism space offers laser-eye surgery, dentistry, cosmetic surgery and fertility treatment apart from building on its strength in therapeutic spas.

German Hospital in Istanbul operates the country's first ISO-certified IVF center, while Memorial Hospital was the first private hospital to receive American JCI accreditation.

Industry experts estimates that the number of medical travellers coming to Turkey is around 200,000 which includes travellers coming in to Spas and wellness centers.Pure play medical tourists coming to turkey for elective or on elective surgery acounts to 10% of that,which is around 20,000.

However the first health tourism fair in Antalya from February 26 to March 1, 2009 promises to position Turkey as the next big thing in Health Tourism.

Turkey is also keen to get medical patients from Europe. Organisers quote a normal EU price of 3,000 to 5,000 euros for laser eye surgery; compared to 1,500 euros in Turkey inclusive of hotels for three nights and airfares

What might suprise many people is that Turkey has 23 JCI accredited hospitals and clinics.Going by the size of the country that is quite incredible.Some Turkish hospitals for are looking towards the British Trent Accreditation Scheme, since the majority of the patients are European.

Eminent Professors from China visits Wockhardt Hospitals to gain knowledge on awake heart surgery

Leading the efforts of making India as a knowledge destination for innovative medical breakthroughs in cardiac care, Wockhardt Hospitals has started to provide knowledge sharing and clinical expertise to renowned foreign doctors.

Prof Shangyi Ji, Professor of Cardiovascular Surgery and President of Sun-Yat-Sen Hospital China and Prof Zhiyong Huang, Professor of Anesthesiology, Cardiovascular Anesthesiologist, Department of Anesthesiology, Sun Yat-Sen Cardiovascular Hospital, China visited Wockhardt Hospitals to observe the medical breakthroughs in awake heart surgeries and gain knowledge under the expertise of Dr. Vivek Jawali who is considered to be the pioneer in awake surgeries.

The healthcare industry in India is evolving from a treatment destination to a centre of excellence setting global benchmarks in medical innovation.

Speaking on the occasion Dr. Vivek Jawali said, “India is transcending new heights as an ideal training ground for cardiovascular procedures and an increasing number of foreign doctors from China and different parts of the world are visiting Wockhardt Hospitals for hands-on learning experience in new technological advancements in cardiac surgery.”

“It’s been our outmost pleasure and a great learning experience to have associated with Wockhardt Hospitals and gain on-ground experience on awake heart surgeries Prof Shangyi Ji said. “We would like to get the best of knowledge on cardiac surgery during from Wockhardt Hospitals and Dr. Vivek Jawali and apply the best practices in our hospital in China, he added.


About Wockhardt Hospitals:

Wockhardt Hospitals Group is amongst the largest healthcare providers in India. The group has a pan India presence of 15 super speciality hospitals in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Rajkot, Surat & Bhavnagar. Wockhardt hospitals provide super speciality care in Heart Care, Brain & Spine, Bone & Joint, Minimal Access Surgery and Women Care. The group has an exclusive association in India with Harvard Medical International and is a treatment destination for patients from US, UK and other European Countries besides South Asia, South East Asia, Middle East and Africa. Wockhardt Hospitals Bangalore and Mumbai have received the highly coveted accreditation from Joint Commission International (JCI), USA. It puts Wockhardt Hospitals on a par with international centers of medical excellence. The certification is a reflection of Wockhardt Hospital’s commitment to stringent quality standards. www.wockhardthospitals.net

Companion Global To Offer Medical Travel Insurance To Medical Tourists

In Probably the first deal of this kind,Companion Global Healthcare has identified Global Protective Solutions, administered by Custom Assurance Placements, and underwritten by underwriters at Lloyd’s of London, to provide affordable travel insurance with defined benefits for medical travellers.

The policy also includes liability options for employers.Companion Global will offer this insurance to US patients only in a network of JCI-accredited international Medical Hospitals.

Benefits tailored to each individual or group specific needs and can include the following options:

• Accidental death and dismemberment

• Medical expenses

• Disability

• Emergency evacuation

• Repatriation of mortal remains

• Additional medical or surgical treatment benefit

• Additional expenses for travel, meals and accommodations

• Family coordination

• Residence modification

• Loss of reproductive function


Recently Companion Global and Wockhardt Hospitals,India announced a tie up for treating insured American Patients at their JCI accredited facilty at Bangalore and Mumbai.Under this agreement all american insured under Bluecross Blueshield of South carolina one of the largest healthcar insurers in the US could now get treated at Wockhardt Hospitals.

Medical Tourism:The Next Outsourcing Boom

In today's times of economic gloom, with companies spending more time on their bailout packages rather than improving their bottomlines,One Industry that shines amidst all these uncertain times is the "Medical Tourism Industry.

A recent forecast by Deloitte Consulting published in August 2008 projected that medical tourism originating in the US would increase over ten times than what is it currently,in the next decade. An estimated 750,000 Americans outsourced their health care in 2007, and the report estimated around 1.5 million US patients would be medical tourists who would be getting their surgery done abroad.

This outsourcing will be broadly led by low cost of healthcare in the developing countries, excellent infrastructure in terms of medical and surgical care,the long waiting time in their local markets coupled with Insurers that do not cover certain surgeries.

While this should be great news for Super Specialty Hospitals in India,Thailand,Singapore,this growth in medical tourism has the potential to cost US health care providers billions of dollars in lost revenue.

The mostPopular medical Tourism Hubs are Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica, India,Jordan, Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and recently, Saudi Arabia, and UAE. Out of all these countries India holds a huge advantage due to the large presence of Doctors who are very well versed in English. However many countries are now havin interpreters to assist visitors unable to converse in their local language.

Cosmetic surgery medical tourism destinations include: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Turkey. In South America, countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia lead on plastic surgery.Bolivia and Colombia have become the leaders in plastic surgery.According to the "Sociedad Boliviana de Cirugia Plastica y Reconstructiva", more than 70% of middle and upper class women in the country have had some form of plastic surgery.

Welcome to the Medical Tourism Blog

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