Spurred by economy, medical tourism poised for breakout in '09

By Kathleen Koster        

February 1, 2009

Currently, approximately 750,000 U.S. employees are traveling outside our borders to receive lower-cost health care services - generally surgeries - in foreign hospitals, and experts predict the downward economy and climbing patient responsibility for health care costs will combine to make medical tourism even more common.

"I am a firm believer that 2009 will be the year of medical tourism in the United States," affirms Jonathon Edelheit, president of Medical Tourism Association.

"With the severe economic crisis we are in and severe health insurance crisis, employers and consumers simply cannot afford to overlook the significant 50% to 90% savings that medical tourism has to offer. As employers start raising deductibles for health insurance, this simply makes medical tourism incentives much more attractive to patients."

Indeed, research shows that the average plan deductible for single coverage now is more than $1,000.

Further, knee replacement surgery (one of the most popular within the United States) ranges in cost from $40,000 to $50,000, yet can be performed in Costa Rica for about $10,000.

With such fiscal realities, employers are beginning to partner with medical tourism vendors to help their employees achieve the significant savings of receiving medical care abroad.

One such company is USNOW, which recently employed the benefits of Surgical Trip for its thousands of workers.

Surgical Trip - in conjunction with the Medical Tourism Association and medical tourism firm Surgical Travels - facilitates domestic and international health care options to employer-clients.

USNOW, a patient advocacy firm founded in 1994, offers its employees limited medical plans, and more complex, costly procedures were not included in the company's benefit plan.

By employing Surgical Trip, USNOW will be paying around $14,000 for surgeries like knee replacements and dental surgeries, including travel expenses, with no out-of-pocket cost for employees.

USNOW President David Lindsey is optimistic about the change.

"We think we'll be on the cutting edge by using surgery abroad, as opposed to sites within the United States," he says.

Experts predict that as more employers find themselves financially squeezed, many will begin to look to medical tourism options to cut the bottom line - something they might not have considered a few years ago when business was profitable.

When asked whether he had been influenced to begin the project in light of a flailing economy, Lindsey answered with a definitive yes.

Treated 'like queens and kings'

For employers that embrace medical tourism, the next hurdle is getting employees to do the same - overcoming misperceptions about the quality of foreign facilities and providers, and assuaging fears about language and cultural barriers during a time when patients are vulnerable.

However, some experts say, it may not be as hard of a sell as some employers might think.

All of the hospitals that Surgeons and accredited by the Joint Commission International. Their facilities and caregivers have been fully examined by the qualified facilitator…. HOWEVER, make sure your facilitator is “qualified” by contacting the Medical Tourism Association. There are dozens of companies calling themselves “facilitators”, however only a handful have actually met the accreditation standards set forth by the

Staph infections - a common adverse effect from surgery - are markedly fewer (by about 50% to 60%) overseas compared to in the United States.

"If you dig down you find that these [medical sites] are accredited by the same agency that inspects and accredits US Hospitals, and the majority have received and maintained far higher scores  than many U.S. facilities," Schafer says.

To help communicate the safety and savings of using Surgical Trip, Surgical Travels provides employees with brochures explaining example rates of savings, videos of foreign hospitals and physicians, and testimonials by other members.

USNOW also plans to send letters to workers' homes for those who would have surgery in the future.

However, Jack Schafer, president of Surgical Travels, says “word of mouth will be the most powerful communication tool for medical tourism. Once a medical tourism patient returns and share their experiences around the water cooler, their co-workers will realize they'll be treated like queens and kings due (in part) to the doctor/nurse-patient ratio.  There simply is no comparison… these International hospitals are being run by acknowledged institutions such as Harvard, The Mayo Clinic, and Johns Hopkins, and the quality of care and service in these developing economies allows for literally twice the service at half (or less) the price.  He continues “add to that the fact that many truly advanced procedures can be practiced and delivered outside of the USA, and ANY surgery that is not an emergency and time critical, should be considered… ”.