I must applaud this company for their transparency as they answer US News and World Report. Unfortunately, it is the sad truth about most medical tourism companies springing up left and right all over the internet as of late. Perhaps at first read, the two comments that I highlighted in bold italics does not strike you as bothersome. But read it again and think about it. They don’t mention accreditation or track record or relationship or even low infection rates when speaking of the hospitals that they have chosen to work with… to where they will send unsuspecting and trusting patients, real people, to have major surgery or other procedures performed. They mention low prices so that the company can garner their commission on the procedure from the hospital, which of course, is only paid if the patient actually has the procedure performed. So, the incentive is to book the patient so payment can be achieved.
Also, it is blatantly obvious that the skill and reputation of the surgeon, who, let’s be clear about this, is REALLY the major factor in the satisfactory performance of the procedure, is left up to the hospital (that will pay a commission) in the hopes that the hospital has performed due diligence and signed on a surgeon of high caliber… and I hope speaks English (for those providers they might be contracting with across borders.) Here is the link to the page, followed by the excerpt of the article….
http://health.usnews.com/articles/health/special-reports/2008/05/01/saving-on-surgery-by-going-abroad.html?PageNr=4
In a sign of market forces at work, a handful of American hospitals have struck deals with North American Surgery, a Canadian company formed last August to match U.S. hospitals in Kansas, Michigan, New York, Oklahoma, and Washington that are willing to provide certain procedures inexpensively with American patients who need them. Only travel and lodging are extra. Hip or knee replacement or heart-bypass surgery is $14,000; weight-loss surgery is $10,000 or $15,000. The service is free; the company is paid by the hospitals.
Agreeing to offer low prices is mostly what qualifies hospitals to make the list, says Richard Baker, the entrepreneur behind North American Surgery. He says he also makes use of HealthGrades.com, a service that gives hospitals one, three, or five stars for performance. But in the latest ratings, Oklahoma Heart Hospital, one of those on Baker’s roster, gets one star (“poor”) for bypass surgery death rates in the hospital, at 30 days, and at six months. Baker doesn’t concern himself with physicians’ performance; he relies on the hospitals to find good surgeons and monitor them.
Tags: accredited hospitals, hospital, mckinsey report, medical tourism, medical travel, stark laws, surgery, US News and World Report
