Last month, we mentioned a new resource available to those wishing to travel abroad for medical care. All Medical Tourism's site offers a variety of tools to help one determine availability and cost of various treatments. I was so impressed with the site that I contacted the folks behind AMT for more details.
I soon received a reply from Michael Thomas, the company's Chairman and CEO. We met up by phone last Friday, and here's what I learned:
InsureBlog (IB): What was your motivation to put this together?
Michael Thomas (MT): Back in 2000 or 2001, I received a gift certificate for a full checkup in Atlanta. I was impressed and began to make it an annual occurrence. A few years later, I found myself spending more and more time in Bangkok, and while there, check-up time rolled around. I decided to try out a local facility to see how it compared with the one in Atlanta, and my eyes were really opened. For one thing, the checkup in Atlanta cost about $3700 in total; in contrast, the one in Bangkok was only about $450. But the Bangkok facility was much nicer, the exam more thorough, and I had test results in a day instead of a week or more.
I eventually decided to "become a little wiser" and look into this as both a cost- and health-saving technique. So I began meeting with hospital administrators in Bangkok and Singapore, where I picked up a lot of general information on medical tourism, but had some difficulty with more specific kinds of details.
My experience with the Bangkok checkup was that these were more professional services than in the 'States; here, "preventive medicine is immature;" we're more geared to the reactive and the preventive.
IB: That's very interesting. So when you started putting this together, and as you continue to grow, how do you "vet" providers? We've interviewed the folks at Companion Global, who offer similar services, and they use Joint Commission International accredited facilities.
MT: As we sign up new providers we provide a clear listing of each provider in our directory. There, we outline the medical accreditations and if they are a member of the medical tourism association, as well as clearly state each provider's area of specialties. I think that they do their work thoroughly as we seek patient feedback regarding their interactions and satisfaction with providers, and in over two years we have not had a single problematic issue to resolve.
IB: We believe that ObamaCare© will have a negative impact on health care delivery here in the US. What's your take?
MT: Oh, absolutely. In fact, we recently put together a presentation on this issue, where we show that:
■ More employers will implement medical tourism as a method of cost-savings
■ As a result of the sudden increase of newly-insured, waiting times and doctor shortages will grow, making medical tourism even more attractive
■ As Medicare rolls continue to grow while reimbursement levels shrink, more hospitals here will opt out of Medicare altogether, exacerbating the situation
[ed: copies of the full presentation are available; just drop us a line]
It's really a case of simple supply and demand.
Michael, Thank You so much for your time and insights. We'll be sure to pass along any comments and questions from our readers.
I soon received a reply from Michael Thomas, the company's Chairman and CEO. We met up by phone last Friday, and here's what I learned:
InsureBlog (IB): What was your motivation to put this together?
Michael Thomas (MT): Back in 2000 or 2001, I received a gift certificate for a full checkup in Atlanta. I was impressed and began to make it an annual occurrence. A few years later, I found myself spending more and more time in Bangkok, and while there, check-up time rolled around. I decided to try out a local facility to see how it compared with the one in Atlanta, and my eyes were really opened. For one thing, the checkup in Atlanta cost about $3700 in total; in contrast, the one in Bangkok was only about $450. But the Bangkok facility was much nicer, the exam more thorough, and I had test results in a day instead of a week or more.
I eventually decided to "become a little wiser" and look into this as both a cost- and health-saving technique. So I began meeting with hospital administrators in Bangkok and Singapore, where I picked up a lot of general information on medical tourism, but had some difficulty with more specific kinds of details.
My experience with the Bangkok checkup was that these were more professional services than in the 'States; here, "preventive medicine is immature;" we're more geared to the reactive and the preventive.
IB: That's very interesting. So when you started putting this together, and as you continue to grow, how do you "vet" providers? We've interviewed the folks at Companion Global, who offer similar services, and they use Joint Commission International accredited facilities.
MT: As we sign up new providers we provide a clear listing of each provider in our directory. There, we outline the medical accreditations and if they are a member of the medical tourism association, as well as clearly state each provider's area of specialties. I think that they do their work thoroughly as we seek patient feedback regarding their interactions and satisfaction with providers, and in over two years we have not had a single problematic issue to resolve.
IB: We believe that ObamaCare© will have a negative impact on health care delivery here in the US. What's your take?
MT: Oh, absolutely. In fact, we recently put together a presentation on this issue, where we show that:
■ More employers will implement medical tourism as a method of cost-savings
■ As a result of the sudden increase of newly-insured, waiting times and doctor shortages will grow, making medical tourism even more attractive
■ As Medicare rolls continue to grow while reimbursement levels shrink, more hospitals here will opt out of Medicare altogether, exacerbating the situation
[ed: copies of the full presentation are available; just drop us a line]
It's really a case of simple supply and demand.
Michael, Thank You so much for your time and insights. We'll be sure to pass along any comments and questions from our readers.