Seeking
Healthcare Abroad
In the new world of medical tourism,
hundreds of
thousands of U.S. residents are going overseas for healthcare
Posted on Sun, Sep. 30, 2007
BY JOHN DORSCHNER
jdorschner@MiamiHerald.com
Hammered by lack of insurance and
high prices for healthcare, many Americans are looking overseas
for care.
No
one has exact numbers, but the new Medical Tourism Association,
based in West Palm Beach, estimates that hundreds of thousands
of Americans are now traveling out of the country for care.
Prime
example: Madeline Del Sol of Pembroke Pines. With no insurance,
she needed extensive dental work, including an implant,
root canals and fillings replaced. South Florida dentists
gave her estimates of $11,000 and $13,000.
A
Colombian friend suggested she go to Barranquilla, and recommended
a dentist. Del Sol was impressed by how warmly she was treated.
"I felt like a human being. In the United States, I'm
just a dollar sign."
She
had a bone implant, two root canals and 13 old fillings
replaced for $2,000. The work was superb, she said. "It's
probably the best experience I've ever had with doctors."
Still,
in the world of medical tourism, it is a matter of buyer
beware. Earlier this summer, a woman in Royal Palm Beach
died from complications of gastric bypass surgery in Mexico,
according to the Palm Beach Post.
Stephan
Baker, a cosmetic plastic surgeon in Coral Gables, said
he's treated two patients who suffered overseas disasters
-- a tummy tuck done in Panama that resulted in a fluid
build-up in the abdomen and a tummy tuck done in Costa Rica
that ended up with "a pretty significant infection."
Those
patients may have saved money on the front end, Baker said,
but the resulting problems would have caused them huge post-operative
expenses that could have been much more than the savings.
For
some years, dental work and plastic surgery have been the
primary healthcare reasons for going to Latin America, but
with the graying of the baby boomer generation and the number
of uninsured climbing toward 50 million, Americans' interest
in Latin America healthcare is broadening.
"What's
mostly on the increase is the complexity of surgeries, "
said Carole Veloso, chief executive of the CIMA San Jose
Hospital in Costa Rica.
"People
are now actually asking about heart surgery, orthopedics
and a lot of gastric bypass surgery or banding" of
the stomach.
Veloso
said gastric bypass in San Jose can be done for about $7,000,
not including travel costs -- a huge reduction over the
$20,000 to $30,000 it's likely to cost in South Florida.
CIMA
is part of a chain owned by the Dallas-based International
Hospital Corp., which is dedicated to maintaining U.S. quality
standards at its eight hospitals in Mexico, Brazil and Costa
Rica.
While
most of its patients are local, CIMA Chief Operating Officer
Clifton Orme said the chain is working hard to gain accreditation
through Joint Commission International, a sister organization
of the group that accredits U.S. hospitals.
Such
approval could take several years of preparation. In Latin
America, the commission has so far accredited just 11 hospitals
in Brazil.
For
consumers, another possibility is seeking out an overseas
facility with links to the United States. Johns Hopkins,
for example, has working relationships with four hospitals
and clinics in Latin America. The University of Miami is
working to set up its own links, starting with Cartagena,
Colombia, where several UM-trained doctors practice.
"There
are great physicians everywhere in the world, " said
Eduardo de Marchena, director of UM International Medicine
Institute. "But it is very difficult to know where
you are going to find quality."
Trying
to bring order to that uncertain marketplace is the not-for-profit
Medical Tourism Association.
Its
goals include controlling standards and credentials, protecting
"the reputation of medical tourism from disreputable
hospitals" and creating "a comprehensive Web portal
for people to learn about medical tourism."
"A
lot of people are trying to fill this market, " said
John F. P. Bridges, a Johns Hopkins professor who is on
the MTA's advisory board.
"Far
too many of them are dot-com entrepreneurs" seeking
a new business. "I call them vultures."
Bridges,
an economist, said many details need to be worked out --
guidelines about quality, healthcare information and much
more -- but he sees a certain inevitability in moving to
a global healthcare system.
"Mexico
isn't a third-world country when it comes to healthcare,
" Bridges said. "If someone's going to say it's
a spin of Russian roulette when you go south of the border,
I don't think that's the case . . . Every other market has
embraced globalization, why not healthcare?"
Overseas
healthcare simply presents consumers with another choice,
Bridges said, and they should research doctors and facilities
overseas the same way they would in the United States --
looking for credentials, board certifications of doctors
and word-of-mouth recommendations.
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Recent Comment
I
had a similair experience in Bogota Colombia. Had price
quotes...
Comments
I had a similair experience in Bogota Colombia. Had price
quotes from $10K to $13K in Miami for Dental work; had it
done in Bogota for $2600 out the Door and that included
Lodging, Airfare, Food ect.I might add the attention and
quality of the work was first class. I would recommend a
trip like this to anyone looking for High quality medical
work at very reasonable prices. If you are thinking about
it, think no more, Go For It!
Posted by: Miami Mike
10/6/2007 10:50 PM |