Overseas Under a Knife :Nytimes Features Wockhardt Hospitals as one of the Important Medical Travel Destinations

Thursday, June 11, 2009

According to a recent editorial in New York times "Overseas Under the Knife" Wockhardt Hospitals has been featured as one of the alternative medical tourism destinations abroad. Commenting on the rising healthcare cost coupled with the long waiting times for critical procedures and surgeries,It lists Indian Hospitals as one of the most traveled destinations by US patients

"One consequence of the high cost of medical care in the United States has been the rise of medical tourism. Every year, thousands of Americans undergo surgery in other countries because the allure of good care at half the price is too good to pass up.

"Average total fees at well-regarded hospitals like Apollo and Wockhardt in India are 60 percent to 90 percent lower than those of the average American hospital, according to a 2007 study by the consulting group Mercer Health and Benefits (where Dr. Milstein is affiliated). Even compared with low-cost American hospitals, the offshore fees are 20 percent to 50 percent lower"

Typically, they are people who have either no health insurance or meager coverage. Though not poor enough to qualify for Medicaid, they cannot afford a good health plan. But lately, even some people with good coverage have been encouraged to take advantage of cost savings abroad.

A few pioneering American insurers like Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina and self-insured employers like the Hannaford Brothers supermarket chain sent American doctors to evaluate foreign hospitals. Favorably impressed, they now offer payment for travel expenses and cash incentives as high as $10,000 for choosing offshore hospitals.

For very costly operations like open heart surgery or hip joint replacement, savings far exceed these payments. That is not to say that offshore surgery could substantially lower health care costs. Less than 2 percent of spending by American health insurers goes to the kind of non-urgent procedures that Americans seek overseas. "

Read the full story here

1 comments:

Careful research will reap you rewards when it comes to Medical Tourism. Patients can reduce their research headaches by going through a reputable medical travel company like WorldMed Assist. It can be overwhelming to find the best country/hospital/doctor for the procedure needed. WorldMed Assist only partners with hospitals after multi-day, on-site screening. Many of the top surgeons in their partner network were trained in the U.S., and most hospitals have affiliations with renowned US medical centers such as Johns Hopkins and Harvard Medical. Hospitals are squeaky clean, and all their patients have rated their overseas accommodations as five star. Visit Worldmed Assist for more on Wockhardt Hospitals.

Unknown said...
June 12, 2009 at 2:23 PM  

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