Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

According to "Josep Woodman" well known medical tourism expert who has recently written a book on Medical Tourism" called "patient beyond borders" JCI (Joint Commission International ) accredited public and private hospitals around the world has increased by nearly 1,000 percent. Up from a mere 27 hospitals and health care organizations with that accreditation in 2004 to 250 Healthcare Institutions in 2009 . As of now over 250 such entities in 36 countries have now been accredited by the JCI. This extremely high standard of “American accreditation” now instills a new level of confidence in US citizens seeking affordable health care alternatives abroad.

In an interview to travel talk radio, Woodman emphasized that Medical travel has come as a viable alternative for Americans amidst the spiralling healthcare cost.

Explaining how medical tourism has now evolved into a trend,Woodman claims that these are the same accreditation agencies that accredit the best hospitals in this country: Harvard, JohnsHopkins, Mayo Clinic, Duke Medical Center. This has now allowed other hospitals to participate, as long as they can show that they are up to exactly the same standards that are demanded over at an American hospital. So, that gives Americans a huge amount of comfort that these hospitals have got kind of a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval for their hospitals as well, whether it’s in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, or Singapore, or Bangkok or India

Saritha Rai of globalpost points out in a recent post that US healthcare outsourcing to Indian continues unabated as US continues to debate and discuss their healthcare reforms.

Several American patients have been severely hit by the recession,with more and more employers cutting down their employees healthcare cost. American Patients are increasingly looking forward to coming down in some of the Indian medical tourism Hubs like Bangalore and Mumbai for getting treated.

She gives an example of " Seaver-Davis", a family mediator and teacher, who traveled halfway across the world from Greensboro to Bangalore, where Wockhardt’s Hospitals surgeons removed the loose implants from a previous surgery in his knee and replaced them with fresh implants.
The surgery cost $11,000, a bargain-basement price that was a quarter of what hospitals in North Carolina were quoting. “If more people knew about the quality of medical care here, American hospitals would go out of business,” said Seaver-Davis.

Gallup found that 29 percent of respondents would consider traveling to non-U.S. destinations for a major problem or procedure, 24 percent would seek cancer diagnosis and treatment overseas, 15 percent would travel for orthopedic procedures, 14 percent would go abroad for heart treatment and 10 percent would travel to get plastic surgery.

The poll concludes that the uninsured are the most interested in medical tourism options, with 37 percent of uninsured respondents saying that they would consider cancer care overseas. Only 22 percent of those with health insurance shared this sentiment.

Gallup says the survey results indicate that the increasing cost of medical care in the United States and large numbers of uninsured is making medical tourism a viable option.

"If strides in insurance reimbursements, overseas hospital quality, and affordability continue, it will be an increasingly attractive option for Americans," Gallup says. "The data suggest the estimated population of 48 million Americans without health insurance are motivated by costs and would be more likely than those with health insurance coverage to consider seeking medical care from alternative sources."

Americans from Mid Western region are the least willing to consider medical treatment abroad. Westerners are the most open to Medical Tourism,while Southerners are also below average in their enthusiasm for medical tourism, with the exception of hip or knee replacement.