affordable dental and medical care, and as the nation’s employers, health plans, insurers, and third party administrators evaluate opportunities for introducing medical travel into benefits packages, networks of international providers have been established. Consumers should look for some key benchmarks when identifying a qualified medical travel company:  Quality healthcare: A medical travel company with an explicit mission to provide access to accredited hospitals, clinics and providers carrying Joint Commission International (JCI) or equivalent accreditation  Broad network and service offering: geographic choice, more options for treatment and preferred destinations  Transparent, cost-effective plans with demonstrated savings  Safety: personal and medical safety in


all provider locations  Premium experience: focus on the small details that contribute to a medvical traveler’s ultimate level of satisfaction  Flexibility and willingness to create customized solutions  Simplified billing  Financial stability  Deep healthcare experience, solid infrastructure.


ESTABLISHING A US FOOTPRINT What constitutes a top-rated hospital for inclusion in a domestic network? At minimum, each hospital must be in the top decile in terms of overall quality as rated by The Delta Group (http://www. TheDeltaGroup.com) - and score highly compared with other ratings agencies. By selecting high quality providers and tracking their outcomes, a network can best optimize the utilization of a medical travel program. This focus relies upon the use of both external and internal quality criteria in selecting provider partners. Consumers are advised to


look for stringent evaluation criteria, including the review of major areas such as hospital accreditation, patient flow, nurse-to-patient ratios, quality improvement programmes, staffing and other performance-related activities. Examine the network’s benchmarks for travel coordination, including


«Quality domestic networks should offer greater transparency and greater consumer choice while providing significant savings for health stakeholders»


transfers, hotels, and other concierge services. Networks should offer patients a vast array of surgical options including:  Orthopaedic  Bariatric  Cardiology  Cyber Knife (Radiation Therapies)  General Surgery  Neurological Quality domestic networks should


offer greater transparency and greater consumer choice while providing significant savings for healthcare stakeholders. Domestic networks should mirror rigorous international standards, with Joint Commission accredited hospitals here in the United States and JCI-accredited institutions throughout the world. Patients will benefit from


experienced care support through world-class concierge services assisting throughout the HIPAA- compliant process, from the gathering of an individual’s medical history to scheduling procedures, arranging travel and lodging, and coordinating post- surgical, follow-up care. Whether a medical traveller


chooses to use distant locations such as Singapore or India or opts to stay closer to home at destinations within the United States or nearby countries including Mexico or Costa Rica, coordination of care should be handled by professionals who are sensitive to cultural, racial, linguistic,


religious, age, gender, and disability concerns.


Individual wellbeing should be the overriding concern for maintaining patient dignity, and ultimately, satisfaction. ■


AH 84 www.lifesciencesmagazines.com


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72  |  Page 73  |  Page 74  |  Page 75  |  Page 76  |  Page 77  |  Page 78  |  Page 79  |  Page 80  |  Page 81  |  Page 82  |  Page 83  |  Page 84  |  Page 85  |  Page 86  |  Page 87  |  Page 88  |  Page 89  |  Page 90  |  Page 91  |  Page 92  |  Page 93  |  Page 94  |  Page 95  |  Page 96  |  Page 97  |  Page 98  |  Page 99  |  Page 100  |  Page 101  |  Page 102  |  Page 103  |  Page 104  |  Page 105  |  Page 106  |  Page 107  |  Page 108  |  Page 109  |  Page 110  |  Page 111  |  Page 112  |  Page 113  |  Page 114  |  Page 115  |  Page 116  |  Page 117  |  Page 118  |  Page 119  |  Page 120  |  Page 121  |  Page 122  |  Page 123  |  Page 124  |  Page 125  |  Page 126  |  Page 127  |  Page 128  |  Page 129  |  Page 130  |  Page 131  |  Page 132  |  Page 133  |  Page 134  |  Page 135  |  Page 136  |  Page 137  |  Page 138  |  Page 139  |  Page 140  |  Page 141  |  Page 142  |  Page 143  |  Page 144  |  Page 145  |  Page 146  |  Page 147  |  Page 148  |  Page 149  |  Page 150  |  Page 151  |  Page 152  |  Page 153  |  Page 154  |  Page 155  |  Page 156  |  Page 157  |  Page 158  |  Page 159  |  Page 160  |  Page 161  |  Page 162  |  Page 163  |  Page 164  |  Page 165  |  Page 166  |  Page 167  |  Page 168  |  Page 169  |  Page 170  |  Page 171  |  Page 172  |  Page 173  |  Page 174  |  Page 175  |  Page 176  |  Page 177  |  Page 178  |  Page 179  |  Page 180  |  Page 181  |  Page 182  |  Page 183  |  Page 184  |  Page 185  |  Page 186  |  Page 187  |  Page 188  |  Page 189  |  Page 190  |  Page 191  |  Page 192  |  Page 193  |  Page 194  |  Page 195  |  Page 196