July 15, 2008 by Atul.

Today’s article in the Workforce Managment, titled “Large Employers Hopping Aboard Medical Tourism” talks about how an organization - Doctors Care based in South Carolina, US - will support medical treatment overseas.

Specific procedures are : heart bypass surgeries, hysterectomies, total knee replacements, total hip replacements and spinal fusions.

Not too much new info for regular readers of this blog. The article ends with a cautionary note for patients.

 Here at PreviMed, we are focused on business-to-business. This news item is in keeping with our projections.

Posted in PreviMed-General | No Comments »

July 14, 2008 by Atul.

IEEE is a well-established brand and represents a large (375,000 members in 160 countries) professional association focused on engineering and technology.

Naturally, we at PreviMed were delighted to be singled out by a blog on its beacon publication IEEE Spectrum which highlighted PreviMed’s presentation at an industry event.

Perhaps the writer was in a hurry, or not very familiar with the concepts around medical tourism. So, to make the post more meaningful, we at PreviMed provided some comments.

To IEEE Spectrum’s credit,  our contributions were quickly added in the comments section of the original post and appear below in entirety:

As the founder of PreviMed, I am really surprised with this post as some key facts are left out and gives the reader an unfair portrayal.

Tekla, I wish you, or someone else from your team, had connected with us before posting, just so we could share with you what we are doing and how it is soooo different from what your post conveys.Health related international travel (aka medical tourism) is not a fad but a strong, growing trend - especially for US patients getting treated overseas.

We all would like to get major medical treatment in our home town, surrounded by friends and family. For many people, this is just not possible, primarily because of the costs involved and these folks have to travel overseas if they want to get better. Their only other choice, as we clearly showed, is not to get any treatment at all and just to live with the diagnosed discomfort/pain.

Currently, these patients are subject to - not always but many times - slick misleading presentations from slimy sales agents.
Patients, wanting to resolve the pain, frequently accept the contract without many other characterizing facts and with price as the only factor.

PreviMed changes this in favor of the patient by giving multiple (and multi-dimensional) options; For instance, a patient in US may get a lower priced bid from a hospital in Asia or Eastern Europe but may choose a higher priced bid from a qualified Latin American hospital because of shorter flights or comfort with the Spanish language etc.
Of course, patient makes this decision and with specific details so that their home physician can be consulted before the choice is made.

An important differentiator for PreviMed is that we work only with internationally accredited hospitals (painstakingly reseached and certified to be world-class). Also, we focus only on non-cosmetic, medically required procedures.

PreviMed’s business-to-business focus is also based on our patient-centric values; Our research has confirmed that this will provide better continuity-of-care and post-surgery follow thru. For these reasons, PreviMed engages only through self-insured businesses and insurance companies.

PreviMed’s vision has been appreciated by many patient advocates and we have been credited for bringing the transparency to this overall process. We have also received kudos from many because PreviMed’s business model is straightforward and unconflicted (not paid by the overseas hospitals).

By the way, while our focus is NOT on costs alone, for almost all patients the cost savings are so enormous that the typical offer will typically accommodate a travelling family member and door-to-door concierge and other patient-centered services - the facilities overseas are also wanting to build a great reputation.

For years now, we, as members, have read IEEE Spectrum cover-to-cover at the first chance and have always appreciated its broad range. I hope that I have contributed to the value of your post.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

July 6, 2008 by Atul.

Last week, PreviMed founders were interviewed by a leading, international periodical. Details are available to those who need but, considering long publishing cycles, we will share the highlights to the rest when the publication date draws near. This is not some weekly glossy that is superficial but instead a scholarly magazine with claims of Barack Obama and John McCain among its readers and contributors.

On the subject of periodicals, Fortune magazine is second to no other. It will host a technology conference, later this month, titled “Brainstorm Tech“. 

We are hoping to hear soon and it will be both an honor and a pleaseure to present, if we are selected. The event is sponsored by McKinsey and we were nominated in by some friends.

In any case, it is good to be recognized and we are honored to have, in our business circles, good friends and caring associates, which is the subject of this post.

Posted in PreviMed-Intro, PreviMed-General, Uncategorized | No Comments »

July 5, 2008 by Atul.

European Union citizens will soon be able to get medical treatment anywhere within the 27-nation bloc, without prior authorization, acording to the recent news items .

Of course, this applies only to the procedures covered in the patient’s home country and the reimbursement only to the extent allowed. So, the main merit from the patient’s persepctive is avoiding the long lines for treatment.

 Only about 10 days ago, the mighty and powerful AMA (American Medical Association) released guidelines indirectly endorsing or at least acknowledging the prevalence and durability of medical tourism as a real trend.

Back in Europe, the Financial Times story reports that UK officials are not happy about the EU decisions will ensure that NHS payment will not go to these expenses.

With our focus limited to what we can handle, we at PreviMed remain in close contact with our US-based customers and have no immediate plans for serving the European market.

Still, this shows that there will soon be an increasing demand for better (read: accredited) hospitals anywhere in the world and US-based insurance companies and other businesses that don’t harness/explore, will miss out the early benefits. 

Posted in trade groups, insurance-companies | 1 Comment »