Medical travel and tourism continues to be poked and prodded in the U.S. media and, increasingly, the news is catching up with the most significant trend in the nascent industy.

And that is, that patients can go outside of the United States for high quality medical care at far lower costs than at home is becoming part of how businesses, insurers and consumers — together — are fighting to contain costs for needed healthcare. The May issue of Fast Company covers the topic and the issues it raises, in considerable depth, in an article headlined, simply, Medical Leave. The article is a snapshot of U.S. healthcare at a crossroads:

“The phrase “medical tourism” was once used to describe early retirees jetting in to Bangkok or Bangalore to have a little work done before recuperating on the beach. That image doesn’t jibe with the numbers today. As many as half a million Americans streamed abroad last year in search of affordable alternatives for hip replacements or prostate surgery. And they went not for the postsurgical tanning but for the savings: up to 90% off the going rates in the United States. They went because 47 million Americans lack insurance and can’t pay for surgery to fix a bad back or clogged arteries. Or because they have insurance but can’t begin to pay the soaring deductibles a major surgery entails. They’re fleeing a system that is by far the most expensive in the world and growing more so by the hour, with diminishing returns in quality of care.”

The FastCompany.com article makes it clear — U.S. businesses and insurers are integrating medical travel into healthcare offerings at whatever pace that consumers will accept — and as consumers learn more about healthcare outside the U.S., they accept or even embrace it.

That has also been the experience of Stephanie Sulger, BridgeHealth International vice president, who has been helping patients get the care they need at a cost they can afford for the past six years.

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Just a few years back, medical travel and tourism was the province of a small and select group of hospitals and medical facilities; and the United States was better known as a destination for international patients, not as a country from which patients went elsewhere for care.

Today, the infrastructure of medical travel and tourism is global. Consumers led the way and the medical and business communities have expanded to cater to the growing demand. In that context, BridgeHealth’s announcement of a global network of providers puts it at the leading edge of providing international care but patients in the U.S. shouldn’t be surprised. Providing for increased choice in destinations, facilities, surgeons, doctors and pricing is part of what medical travel *does*, as a phenomenon, as it grows.

– the moderator

DENVER - Responding to the growing demand among employers, health plans and other stakeholders for a comprehensive, “world-class” network of international healthcare centers of excellence, BridgeHealth International, Inc. (BridgeHealth) today unveiled its initial system of providers comprised of over 25 hospitals and 600 physicians, dentistsand health professionals in ten countries. With a focus on serving businesses and individuals for the delivery of international medical care, BridgeHealth developed its World-Class Provider Network™ to offer an extensive range of medical and dental procedures, a wide choice of hospitals and destinations, and options for accessing providers with experience, expertise and high standards of safety.

“The BridgeHealth network is the first-of-its kind in the industry, bringing to the marketplace a best-of-breed option for delivering high quality care and treatments to medical travelers,” says Victor Lazzaro, Jr., CEO of BridgeHealth. “Backed by decades of executive experience in healthcare delivery, BridgeHealth has assembled a network of breadth and depth, with a focus on promoting provider choice and offering a superior client experience. As the recognized leader and innovator in medical travel, we are committed to growing this international system while always maintaining the highest degrees of integrity and concern for quality.”

The BridgeHealth network represents the widest range of choices now available for medical travel, offering patients a vast array of options.

“Some Americans may choose to travel to exotic locations including Singapore or India while others may prefer to be closer to home and opt for Mexico or Panama,” continues Lazzaro. “We offer a broad menu of medical and dental procedures – meeting needs as varied as orthopedic procedures, cardiac surgeries, and bariatric operations. Our goal is to match patients with their location of choice, meet budget expectations, and arrange for the highest quality care available in a specific country. This is all made possible by assembling the most extensive network in the industry.”

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