The decline of the value of the American dollar vs. other major world currencies has prompted more than one prospective medical tourist to ask me if “it is still worth it” to go out of the country for medical care. The very short answer is: “Yes, it is still worth it.” The dollar has not declined nearly enough to offset the enormous gap between prices for medical services in the United States and medical tourism destination countries.

But it is worth a closer look, because currency exchange rates do have an impact on costs of medical travel to and from different countries.

The dollar has declined sharply in the past two years against other major world currencies, which generally has the effect of making foreign goods and services more expensive for people who are spending dollars, whether in the U.S. or when they travel abroad. In a feature article in the New York Times on April 21, “If Only the Dollar Were Stronger,” Americans who are living overseas talked about how the fall of the dollar has eroded their buying power. Healthcare costs, the article said, has hit Americans who have retired overseas hard:

“Americans think that health care anywhere but in the U.S. is cheap,” said Daniel Prescher, publisher of International Living, a monthly magazine focused on living overseas. “Yes, it’s less expensive, but when you need it often as a resident in a foreign country, it’s something you still need to plan for as part of your budget.”

Note that this is rather a general statement, and that living abroad as a retiree who must pay out of pocket for regular health care is not at all the same as traveling abroad for one-time surgery or care. Specifically, much of the consternation about the falling dollar is about how it has fallen vis-à-vis the Euro, to record lows recently, with little prospect for recovery in the near term.

But the value of the dollar has not fallen as drastically vs. the currencies in medical tourism destination countries and, even where it has fallen, prices for medical services, surgery and dental treatment have remained at a drastic discount from those in the United States.

In Costa Rica, a prime destination for medical tourists, the dollar has been relatively steady against the colon. In fact, the dollar has risen in value vs. the colon for most of the last decade, and prices of medical services to tourists have remained quite stable. Real estate prices have ballooned in recent years in Costa Rica, but not the prices of dentistry and plastic surgery.

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Browse the web and you’ll find a lot of medical tourism companies. It can be difficult to a casual observer to judge their credibility — it’s a truism that “anyone can have a web site.” One of the ways you can tell if a company is “real” is whether they behave like one in ways besides having a web site. The media release, below, gives BridgeHealth’s bonafides.

– the moderator

DENVER — With more Americans reaching beyond domestic borders to the international community for more affordable dental and medical care, BridgeHealth International, Inc. (BHI) today announced that its worldwide health care network model received a seven-figure seed round investment led by the NY-based private equity firm Jovian Holdings. Additional participation comes from Denver-based Tivis Capital, a private equity firm specializing in healthcare services and medical device companies, which will also provide a senior management team to lead BHI’s medical tourism operations.

“With strong financial backing and a seasoned executive team that has extensive experience in health care operations, BHI emerges as the industry leader in the burgeoning market niche known as medical tourism,” said Victor Lazzaro, Jr., CEO of BridgeHealth International and managing director of Tivis Capital. (photo, right)

Lazzaro has 20 years of senior management experience in the health and managed care fields and formed International Health Technology Company (IHT), a consulting firm, which has developed and managed medical clinics and hospitals in China. He serves as president and CEO of Signum US Healthcare, developing CyberKnife[R]-focused surgery clinics in China. Previously, Lazzaro was president and CEO of United Healthcare Corporation - Mountain States (UHC) and was regional vice president of Health Plan Operations, Gulf South for Prudential Insurance Company of America.

“We are assembling a wide selection of dentists, physicians and accredited hospitals, and are actively expanding the network to serve the needs of employers, insurers, benefit plan payers, third party administrators and consumers,” continued Lazzaro.

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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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The Bridge is an information service and discussion forum intended as an authoritative source of news and opinion about medical travel and tourism. It is not intended as a promotional vehicle for medical travel companies, facilities or destination countries. It is, however, sponsored by BridgeHealth International, a medical tourism company based in Denver, Colorado, United States, and, transparently, depends on BridgeHealth experts for expert commentary, contacts and content generally.

From the BridgeHealth corporate site:

“Founded in 2007 and positioned as a leader in the medical tourism industry, BridgeHealth International (BHI) maintains a worldwide network of physicians and accredited hospitals, offering priority customer service, significant savings on high value medical procedures, and outcome-based measurement systems. BHI primarily serves health plans, insurance carriers, employers, third party administrators, and individuals accessing benefits via voluntary benefits plans, health card programs or Consumer Directed Health Care Plans (CDHP), as well as consumers seeking medical travel options.”

The founding editor of The Bridge is Jeff Schult. That’s me, and I hope it’s the last time I’ll be writing about myself hereabouts in the third person. Briefly, I’m the author of the medical travel guide, Beauty from Afar and have been involved in medical tourism and travel for the last four years as a patient, journalist, author, speaker and consultant. I’ve been a journalist for a long time and I also have years of experience running big consumer web sites. As editor of The Bridge, I’ll be responsible for deciding, on a daily basis, what is “Bridge Worthy.” I’ll comment on breaking news in medical tourism; solicit articles, comments and blog posts from medical professionals around the globe; and I’ll answer reader questions, or get answers from experts when necessary. One of my greatest assets as editor, of course, are the principals and staff of BridgeHealth International.

There are thousands of web sites and blogs devoted to medical travel and tourism. The vast majority of them exist to narrowly market medical travel services, or to sell advertising. Most of them tend to run out of things to say pretty quickly. The Bridge isn’t going to be like that. And we’ll point you to the other “good” sites as well.