Sometimes, you can’t go it alone and get satisfaction. Individual consumers with complaints, however valid, are rarely a match for the sort of colossal indifference that a big corporation or government entity can routinely bring to bear on a problem.

And most medical tourists and travelers go it alone. I know I did, in 2004. I did my research. I talked to other people who had been overseas for healthcare. I vetted my doctor. And I went, and I had a great experience.

But what if something had gone wrong — if I had been unhappy with my treatment or had complications? I like and trust my doctors; I know they would have done everything they could to “make it right.” But I have no way of knowing what would have happened, really.

Earlier this week, the Washington Post ran a story about a patient, Betty Meisel of Portland, Oregon, who went to Thailand in 2005 for plastic surgery and had things go wrong. The hospital, perhaps the best-known destination for international patients, claimed three years later to have not received the email she says she sent back then regarding her terrible surgical outcomes. When contacted by a reporter in April, the hospital did write to Meisel and issued a refund.

Which didn’t make everything OK, of course, though it was something.

Years ago, stories like Betty’s were more the rule than the exception, when reporters wrote about medical tourism. This was not because the medical facilities and doctors overseas were bad, but because reporters didn’t know enough to place a single bad outcome in context. The “news value” would be the oddness of someone going overseas for surgery, and the media treated bad surgical outcomes almost with a “what else would you expect?” kind of demeanor. The media learned, over time, and stopped reporting the small percentage of bad results as the norm. Bumrungrad International, in fact, has a reported complication rate that any U.S. hospital would be proud to match.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’ll add to this page as questions from readers develop. For starters, though, there are a few things we think all our visitors should know. We don’t want to have a lot of rules about using The Bridge, but a few are necessary to helping ensure that reading and participating in the blog is a pleasant experience for all.

• The Bridge is a moderated blog, which means that your comments will not appear on the site the very instant after you write one and click “Submit.” The moderator looks over all comments and must approve them before they show up on the site. In practice, this may take anywhere from a few minutes to a few hours, or maybe overnight. We may relax this eventually, for registered members, but we want to keep a close eye on things initially and try to keep conversations on topic.

• Comments may be edited for punctuation, grammar and style. We assume participants will appreciate that we want to improve their prose if possible.

• We won’t tolerate blatantly promotional comments. We have no problems with you identifying your company, or naming others, or talking about how great a hospital or doctor might be — within context of providing useful information to the community. But please don’t post a comment that is just an ad for another website. We won’t accept it. If you have a press release, please send it to the moderator and he’ll consider posting an article about it.

• If you have something that you think would be a good blog post and would like to be a contributor or author for The Bridge, please contact the moderator. If you have a news tip about medical travel and tourism — likewise. The moderator is happy for any and all help and also appreciates constructive criticism.

• Personal attacks will not be tolerated. Libelous comments will not be tolerated. Excessivle profane language — ditto. This doesn’t mean we do not encourage spirited debate and contentious discussion. But we’re not going to be publishing comments that might get you, or us, dragged into court.

• Nothing on The Bridge should be construed by readers as direct medical advice unless so designated.

• We respect the privacy of our readers and registered users. We will never give your personal information to any third party without your permission.

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.

Read the rest of this entry »

Will is “a bridge” for The Bridge and is a contributor to the blog, and someone with whom our readers might want to become familiar. He also does the pretty graphics for the blog.

Here’s the news release announcing his hiring. (moderator)

DENVER– BridgeHealth International, Inc. (BridgeHealth; www.bridgehealthinternational.com), the premier service provider with a focus on serving businesses and individuals for the delivery of international medical care, today appointed Will Garin to the position of vice-president of marketing. Garin will help to guide the evolution of BridgeHealth products and services in the medical tourism industry, with a focus on business-to-business and direct-to-consumer initiatives.

“Will brings to BridgeHealth twelve years of experience in the strategic development, implementation, brand building and management of many successful marketing programs, including high-profile healthcare initiatives,” says Victor Lazzaro Jr., CEO of BridgeHealth. “He has the tools and expertise to help build our corporate imprint as the most innovative and quality-oriented organization in the fast-growing medical tourism industry. We will rely on his leadership to guide all online architecture, branding, optimization and marketing initiatives to meet our business goals.”

BridgeHealth International, Inc. serves health plans, insurance carriers, employers, third party administrators, and individuals accessing benefits via voluntary benefits plans, health card programs or Consumer Directed HealthCare Plans (CDHP). BridgeHealth also assists consumers seeking medical travel options. Read the rest of this entry »