I am quite conflicted over this subject. After working in a hospital in Detroit for 30 years and knowing the margin of success depends on elective procedures on Hips, Knees, Hearts, and Plastics it’s hard to celebrate the success of this new concept. On the other hand it’s hard to ignore it as it is a growing enterprise- 60 million procedures expected over the next five years is no small matter.
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And the fact that it now may be driven by the insurance companies and not the private citizen is somewhat nerve wracking. On the other hand in 10 years the USA will have trouble meeting the medial needs of all us aging boomers who refuse to fall apart , one joint at a time. It’s not for all, but combining my love of travel with my new knee does seem appealing. Recuperating in a five star hotel or condo in Royal Oak with the Travel PROF taking care of me makes me think. I have two brothers who live on the west coast and both have limited medical coverage. Both have been over seas (world travelers in their own right) for medical care and the oldest brother swears by the nurses in white uniforms and hats still (maybe they have not heard the hats are germ catchers- not just a pain it the …to wear all day). He travels to Thailand yearly for all his preventive health care and dental works, with wonderful results. I have studied this phenomenon extensively as a health care administrator and know that the hospitals are Joint Commissioned approved. You must do your home work though and know what you are getting into. Some of my foreign Medical physician friends though bring their aged parents to the USA and negotiate the same fee that Medicare pays for procedures-they say the saving are in the non-Medicare cliental. If I did not have insurance but paid everything in cash I would be tempted to look elsewhere for quality, affordable care. The “World is indeed flat”, it is a “global economy”, this indeed is another field of “outsourcing” but we, the USA still train the best physicians in the world. All the foreign hospital advertise “trained in the USA” but we also have the most expensive health care in the world, and it’s not gonna get any cheaper. So listen to the experts if you are going to go over seas, do your homework, buy the books, compare the prices, try to negotiate with your own stateside hospital, have a physician in the USA that will work with you when you come home, be prepared for the unexpected and remember YOU CAN’T SUE !!!! And sometimes the old saying-“ you get what you paid for” may ring true as well as “ there’s no place like home”!
