By Steven Lash, President & CEO of Satori World Medical

At next week’s American Health Insurance Plans Institute Conference (AHIP Institute 2009, June 3-5, 2009) in San Diego, thousands of health care executives and companies from around the nation, including Satori World Medical, will convene to discuss U.S. Health Care Reform, among other pressing global issues surrounding health care.

I am particularly excited to see that the globalization of health care will be among the topics at the forefront of this year’s conference agenda. As governments, employers and individuals around the world continue to face skyrocketing health care costs, rapidly aging populations and increasing consumer demands, more nations such as the U.S., are turning to the private sector for new ways to provide access to high quality health care procedures.

During AHIP, Satori World Medical’s Strategic Advisory Board Member, Stuart Altman, Ph. D., will lead a panel discussion on issues surrounding the globalization of health care. Specific topics that will be discussed include:

• Growing choice among U.S. consumers to travel internationally in order to obtain high quality, accessible and affordable health care.
• Emergence of leading-edge technology combined with performance-based initiatives critical to improving the delivery of health care around the world.
• Global expansion of health care and things that need to be considered in order to make global health care a real and viable choice for all Americans.
• Challenges and opportunities for reducing health care costs while simultaneously increasing the quality of health care delivery.

Due to the conference’s important focus on global health care this year, Satori World Medical is also thrilled to be the only global health care network/medical travel company exhibiting at AHIP 2009.

Specific topics related directly to global health care, which I hope will engender further discussion include:

• How and why more U.S. payors and employers are adopting medical tourism and integrating global health care programs into their overall employee benefit plan design;
• International health care quality and how hospitals outside the U.S. are able to deliver equivalent, or superior, quality health care services at a fraction of the cost domestically; and
• Where medical tourism specifically fits into the future of U.S. Healthcare Reform.

While medical travel is still in its early stages, the increased focus on global health care among top leaders in the industry, is a testament to the growing and significant role that global health care is continuing to play in U.S. Health Care Reform. The fact that Satori World Medical is leading this important industry transformation is very exciting for us.

Satori World Medical will be exhibiting at Booth #921. Join our executives for an insightful conversation about medical tourism and how global health care programs are helping to bring high quality, cost effective health care solutions to U.S. plan sponsors/employers and their employees.

We’ll see you next week in San Diego!

By Ron Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.S., Chief Medical Officer, Satori World Medical

It has been almost a year since the American Medical Association addressed the issue of “medical tourism,” travel for medical care outside of the US. The AMA supports patient choice, wants it to be informed choice, sees many advantages in medical care outside the US and an opportunity to learn from international competition and recommends principles to provide the best care possible. Now the American College of Surgeons has issued a statement on medical and surgical tourism.

The American College of Surgeons (ACS) is a scientific and educational association of surgeons that was founded in 1913 to improve the quality of care for the surgical patient by setting high standards for surgical education and practice. The ACS currently has over 76,000 members, referred to as “Fellows,” including more than 4,000 Fellows in other countries, making it the largest organization of surgeons in the world. The ACS Committee on Perioperative Care developed a statement on medical and surgical tourism that was approved by the Board of Regents, the ACS governing body, at its February 2009 meeting. (To read the full statement, go to the Bulletin of the American College of Surgeons, Volume 94, Number 4, pp. 18-27.)

The American College of Surgeons’ statement, along with the AMA guidelines, together provide an important set of principles for consideration by patients, employers, insurers, and other third-party groups responsible for coordinating such travel outside of the country. The ACS has adopted the following position with respect to medical tourism.

1. The ACS encourages patients to seek care of the highest quality and supports their rights to select their surgeons and health care institutions without restriction.
2. The ACS encourages its Fellows to assist all patients in reaching informed decisions concerning medical care, whether at home or abroad.
3. The ACS advises patients to consider the medical, social, cultural and legal implications of seeking medical treatment abroad prior to deciding on a venue of care.
4. The ACS encourages patients electing to receive treatment abroad to seek care at health care institutions that have met the standards for accreditation established by recognized accrediting organizations, i.e. Joint Commission International (JCI), Trent International.
5. The ACS encourages patients electing treatment abroad to seek care from surgeons and anesthesiologists certified in their specialties through a process equivalent to that established by the member boards of the American Board of Medical Specialties.
6. The ACS encourages patients receiving treatment abroad to obtain a complete set of medical records prior to returning home, and follow-up care at home should be organized prior to travel whenever possible.
7. The ACS encourages patients contemplating medical tourism to understand the special risks of combining long international flights and certain vacation activities with anesthesia and surgical procedures.
8. The ACS opposes the imposition of provisions for mandatory referral of patients by insurers to health care institutions outside the US, unless such provisions are clearly and explicitly stated in the insurance contract and accepted by the subscriber.
9. The ACS supports the view that payors referring patients for mandatory treatment abroad should be responsible for the coordination and reimbursement of follow-up care in the US, including the management of postoperative complications, readmissions, rehabilitation and long-term care.

Medical tourism is a rapidly growing, world –wide industry, and its continued expansion could have significant implications for health care delivery in the US. The Statement on Medical and Surgical Tourism drafted by the American College of Surgeons was developed with the patient’s interest in mind.

How global healthcare programs provide high quality and affordable healthcare solutions

By Jessica Yarbrough, Marketing & Communications Manager of Satori World Medical

Soaring U.S. healthcare costs, coupled by a crippled economy, continue to put U.S. Healthcare Reform at the top of our nation’s agenda.

U.S. government economists predict that public and private health spending will hit $2.5 trillion this year, taking up a 17.6 percent share of gross domestic product. (Source: Reuters, “Obama sets up formal office for healthcare reform,” Apr. 9, 2009) That ranks the U.S. the most expensive nation in the world for healthcare.

For large multinational corporations, footing healthcare costs presents an enormous expense. General Motors, for instance, covers more than 1.1 million current and former employees, and the company says it spent roughly $5.6 billion on healthcare expenses in 2006. (Source: Associated Press, “Upfront costs complicate Obama’s health care plan,” by Ricardo Alonso-Zaldivar, May 10, 2009) GM’s retiree health care expenses alone add up to $50 billion a year.

Meanwhile, as healthcare costs continue to rise more employers are being forced to shift a larger portion of the costs of healthcare to their employees in order to remain profitable. As a result, America’s employees have become responsible for a greater share of their own healthcare expenses (deductibles, co-pays, co-insurances, etc.)

How Can Medical Tourism Help Address America’s Healthcare Crisis?

One concept that is continuing to gain widespread appeal among the U.S. public and private sectors is medical tourism, whereby patients travel to hospitals outside the U.S. to receive quality medical care at a fraction of the cost domestically.

A number of factors are driving this movement, including the high quality of care that is available internationally, the ability to dramatically reduce a U.S. patient’s out-of-pocket expenses for typical high-cost surgical procedures, as well as the adoption and integration of global healthcare benefits into plan sponsors’ plan design.

What’s particularly interesting is just how well aligned global healthcare programs are with the key established principles of Obama’s Healthcare Reform agenda.

For example, President Obama has announced three bedrock requirements for real healthcare reform, which Satori World Medical’s business and care model specifically addresses.

·       Reduce Costs: Rising healthcare costs are crushing the budgets of governments, businesses, individuals and families and they must be brought under control. U.S. patients now have the ability to undergo high quality surgical procedures performed at International Centers of Excellence through the Satori Global Network™ and tremendously reduce their medical expenses. Additionally, the individual seeking care actually receives a portion of the savings through an employer-funded, tax-advantaged Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) which can be used to offset their future medical expenses. 

·       Guarantee Choice: Americans must have the freedom to keep whatever doctor and healthcare plan they have, or to select a new doctor or healthcare plan if they choose. Consumer choice is extremely important because employers, health plans and policy-makers recognize that unless consumers are more engaged in decisions about their health and the costs associated with those decisions, costs will continue to soar.

Satori World Medical is directly aligned with this fundamental principle because consumer choice is one of the main hallmarks of its program. The Satori Global Network™ has been specifically designed, so that it can be seamlessly integrated with any existing domestic employer-funded health plan.  It does not replace an existing health plan, but rather augments it to provide individuals with more healthcare choices.

·       Ensure Affordable Care for All: All Americans must have access to quality and affordable healthcare. That’s why global healthcare programs make so much sense. Any employer can participate in the Satori World Medical program because it can be implemented without any startup costs to the employer or payor, and with no out-of-pocket costs for the employee (including all hotel and travel for the patient and a companion).

The ability to provide all Americans with access to quality, affordable healthcare is no longer an option, it’s a necessity. While global healthcare certainly isn’t the only answer to solving our nation’s healthcare crisis, clearly global healthcare programs, such as those offered by Satori World Medical, make a lot of sense.

By Naimeh Tanha, Vice President Network Development & International Operations, Satori World Medical

Establishing a solid foundation for any healthcare network is essential for ensuring the best possible quality, consistency and patient outcomes for its members. However, it’s also extremely challenging.

This is especially true in the present era of healthcare regulations. Today’s U.S. payors are under tremendous regulatory pressure to effectively manage a broad network of direct and indirect contractual relationships in order to maintain a top-quality healthcare network.

Certainly building and maintaining a superior domestic healthcare network in the U.S. present their own set of challenges. Imagine what is then required to build and maintain a successful international healthcare network from the ground up?

In most cases, U.S. payors simply do not have the adequate required resources (time, expertise, and personnel) to create and maintain their own successful global healthcare network. That is one of the biggest reasons why more U.S. payors are not already offering a global healthcare program to their members, in light of the enormous cost savings and other key benefits that can be achieved through medical travel.

So then how do U.S. payors start taking advantage of and embracing global healthcare without sacrificing quality? The answer is by creating strategic partnerships with companies like Satori World Medical that solely specialize in global healthcare network development.

When pursuing a global healthcare network partnership, selecting the right global healthcare company is absolutely critical. At Satori World Medical, we go to great lengths to ensure that the following standards are met by all participating hospitals within the Satori Global Network™. They are also the key attributes that any excellent global healthcare network must possess.

• Compliance through contractual relationships: All hospitals in the network must meet the same regulatory and legal compliance requirements as the best U.S. hospitals.

• Accountability: All network hospitals and providers must be held accountable for their specific roles and responsibilities in the overall healthcare delivery process including financial performance and data gathering.

• Quality Assurance: Quality assurance entails ensuring that all aspects of network quality are continuously being met. A high-quality global healthcare network will only contract with hospitals that are accredited by Joint Commission International (JCI), have a full-time Chief Medical Officer, quality assurance programs and staff, as well as perform onsite due diligence visits to all hospitals in the network on a continual basis.

• Medical expertise: The global healthcare network should only contract with international hospitals that offer their leading physicians, nurses and medical staff. Specific credentials to look for are U.S. /U.K. or equivalently trained and Board Certified physicians, registered nurses and medical staff that are fully fluent in English and trained to cater specifically to U.S. patients. All to be substantiated through a robust and transparent credentialing program.

• Continuity of care: The global health care partner must ensure that patient’s care will not be discontinued or interrupted regardless of circumstances outside of patient’s control while receiving health care services.

• Provider education: The global healthcare partner must also be readily available to help educate potential and existing healthcare providers in the network. Valuable ongoing training and expertise for all participating providers will ensure the most consistent and highest possible quality of care and services for patients.

Satori World Medical has created a global healthcare network that specifically addresses these core principles. As a result, we anticipate that over the next several years, the integration of medical travel programs among U.S. payors will only continue to grow.