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

1. Assess employee receptivity to incorporating a medical travel component into their overall company health plan design. Consider, which employees are most likely to utilize the services? Does the benefit address the needs of a culturally diverse workforce?

2. Call your health plan or benefit advisor to discuss coverage of procedures performed outside the U.S. Are there any travel restrictions for patients? If so, what are the guidelines and criteria to screen and pre-qualify individuals as appropriate candidates for medical travel?

3. Connect with a reputable medical travel company with appropriate infrastructure, medical management and quality programs to determine if their model can effectively integrate with your health plan.

4. Utilize only hospitals with foreign accreditations such as the Joint Commission International (JCI) with doctors that are US/UK or equivalently trained and board certified. Ensure the physicians and nursing staff in your network are fluent in English.

5. Examine the demographics and the health needs of your workforce. Perform a cost-benefit analysis using common, high cost surgical procedures to determine projected utilization and savings realized for procedures performed outside the U.S.

6. Carefully examine pricing models for surgical procedures. Are there any additional costs such as hotel, airfare and transportation services that need to be considered?

7. Ensure that you are incompliance with all legal and regulatory issues surrounding a medical travel benefit including HIPAA compliancy and ERISA requirements. Address issues and concerns surrounding malpractice? Are there policies which cover an individual receiving care outside the US and allow for compensation should something go wrong?

8. Address any concerns around patient care coordination including medical records, case management, and pre- and post-operative care with providers internationally and/or in the U.S.

9. Request medical quality data from your medical travel company and/or hospital on quality outcomes, measures, and reporting, physician training and certification and pricing.

10. Send a company representative to perform a site visit to the countries and hospitals that may be of interest to your workforce. Meet with physician leaders and international patient departments.