As healthcare costs are continuing to increase at a record rate and placing a significant burden on corporations and their employees, offering a medical tourism or medical travel benefit is a promising solution to providing cost effective health benefits.

Below are some recent articles on the rising healthcare costs in the U.S.:

• Nearly two-thirds expect to increase employee share of premiums

Once again healthcare costs are getting passed on to the consumer. 1 in 4 companies plan to increase deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums and over 50% plan to increase how much employees contribute to their premiums! http://ebn.benefitnews.com/news/nbgh-cadillac-consumer-driven-health-2716810-1.html?ET=ebnbenefitnews%3Ae2103%3A2449025a%3A&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBN_inBrief_082211

• Healthcare costs rose while insurance coverage fell, studies show

“Rising out-of-pocket medical bills were so corrosive, the study found, that they virtually wiped out income gains over the decade, leaving the typical family with just $95 more a month to spend on things other than healthcare in 2009, compared with 1999.” http://www.latimes.com/health/la-fi-health-insurance-20110908,0,343767.story

•  U.S. healthcare spending far outpaces other countries

“In addition to threatening public sector budgets, the nation’s skyrocketing healthcare tab worries many healthcare experts because there is growing evidence that healthcare systems in other countries are outperforming the American system.” http://www.latimes.com/health/boostershots/la-heb-health-spending-20110630,0,4003574.story

Satori’s primary focus is providing individuals with access to the highest quality patient care available in the world. In order for a hospital to participate in the Satori network, providers must qualify through a comprehensive review, which includes extensive site visits.

We asked Ron Johnson, M.D., F.A.C.S., Satori’s Chief Medical Officer, about this initial due diligence process and specifically about the hospital onsite visits he performs with the facilities and physicians.

Q: What is involved in a hospital onsite visit?

A: In addition to using Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation as a minimum standard for selecting facilities to be part of Satori’s global network, rigorous multi-day site visits are a unique part of Satori’s selection process. These onsite visits are performed to ensure excellent patient outcomes and quality service at our International Centers of Excellence.

Our site visits include:

• Extensive hospital audits, following Satori’s proprietary Hospital Audit Checklist
• Review of quality data, including experience, morbidity and mortality
• Meetings with administration and medical staff leadership
• Touring of patient care areas including Intensive Care Units (ICU) and Operating Room (OR)
• Experiencing the entire patient experience from the airport to hotel to hospital and back

Dr. Johnson, with a member of Satori’s Medical Quality Advisory Board, performing due diligence at one of our Centers of Excellence.

Dr. Johnson in a patient room at one of our International Centers of Excellence.

One of our global network hospitals, Bumrungrad International Hospital, located in Bangkok, Thailand was featured in a 60 Minutes special. Click here to watch the video: http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=690741n&tag=related;photovideo

Bumrungrad International is an internationally accredited, multi-specialty hospital located in the heart of Bangkok. Founded in 1980, today it is the largest private hospital in Southeast Asia. Bumrungrad offers state-of-the-art diagnostic, therapeutic and intensive care facilities in a one-stop medical center.

Bumrungrad serves over a million patients annually. Over 400,000 are internationals. They include thousands of expatriates who live in Bangkok and nearby countries, plus visitors from 190 countries around the world. The hospital has a medical coordination office staffed by doctors, nurses, and interpreters who serve the special needs of international patients.

Click here for more information on Bumrungrad Hospital and the doctors that are part of Satori’s Global Network.

Samantha Davis, a student at Brigham Young University and daughter of Lee Davis, an employee at Imperial County Office of Education, recently traveled to Centre Metropolitain de Chirurgie in Montreal, Canada for laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery. Satori World Medical coordinated Davis’ care which is now part of ICSVEBA’s employee medical plan.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Nicolas Christou, a world-renowned bariatric surgeon. Dr. Christou is an accomplished bariatric surgeon and is a member of many prestigious societies including the American Surgical Association, The Canadian Association of General Surgeons, The American College of Surgeons and the American Society of Bariatric Surgery. Dr. Christou is part of Satori World Medical’s network of hospitals and physicians.

Weight loss procedures offered by Satori’s global network include gastric bypass, lap band and gastric sleeve. Davis saved a significant amount of money using Satori World Medical’s network for gastric bypass surgery. The patient’s entire medical costs, as well as the patient and companion’s airfare, hotel, ground transportation and insurance were covered under Satori’s agreement with the patient’s healthcare plan.

Watch our patient’s story on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7KgfMcpZQ6Y

Subscribe to Satori’s YouTube channel here: http://www.youtube.com/user/SatoriWorldMed

For the most recent news and discussion on Satori World Medical “Like” them on Facebook, follow on Twitter and join their LinkedIn group.

Happy Nurses Week! Satori World Medical would like to recognize all the wonderful nurses at our network of hospitals around the world. We are proud of all you do to positively influence the lives you touch. National Nurses Week is celebrated annually from May 6, also known as National Nurses Day, through May 12, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the founder of modern nursing.

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

Satori World Medical is a payer-supported, employer-sponsored, and consumer-choice medical tourism facilitator and global healthcare network.  We use the Joint Commission International (JCI) as a “gating” issue, and our Quality Assurance Program, assisted by our Medical Quality Advisory Board and Nurse Patient Advocacy Program, goes beyond this to ensure excellent patient outcomes and service at our International Centers of Excellence. 

JCI, the international arm of the Joint Commission Resources, was created in 1994, awarded its first international accreditation in 1999, and now has accredited over 300 institutions around the world.  In 2005 the World Health Organization designated the Joint Commission and the Joint Commission International as the WHO Collaborating Centre for Patient Safety Solutions, and in 2008 the JCI announced its accreditation by the International Society for Quality in Health Care (ISQua). 

One of the reasons Satori uses JCI as a gating issue for quality and participation in our network is our focus on the financially sponsored (U.S.) patient.  U.S. payers are familiar with the Joint Commission and their standards and surveys.  Similarly, the American Medical Association and the American College of Surgeons are two of the largest and most influential physician organizations in the U.S., so when they independently came out with guidelines for medical travel, we were pleased that we already met or exceeded them.  U.S. payers know and trust the AMA and ACS on quality matters.  These are important guidelines, and Satori’s Quality Assurance Program adds on-site due diligence visits – to review JCI accreditation reports, hospital performance measures, physician credentials and outcomes, interview hospital management teams, and tour and evaluate clinical areas including the operating rooms – as well as our own proprietary medical travel and procedure eligibility guidelines, monitoring of quality and clinical outcomes and continuous quality improvement.

Working collaboratively with our comprehensive quality program, all network hospitals and physicians share in the common goal of excellent patient outcomes and services.

Medical tourism, also known as medical travel or global healthcare, is the rapidly-growing practice of traveling across international borders to obtain medical care. Below are the top questions I am asked when speaking to clients regarding implementing a medical travel benefit into an employee benefit plan.

1.       What can a medical travel benefit provide my employees?

A medical travel or medical tourism benefit can provide your employees an additional option in their health plans. Typically, a procedure through Satori’s Global Network is 40-80% less than US hospital and physician fees including medical and travel costs. Your employees receive high quality healthcare with access to the top surgeons in the world and the employee can take a companion with them. There are no co-pays, co-insurance or deductibles passed onto the employee and your company can realize real significant savings.

2.       Why choose Satori World Medical?

Satori’s unique Business & Care model is unlike any other medical tourism company in the marketplace.  What sets Satori apart from other medical travel facilitators is Satori’s Global Healthcare Network. Our network is comprised of the “Best of the Best” hospitals around the world and our robust Quality Program, led by our full-time Chief Medical Officer, ensures optimal delivery of care. In addition, our proprietary Health & Shared Wealth Program shares the economic savings with all insurers, employers, and individuals, and our program includes world-class client services and a companion care program. Satori offers fixed price case rates that include air travel, luxury hotel accommodations and ground transportation for the patient and companion, all on a convenient single bill in US dollars. 

3.       Are there any costs associated with adding Satori World Medical to our medical plan?

There are absolutely no charges associated with adding Satori to a medical plan. Satori World Medical does not charge a Per Employee Per Month (PEPM), network access fee, or rental fee for our program.  There are no monthly or recurring costs for embedding Satori into a health plan. There is no downside to adding the Satori Global Healthcare Network. It truly is a new innovative benefit for employers to provide their employees.

Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (CABG), also known as CABG surgery or bypass surgery, is performed to improve blood flow to areas of the heart, reducing the risk of future heart attacks and preventing death from coronary artery disease. Artery and vein grafts are used to bypass blocked coronary arteries.  

Medical tourism, also known as medical travel or global healthcare, is not limited to just cosmetic surgery and dental procedures. Some of the best heart surgeons in the world that perform CABG surgery are available through Satori World Medical’s Global Network at International Centers of Excellence in India, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Puerto Rico, Turkey and Mexico. All physicians in the Satori Global Network are U.S./U.K or equivalently trained and Board Certified. In addition to the world-class quality of care, there are significant financial savings when going international for a CABG procedure. While U.S. cost for CABG surgery can cost up to $100,000, CABG surgery through a Satori’s Global Network provider, would cost around $30,000.

Kristen Montez, Director of Legal and Regulatory Services of Satori World Medical, provides insight on stop loss insurance in the medical travel industry in the February online issue of Agent’s Sales Journal.

The passage of PPACA has caused many agents to consider alternative health care products for self-insured clients. Among those products is an international provider network through a medical travel facilitator — a medical travel health care benefit.

Medical travel is the practice of traveling across international borders to receive high-quality health care at a fraction of its U.S. price. A medical travel facilitator oversees the medical travel process, from managing the international provider network to coordinating the procedure and travel arrangements for the patient and companion. Many U.S.-based medical travel facilitators provide an international network of hospitals and providers that can be easily added to an employer’s existing self-insured health plan. Typically, adding a medical travel health care benefit to an existing health plan costs nothing with no compromise on the quality of care, and the medical procedure savings range from 50 to 80 percent of U.S. prices.

Read the entire article online:

http://www.asjonline.com/Exclusives/2011/2/Pages/Offering-Stop-Loss-Insurance-Through-a-Medical-Travel-Facilitator-.aspx?k=satori

In the January issue of California Broker Magazine, Steven Lash, President & CEO of Satori World Medical provides insight on why implementing a global medical travel program can be an attractive option for the growing number of minorities in the United States.  Below is part of the article “Medical Travel: A Proven Resource to Market an Ethnically Diverse Population”.

Read the entire article in the January issue of California Broker Magazine or online here.

Minorities make up more than one-third of the United States population, according to the Census Bureau. By 2050, ethnic Americans are expected to represent close to half of the U.S. population. Among the fastest-growing ethnic populations are Hispanics and Asian Americans (including Asian Indians). In the next 25 years, more than half of the U.S. workforce will be of second and third generation descent. A large share of the labor force is comprised of Hispanics, Filipinos, Asian-Indians, Vietnamese, and Chinese employees.  Companies with largely diverse workforces have a vested interest in meeting the health and welfare needs of their employees and being responsive to these cultural ties.