Medical Tourism at Home: U.S. Hospitals Competing with Foreign Pricing
BY LAUREN UZDIENSKI, SEPTEMBER 10, 2008
The Wall Street Journal this morning revealed a new variation on medical tourism: patients are traveling for medical procedures, though not overseas.
Medical tourism arose from skyrocketing U.S. healthcare costs; a hip replacement can cost $43,000 domestically and a mere $9,000 in Singapore, to use the article's example. When the grocery store chain Hannaford Bros Co. began giving employees the option of going to Singapore for the operation, director of associate health and wellness Peter Hayes started getting calls from U.S. hospitals offering to match Singapore's pricing. Hannaford has since negotiated a deal for hip, knee and spine surgery with a Boston hospital, and negotiations with a Maine hospital (Hannaford is based in Maine) are ongoing.
There are companies sprouting up that work with employers and patients to offer similar options. One company driving domestic medical tourism is Healthplace America. Their network, currently consisting of 15 hospitals in the U.S. west but quickly expanding, is based on fixed per-case payment rates, replacing the traditional fee-for-service system. Healthplace America says this can save employers 30% to 50% on rates negotiated by payers.
The article alludes to the recent downturn in the economy that could motivate patients to seek less costly care in the event they require surgery. Foreign medical tourism includes a number of practical and legal deterrents, even as international hospitals offer cheaper prices; patients who don't wish to travel but find U.S. costs daunting could delay the procedure indefinitely. However, a program like the one offered by Healthplace America offers transparency and a promise of quality care that could ultimately empower patients and bolster procedure volumes.
