Apparently the safety of the notion that healthcare providers are practically immune from outsourcing overseas is being challenged if not crushed. Note this article from medpagetoday.com have long clung to International Medical Trade Turns Big Business.
According to the article in India alone revenue from so called “Medical Tourism” rose from $264 million in 2000 to $4.07 billion (yes that is BILLION with a B) in 2005.
This will be a trend worth watching.
5 comments:
Mark,
I mentioned 'Medical Tourism' to the CEO of our local '800-lb. gorilla' (the 18 surgeon POPTS in my village of 400,000) and he just brushed it off.
I suspect that, currently, medical tourism is just a blip on the orthopedic surgeons' horizon.
They have fat margins (~60%) from high-demand elective procedures like total knees and total hips.
Further, the aggressive ones have grabbed up market share for related services such as physical therapy, pain management and imaging (MRI).
The POPTs CEO repeats a phrase often to other MD practice owners in my area...
"Own what you control"
...if other words, since ortho surgeons control referrals to all of the services I just mentioned, he advises other doctors to own these services.
Mark, what do we know about the demographics of Medical Tourists?
Are they predominately wealthy with the ability to travel to India for services?
Bear in mind that Medical Tourism "in-country" may affect local providers as much as "out-of-country".
Case in point: The Laser Spine Institute ( http://www.laserspineinstitute.com ) and The Bonati Institute ( http://www.bonati.com ) recruit patients from all over the world to the Southwest Florida region for surgery that is no more effective but ten times more expensive than what patients could get in their local hospitals.
Thanks for your post.
Tim Richardson, PT
Medical Tourism is just at it's beginning. Medical Tourism companies like WorldMed Assist are helping patients find affordable, high quality surgeons and facilities abroad. They do all the research and save patients the headaches of finding the right place and surgeon, making travel abroad much easier and increasingly popular.
One thing to note is that as these cheaper alternatives gain more business, they'll start to increase their prices until it isn't worth it for most people to do medical tourism. It won't happen for years, but it is a possibility. I do agree that I am trying to get into the healthcare field for the sake of security from being outsourced overseas. Also, there is just so much tied to face to face communication in the medical field that it won't evaporate completely.
Eric,
Good idea.
50% of US job growth since 2001 is due to health care jobs.
We are no longer an economy that makes things.
Nevertheless, health care is a secure profession - albeit subject to the whims of government policy.
Tim
TimRichPT@PhysicalTherapyDiagnosis.com
Tim,
Princeton economist Uwe Reinhardt would agree with you. Don't be afraid of healthcare spending, embrace it.
Mark
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