Saving on Surgery by Going Abroad

Regardless of whether a prospective patient decides to receive domestic surgery or travel abroad, what's most important is the quality of care and at what cost. If a patient finds an accredited hospital in the U.S. and also abroad, then it might actually come down to cost and also the track record of the specialists performing the procedure. What if a surgeon in the U.S. will perform your hip resurfacing and has only performed 50 procedures, but the specialist in India has performed 3,000? who is more qualified then? For assistance with coordinating your medical travel visit http://www.medpathgroup.com

Gavin Edwards of FL 10:44AM January 29, 2009

This all makes perfect sense, right. You take a medically fragile person, put him on a "big ole jet airliner", fly him literally to the other side of the world so someone skilled with instruments can do six hours of manual work on his insides without killing him with infection.

Imagine you're the proverbial man from Mars looking at this from afar (or, for that matter, God, looking down on this from afar). Have earthlings gone nuts, or what?

But there are "financial realities" you say.

Yes, and there are "real realities" I say.

Corporations are standing in the way of people OR it should be cheaper and safer to do these surgeries in America.

of 12:24PM November 22, 2008

While the costs are definitely cheaper abroad, the quality of doctors and hospitals need checking, thus the need for medical tourism companies. The insurance for such services though is hard to come by. I have come across an interesting company that has assisted many Americans with liver, hip, knee surgeries - www.worldmedassist.com. They have been selected by a major insurance company to deliver logistics for employees of businesses that sign up for "stop loss" insurance.

This is new - Swiss Re's Commercial Insurance announced today they now recognize medical travel coverage as part of their existing stop loss offering. Employer stop loss is available in all 50 states and the District of Columbia, through Westport Insurance Corp., a member of the Swiss Re Group, which underwrites the company's stop loss products. Coverage is coordinated with the employer's primary policy and with the patient's primary physician in the U.S. Swiss Re has selected WorldMed Assist (http://www.worldmedassist.com) as the third-party medical logistics provider to manage its medical travel option. Selected medical facilities are pre-selected to meet the criteria of the Joint Commission International (JCI) and/or an equivalent accreditation.

John Schiller of CA 2:38AM October 17, 2008

Medical tourism saved me not only thousands of dollars but my life as well when I went to CosMed Clinic in Tijuana, Mexico where I had plastic surgery after extreme weight loss, and I couldn't be happier with the excellent results and absolutely superb care I received from Drs. Alejandro Quiroz (chief surgeon) and Carlos Gonzalez (bariatric surgeon). Being in my early 60's, I'm not the average type of plastic surgery patient.

I did as Dr. Quiroz emphasized on his website (www.cosmedclinic.com) and researched everything I could find out about the procedures and the surgeons, did my homework, and thereby knew exactly what to expect when I got there. First I looked up places in the U.S., but all were prohibitively expensive for what I needed. Then I found his website on obesityhelp.com and checked it out and also all the patients who reviewed him and their experiences, and from the experience of personal family members who had surgery done in Mexico. After several phone calls with him and his staff, I was satisfied with what I learned, and began planning the trip to Mexico.

Both doctors are extremely well-educated, and Dr. Quiroz has trained and practiced in the U.S. (California, Washington, and Florida). Both of them speak excellent English, as does nearly all the staff at CosMed.

Dr. Quiroz did an excellent job, and Dr. Carlos Gonzalez, the clinic's bariatric surgeon, corrected a minor problem I had with my Lap-Band port, which had been done in the U.S.

They included my husband (who is an LPN) in my after-care, and he was satisfied in seeing that the facility was well-equipped, as good as and in some ways better than the hospital he works in.

Overall, my care was superior to what I often get in the U.S., because I was treated as though I were the only patient to be seen, and they took their time with me, and made sure all my questions and concerns were addressed. The staff even went so far as to help arrange transportation and hotel accomodations from San Diego Airport to Tijuana, and ensured that we were in a safe area, and I couldn't have been more pleased.

After I returned home they were always available to answer any questions I had through phone calls and e-mail.

I would thoroughly recommend CosMed Clinic for anyone considering plastic surgery outside the U.S., but no matter where you go, learn everything you can about the education, credentials, experience, and performance of your prospective surgeon and the quality of their facilities and staff. Any future procedures I might need or want, I will consider CosMed first, or anyone they recommend.

Verajane S. Hurlbut of FL 4:05PM May 26, 2008