In early August, Vietnamese patient Nguyen Van Loc informed the Thanh Nien Daily that he had requested Singapore's Mount Elizabeth Hospital to compensate him for the extra fees he paid for the treatment of an intestinal leak that was accidentally caused during treatment for his liver tumor. Since then several Thanh Nien readers have reported having to pay more for treatment at Mount Elizabeth compared to other Singapore hospitals, according to the newspaper. A well-known Vietnamese artist, for example, says a computed tomography scan cost him nearly $850 at Mount Elizabeth Hospital, while the Singapore General Hospital only charges around $359.
Under an agreement, clients of medical travel company Companion Global Healthcare Inc. can add India to their list of possible destinations for obtaining surgery and other medical care. Wockhardt Hospitals in Mumbai and Bangalore have become the first two facilities in India accepted into Companion Global Healthcare's network of overseas hospitals, according to a release. Companion Global Healthcare, which helps self-insured employers and individuals access lower-cost healthcare overseas, now has affiliations with 10 hospitals located in India, Costa Rica, Singapore, Thailand, Turkey, and Ireland.
More than a month after announcing that it will offer “accreditation,” the Medical Tourism Association has had a change of heart and changed the term “accreditation” to “certification.” But in this blog post from Avery Comarow, he asks if a trade group can "accredit" organizations that are involved, even if only indirectly, with healthcare.
ParkwayHealth has released several patient testimonials from American's who recently received care in Parkway's Singapore hospitals. "Dollar for dollar, it was really affordable, yet the quality of healthcare there is world-class," reported Nancy Hoskins, RN, who decided to travel to Singapore for knee replacement surgery. "The nursing care was excellent and my orthopedic surgeon made me feel assured and confident, taking time to patiently explain every aspect of the procedure to me."
Stanford University is expected to announce that it will severely restrict industry financing of doctors' continuing education at its medical school. The move is due to concern about the influence drug companies may have on medical education. Nearly all doctors in the country must take annual refresher courses that drug makers have long paid for, but Stanford will no longer let drug and device companies specify which courses they wish to finance. Instead, companies will be asked to contribute only to a schoolwide pool of money that can be used for any class, even ones that never mention a company's products.
India has earmarked $1 billion for the rollout of a program that allows the country's poor to use a smart card for hospital care. The program also gives insurance companies and hospitals incentives to take part. Many healthcare programs have been introduced in India, but so far none of those programs has taken root throughout the country.The National Health Insurance Program is different, according to the Indian government, because of its use of technology, its business model, and because the information on the smart cards is secure.