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"Colombia is most likely the most underestimated destination for Global Healthcare in the Americas. Struggling with security and drug-related issues more than 15 years ago, Colombia is today one of the most thriving economies in South America and safe for tourists.[66] Colombia's major cities like Bogota, Medellin, Cali and Cartagena are already receiving more than 1.45 million tourist each year and the numbers are increasing.[67] Global Healthcare has been identified as one of the main drivers for economic growth in the medical sector. Patients from the Caribbean already know Colombia as a first class destination for medical procedures and cosmetic treatments. Now hospitals and facilitators are beginning to successfully convince also US-Americans of the quality of medical services provided in the country. An independent platform to compare the quality and prices of medical and cosmetic services is being supported by the government's export agency and regional initiatives.[68] Colombia is overcoming its stigma and becoming a major player in Global Healthcare, serving needs of patients all over the Americas."
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Cartagena is Host to International Medical Tourism Conference Next Year
Colombia’s northern coastal city Cartagena is likely to host an important corporate tourism conference next year.
“Successful Meeting of the Caribbean and the Islands” [SMCI] will bring together tourism businesses from Latin American, the Caribbean and North America. An estimated 6,500 people are expected to participate in the event held in October 2013.
“Successful Meeting of the Caribbean and the Islands” [SMCI] will bring together tourism businesses from Latin American, the Caribbean and North America. An estimated 6,500 people are expected to participate in the event held in October 2013.
Proexport, the government agency in charge of promoting tourism, pushed Cartagena as the host city of the conference and says SMCI decided on the tourist destination after an inspection of the city.
Successful Meetings belongs to travel publishing house “Northstar Travel Media,” whose publications reach some 50,000 readers. SMCI will allow Colombia to publicize the tourism opportunities it offers directly to a wide American market.
Successful Meetings’ advertising director Diane DiMaggio said after the 2012 visit “I really loved Cartagena and I look forward to confirming that we will be bringing the event to the city in October 2013.”
This announcement represents more good news for Cartagena which this week came out ahead of Berlin, Germany, and Venice, Italy, in a travel publication’s top ten tourism destinations for 2012
Taken from http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/cartagena/22593-cartagena-to-host-international-tourism-conference.html
Successful Meetings belongs to travel publishing house “Northstar Travel Media,” whose publications reach some 50,000 readers. SMCI will allow Colombia to publicize the tourism opportunities it offers directly to a wide American market.
Successful Meetings’ advertising director Diane DiMaggio said after the 2012 visit “I really loved Cartagena and I look forward to confirming that we will be bringing the event to the city in October 2013.”
This announcement represents more good news for Cartagena which this week came out ahead of Berlin, Germany, and Venice, Italy, in a travel publication’s top ten tourism destinations for 2012
Taken from http://colombiareports.com/travel-in-colombia/cartagena/22593-cartagena-to-host-international-tourism-conference.html
American physician has procedure done in Cartegena, Colombia
How is that for your second opinion? Dr. Curtis Hunt, M.D. of Detroit recently traveled across the Caribbean to historic Cartegena, Colombia where he saved about $3,000 on a single office visit procedure. His story can be found at http://cartagenainfo.net/MedicalTourism/GastroCaribe/index.html
Got Health Insurance? Medical Tourism is Better, Here's Why
Health insurance can be confusing, disappointing, and is almost always expensive. When considering travel abroad for procedures, side-by-side cost comparisons still favor medical tourism. Studies tell the whole story.
The Commonwealth Fund, in its annual survey, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”, compares the performance of the health care systems in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. Its 2007 study found that, although the U.S. system is the most expensive, it consistently under-performs when compared to the other countries.
The Commonwealth Fund completed its thirteenth annual health policy survey in 2010. A study of the survey “found significant differences in access, cost burdens, and problems with health insurance that are associated with insurance design”. Of the countries surveyed, the results indicated that people in the United States had more out-of-pocket expenses, more disputes with insurance companies than other countries, and more insurance payments denied; paperwork was also higher although Germany had similarly high levels of paperwork.
The Commonwealth Fund, in its annual survey, “Mirror, Mirror on the Wall”, compares the performance of the health care systems in the U.S., Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Canada. Its 2007 study found that, although the U.S. system is the most expensive, it consistently under-performs when compared to the other countries.
The Commonwealth Fund completed its thirteenth annual health policy survey in 2010. A study of the survey “found significant differences in access, cost burdens, and problems with health insurance that are associated with insurance design”. Of the countries surveyed, the results indicated that people in the United States had more out-of-pocket expenses, more disputes with insurance companies than other countries, and more insurance payments denied; paperwork was also higher although Germany had similarly high levels of paperwork.
Surgery Cost Charting Colombia vs USA
Taken directly from http://www.globalbenefitoptions.com/facts_about_medical_tourism.html
In 2007 alone 750,000 American’s traveled abroad for medical care. Medical Tourism is a real option for high quality medical care at reduced costs. By opening the door to the Global marketplace the patient has increased their options. Wait times for procedures are no longer a concern.
In 2007 alone 750,000 American’s traveled abroad for medical care. Medical Tourism is a real option for high quality medical care at reduced costs. By opening the door to the Global marketplace the patient has increased their options. Wait times for procedures are no longer a concern.
The Joint Commission International (JCI) is the health care industry’s official accreditation institution. JCI represents the highest quality standards. As of 2008 JCI has over 220 approved foreign medical sites.
The savings on procedures is significant – see the chart below from Deloitte a Cost Comparison of U.S. vs. Foreign Surgical Procedures
Medical Tourism Sample Surgery Cost Chart
Updated July 2009
Updated July 2009
The savings on procedures is significant – see the chart below from Deloitte a Cost Comparison of U.S. vs. Foreign Surgical Procedures
Medical Tourism Sample Surgery Cost Chart
| Surgery | USA | Colombia | Costa Rica | India | Jordan | Korea | Mexico | Singapore | Thailand |
| Heart Bypass | $144,000 | $14,630 | $25,000 | $8,500 | $10,000 | $24,000 | $20,000 | $13,500 | $24,000 |
| Angioplasty | $57,000 | $7,106 | $13,000 | $8,500 | $5,000 | $19,600 | $16,000 | $7,500 | $7,000 |
| Heart Valve Replacement | $170,000 | $10,450 | $30,000 | $1,200 | $12,000 | $36,000 | $30,000 | $13,500 | $22,000 |
| Hip Replacement | $50,000 | $8,360 | $12,500 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $16,450 | $13,125 | $11,100 | $14,000 |
| Hip Resurfacing | $50,000 | $10,500 | $12,000 | $8,000 | $8,000 | $20,900 | $12,800 | $12,100 | $16,000 |
| Knee Replacement | $50,000 | $7,106 | $11,500 | $7,000 | $7,000 | $17,800 | $10,650 | $10,800 | $12,000 |
| Spinal Fusion | $100,000 | $14,500 | $15,000 | $12,000 | $10,000 | $17,350 | $7,000 | $18,300 | $11,000 |
| Dental Implant | $2,000-10,000 | $1,672 | $1,000 | $700 | $500 | $3400 | $910 | $2,900 | $3,000 |
| Lap Band | $30,000 | $6,500 | $8,500 | $7,500 | $5,000 | $9,500 | $8,430 | $12,000 | $12,000 |
| Breast Implants | $10,000 | $2,600 | $3,500 | $4,500 | $3,000 | $11,000 | $8,000 | $5,400 | $3,700 |
| Rhinoplasty | $8,000 | $1,677 | $5,500 | $3,500 | $2,500 | $4,000 | $4,165 | $2,700 | $3,400 |
| Face Lift | $15,000 | $3,305 | $5,900 | $7,000 | $3,000 | $3,000 | $7,200 | $4,000 | $6,600 |
| Hysterectomy | $15,000 | $1,845 | $5,500 | $5,500 | $2,500 | $9,000 | $6,675 | $4,000 | $5,000 |
| Transplants: | Asia | Latin America | United States |
| Kidney Transplant | $43,550 | $30,000 | Up to: $150,000 |
| Liver Transplant | $134,000 | $75,000 | Up to: $315,000 |
The future of medical tourism is coming!
Cartegena, Colombia is a beautiful and historic coastal town along the Caribbean coast, and next year the proud host of ‘Medical City 2012′, a metropolis of medicine, education, and healthy living for the world. With promising forecasts for the entire medical community and especially medical tourism, Medical City certainly will be beneficial to Colombia and promote visitors whether it be vacationers or those seeking life-changing surgery. Find more at http://www.cartagenainfo.net/MedicalTourism/medical-tourism.html
Comparative Knee Replacement Costs for Colombia vs USA
Comparative knee replacement costs in Colombia vs. U.S.
June 2, 2011
Colombia provides a knee replacement for about $5,000 USD, including all associated fees, such as FDA-approved prosthetics and hospital stay-over expenses”.
—from “Medical tourism growing worldwide” by Becca Hutchinson, UDaily, July 25, 2005. Retrieved September 5, 2006.
“For patients without health insurance, a total knee replacement (in the U.S.) can cost $35,000 or more.”
—from http://www.costhelper.com/cost/health/knee-replacement.html
Cartagena's Medical City Promises to Increase Medical Tourism
“One of the last reasons why Colombia is the medical destination of
the future is the development of a medical supercity, the “Medical
City 2012′ project that is being build in the upscale suburbs of
Cartagena, approximately 10 kilometers from the Cartagena airport.
This project, spearheaded by Dr. Francisco Holguin, aims to provide
comprehensive services in a select group of surgical specialties
including cardiac surgery, orthopedics, bariatric surgery, dentistry
and plastic surgery. In a recent interview with Holguin, he stated,
“No hospital, not John Hopkins, not Harvard can be excellent in all
areas of medicine. But with the right programs, and the right staff, a
place like Medical City can be excellent in a few select areas.” He is
meeting with leading physicians in these areas to develop surgical
specialty programs at the new facility.”
—from ‘Colombia healthcare network future of medical tourism for
Americans’, http://www.wellnessvisit.com/mtnblog/?p=451
City 2012′ project that is being build in the upscale suburbs of
Cartagena, approximately 10 kilometers from the Cartagena airport.
This project, spearheaded by Dr. Francisco Holguin, aims to provide
comprehensive services in a select group of surgical specialties
including cardiac surgery, orthopedics, bariatric surgery, dentistry
and plastic surgery. In a recent interview with Holguin, he stated,
“No hospital, not John Hopkins, not Harvard can be excellent in all
areas of medicine. But with the right programs, and the right staff, a
place like Medical City can be excellent in a few select areas.” He is
meeting with leading physicians in these areas to develop surgical
specialty programs at the new facility.”
—from ‘Colombia healthcare network future of medical tourism for
Americans’, http://www.wellnessvisit.com/mtnblog/?p=451
Colombia Ranks Higher Than U.S. In Worldwide Healthcare
Colombia Ranks Higher Than U.S. In Worldwide Healthcare
What is Your Country’s Ranking?
According to Dr Uton Muchtar Rafei, WHO's Regional Director for South-East Asia, “This Report will hopefully provide a framework for the review of health sector reform in these countries, and will enable them to adopt various policy options in order to obtain higher levels of health.”
According to Dr Uton, “Choosing the right interventions and providing incentives to the providers is one way to improve the performance of the health system. WHO calls for a new ‘universalism’ - which means providing the simplest and most basic quality care for all, including the poor. Developing countries should rationalize their investment in human, physical and technological resources. The health ministries need to play a strong stewardship role, and should invite and regulate investment by other sectors, including the private sector into health.”
The following is the list provided in that report. Where does your country rank? Surprised?
1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
51 Dominican Republic
52 Tunisia
53 Jamaica
54 Venezuela
55 Albania
56 Seychelles
57 Paraguay
58 South Korea
59 Senegal
60 Philippines
61 Mexico
62 Slovakia
63 Egypt
64 Kazakhstan
65 Uruguay
66 Hungary
67 Trinidad and Tobago
68 Saint Lucia
69 Belize
70 Turkey
71 Nicaragua
72 Belarus
73 Lithuania
74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75 Argentina
76 Sri Lanka
77 Estonia
78 Guatemala
79 Ukraine
80 Solomon Islands
81 Algeria
82 Palau
83 Jordan
84 Mauritius
85 Grenada
86 Antigua and Barbuda
87 Libya
88 Bangladesh
89 Macedonia
90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
91 Lebanon
92 Indonesia
93 Iran
94 Bahamas
95 Panama
96 Fiji
97 Benin
98 Nauru
99 Romania
100 Saint Kitts and Nevis
101 Moldova
102 Bulgaria
103 Iraq
104 Armenia
105 Latvia
106 Yugoslavia
107 Cook Islands
108 Syria
109 Azerbaijan
110 Suriname
111 Ecuador
112 India
113 Cape Verde
114 Georgia
115 El Salvador
116 Tonga
117 Uzbekistan
118 Comoros
119 Samoa
120 Yemen
121 Niue
122 Pakistan
123 Micronesia
124 Bhutan
125 Brazil
126 Bolivia
127 Vanuatu
128 Guyana
129 Peru
130 Russia
131 Honduras
132 Burkina Faso
133 Sao Tome and Principe
134 Sudan
135 Ghana
136 Tuvalu
137 Ivory Coast
138 Haiti
139 Gabon
140 Kenya
141 Marshall Islands
142 Kiribati
143 Burundi
144 China
145 Mongolia
146 Gambia
147 Maldives
148 Papua New Guinea
149 Uganda
150 Nepal
151 Kyrgystan
152 Togo
153 Turkmenistan
154 Tajikistan
155 Zimbabwe
156 Tanzania
157 Djibouti
158 Eritrea
159 Madagascar
160 Vietnam
161 Guinea
162 Mauritania
163 Mali
164 Cameroon
165 Laos
166 Congo
167 North Korea
168 Namibia
169 Botswana
170 Niger
171 Equatorial Guinea
As the healthcare crisis in the US continues to grow and Americans are looking to overseas alternatives for treatment, many people are looking back to the World Health Report from the year 2000 that focuses on the performance of health systems, world wide. It assesses health systems and the 35 million or more people they employ. The report notes that the well-being of billions of people around the world, the quality, and length of their lives, depends on the performance of the health systems.The WHO report came out as the first ever analysis of the performance of the health systems of WHO’s 191 Member States. The performance assessment of health systems is based on many country variables such as: socio-economic, political and technological. WHO rankings show that even countries with the same levels of income can have very different healthy life expectancies while many countries fall short of their potential for performance.
According to Dr Uton Muchtar Rafei, WHO's Regional Director for South-East Asia, “This Report will hopefully provide a framework for the review of health sector reform in these countries, and will enable them to adopt various policy options in order to obtain higher levels of health.”
According to Dr Uton, “Choosing the right interventions and providing incentives to the providers is one way to improve the performance of the health system. WHO calls for a new ‘universalism’ - which means providing the simplest and most basic quality care for all, including the poor. Developing countries should rationalize their investment in human, physical and technological resources. The health ministries need to play a strong stewardship role, and should invite and regulate investment by other sectors, including the private sector into health.”
The following is the list provided in that report. Where does your country rank? Surprised?
1 France
2 Italy
3 San Marino
4 Andorra
5 Malta
6 Singapore
7 Spain
8 Oman
9 Austria
10 Japan
11 Norway
12 Portugal
13 Monaco
14 Greece
15 Iceland
16 Luxembourg
17 Netherlands
18 United Kingdom
19 Ireland
20 Switzerland
21 Belgium
22 Colombia
23 Sweden
24 Cyprus
25 Germany
26 Saudi Arabia
27 United Arab Emirates
28 Israel
29 Morocco
30 Canada
31 Finland
32 Australia
33 Chile
34 Denmark
35 Dominica
36 Costa Rica
37 United States of America
38 Slovenia
39 Cuba
40 Brunei
41 New Zealand
42 Bahrain
43 Croatia
44 Qatar
45 Kuwait
46 Barbados
47 Thailand
48 Czech Republic
49 Malaysia
50 Poland
51 Dominican Republic
52 Tunisia
53 Jamaica
54 Venezuela
55 Albania
56 Seychelles
57 Paraguay
58 South Korea
59 Senegal
60 Philippines
61 Mexico
62 Slovakia
63 Egypt
64 Kazakhstan
65 Uruguay
66 Hungary
67 Trinidad and Tobago
68 Saint Lucia
69 Belize
70 Turkey
71 Nicaragua
72 Belarus
73 Lithuania
74 Saint Vincent and the Grenadines
75 Argentina
76 Sri Lanka
77 Estonia
78 Guatemala
79 Ukraine
80 Solomon Islands
81 Algeria
82 Palau
83 Jordan
84 Mauritius
85 Grenada
86 Antigua and Barbuda
87 Libya
88 Bangladesh
89 Macedonia
90 Bosnia-Herzegovina
91 Lebanon
92 Indonesia
93 Iran
94 Bahamas
95 Panama
96 Fiji
97 Benin
98 Nauru
99 Romania
100 Saint Kitts and Nevis
101 Moldova
102 Bulgaria
103 Iraq
104 Armenia
105 Latvia
106 Yugoslavia
107 Cook Islands
108 Syria
109 Azerbaijan
110 Suriname
111 Ecuador
112 India
113 Cape Verde
114 Georgia
115 El Salvador
116 Tonga
117 Uzbekistan
118 Comoros
119 Samoa
120 Yemen
121 Niue
122 Pakistan
123 Micronesia
124 Bhutan
125 Brazil
126 Bolivia
127 Vanuatu
128 Guyana
129 Peru
130 Russia
131 Honduras
132 Burkina Faso
133 Sao Tome and Principe
134 Sudan
135 Ghana
136 Tuvalu
137 Ivory Coast
138 Haiti
139 Gabon
140 Kenya
141 Marshall Islands
142 Kiribati
143 Burundi
144 China
145 Mongolia
146 Gambia
147 Maldives
148 Papua New Guinea
149 Uganda
150 Nepal
151 Kyrgystan
152 Togo
153 Turkmenistan
154 Tajikistan
155 Zimbabwe
156 Tanzania
157 Djibouti
158 Eritrea
159 Madagascar
160 Vietnam
161 Guinea
162 Mauritania
163 Mali
164 Cameroon
165 Laos
166 Congo
167 North Korea
168 Namibia
169 Botswana
170 Niger
171 Equatorial Guinea
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