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Medical
Tourism Becoming Popular
Medical
Tourism Becoming Popular
By David Martin
| FOX 35 News
ORLANDO, Fla. (WOFL FOX 35) - When you get
back from vacation, people ask you about the
weather, the food, the hotel. But more and
more, those questions are morphing into "How
was your hospital bed?"
It's a trend called "medical tourism; people
spending their "trips" in surgery or in
hospitals.
For example, Will Asen of Haines City lives
with unbelievable pain. He's a father of
three, soon to be four.
"I can't grab things," says Asen. And he's a
youth league football coach! "I can't carry
anything heavy," he adds.
That's because his right elbow is a mess:
shredded bones.
Asen says he absolutely needs arthroscopic
surgery. Price range: $20,000 to $50,000
here in the states.
Way too costly for Asen, who has no
insurance. Which is why he's going on
vacation so to speak! He's heading to Costa
Rica for a bit of medical tourism.
"There was Mexico, there was India. But
those places aren't too safe to travel to,
especially with family," says Asen.
Asen discovered Costa Rica through a
California company called WorldMedAssist.
They found him a qualified doctor and
hospital in Central America.
"We help hundreds of people a year. The
types of procedures we help these patients
with could be as simple as dental treatment
all the way to heart bypass or liver
transplant procedures," says WorldMedAssist
CEO, Wouter Hoeberechts.
"He'll receive a lot of attention from the
doctors as well as the nursing staff. And
after a hospital discharge, he'll stay in a
nice tropical surrounding. And all of this,
he'll get at $15,000 cost savings," says
Hoeberechts.
And there it is. Asen's elbow fix will cost
a flat $5,000.
Plus three thousand in travel & lodging
expenses. In total, $8,000.
A far cry from the $20,000-plus he's been
quoted in the United States.
"It's a good deal. It's a good surgeon. A
well-known surgeon over there," says Asen.
But not everyone thinks its a great idea.
"I wouldn't do it. In the U.S., our
hospitals are so highly regulated," says Dr.
Timothy Hendricks, Medical Director of the
Florida Hospital Employee Clinic.
"It would concern me about going to another
country and if they have all of those
regulatory agencies in place," argues
Hendricks.
"Will's going to get treated at a very high
quality hospital. A hospital that's
internationally accredited. Very nice
hospital. High standards of care. He'll also
be treated by a very qualified orthopedic
surgeon," counters Hoeberechts.
He adds, "I could argue that the risk Will
will face with our hospital will be lower
than that of a U.S. hospital because of the
extensive due diligence we do on these
foreign hospitals."
Dr. Hendricks is also concerned about
follow-up care once Asen's back home.
"You're going to be hard pressed to find a
surgeon that wants to take over the care of
another surgeon that's in another country,"
submits Hendricks.
"We make it part of our process to ensure
that after-care is taken care of well before
the patient gets on a plane. And we found
that doctors in the U.S. are willing to
cooperate," counters Hoeberechts.
In the end, Asen feels the benefits far
outweigh any risk that might arise on his
upcoming trip to Costa Rica. "You have to be
positive and hope for the best," says Asen.
And in his case, the pain is far too strong
to ignore anymore.
"I spend nights where I don't sleep. Couple
of hours in bed, my arm gets numb. I mean,
it's really bad."
WorldMedAssist does follow the policy
guidelines for medical tourism set forth by
the American Medical Association.
Asen is scheduled to have surgery in Costa
Rica in mid-May.
We'll follow his progress while he's down
there. And we'll also file a report upon his
return.
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