[sbic56]

Did anyone catch the segment on "60 Minutes" last night about Americans going to countries such as Thailand and India for surgeries and vacation style recoveries? It was pretty interesting. People are going to these countries to get care because it is about 1/10 to 1/20 what they might pay here, but every bit as good or better, according to those interviewed. They were talking about how great and skilled the docs were and that the nursing care was unbelievably good. "I hit my call bell and there she was!" All RN care, paid about a US dollar per hour. These beautiful facilities were swarming with nurses. The doctors made the same proportionately, some having also worked in the US, but opted to go back where they were needed more. The disadvantages were that if you weren't happy(malpractice claim) you end up in thier court and of course, you need to fly there. Still, if this catches on there is no way we can compete with that!!

[msingiz]

Originally Posted by sbic56

Did anyone catch the segment on "60 Minutes" last night about Americans going to countries such as Thailand and India for surgeries and vacation style recoveries? It was pretty interesting. People are going to these countries to get care because it is about 1/10 to 1/20 what they might pay here, but every bit as good or better, according to those interviewed. They were talking about how great and skilled the docs were and that the nursing care was unbelievably good. "I hit my call bell and there she was!" All RN care, paid about a US dollar per hour. These beautiful facilities were swarming with nurses. The doctors made the same proportionately, some having also worked in the US, but opted to go back where they were needed more. The disadvantages were that if you weren't happy(malpractice claim) you end up in thier court and of course, you need to fly there. Still, if this catches on there is no way we can compete with that!!

Hey, i agree with you, we may never catch up, we may be able to do the emergencies but may loose all cosmetic surgeries.did you see the British embassy employee who also loved it. on safety, it should not be a big worry since most doc's there are trained in America.
True the world is becoming flat.

[sbic56]

Originally Posted by msingiz

Hey, i agree with you, we may never catch up, we may be able to do the emergencies but may loose all cosmetic surgeries.did you see the British embassy employee who also loved it. on safety, it should not be a big worry since most doc's there are trained in America.
True the world is becoming flat.

Yes, I saw the satisfied British employee, too...not only for US citizens! Alot of surgeries can wait, so I'd say cosmetic surgeries are just scraping the top of what will be "outsourced".

There is book on the market called "The World is Flat" by Tom Friedman. I saw the author interviewed on Jon Stewart. He called the economic global economy will have on America as a "quiet crisis." I think our super power status has peaked.

[suzanne4]

There was another thread started on this topic the other day.
In Thailand, RNs at government hospitals make about $400 per month, and the hospital that you are talking about, just down the street from my home, is a private hospital with JCAHO certification, and the nurses are paid more.
At that facility, the ratio in the ICUs is 2 patients to 1 nurse, just like here. But in the Government-run facilities, which is about 90% of the country, the ratio is 1:1 for every ICU patient...............

Services is Bangkok are quite good, but as soon as you leave the major metropolitan area, you take you life in your hands. Then the medical care is quite scary, literally................

[sbic56]

Originally Posted by suzanne4

There was another thread started on this topic the other day.
In Thailand, RNs at government hospitals make about $400 per month, and the hospital that you are talking about, just down the street from my home, is a private hospital with JCAHO certification, and the nurses are paid more.
At that facility, the ratio in the ICUs is 2 patients to 1 nurse, just like here. But in the Government-run facilities, which is about 90% of the country, the ratio is 1:1 for every ICU patient...............

Services is Bangkok are quite good, but as soon as you leave the major metropolitan area, you take you life in your hands. Then the medical care is quite scary, literally................

It's interesting to read a first hand perspective. I had imagined there must be vastly varying levels of quality of care throughout the same country. Is there beginning to be a real influx of foreign patients yet? I can see it happening.

[g'daymate]

Originally Posted by sbic56

Did anyone catch the segment on "60 Minutes" last night about Americans going to countries such as Thailand and India for surgeries and vacation style recoveries? It was pretty interesting. People are going to these countries to get care because it is about 1/10 to 1/20 what they might pay here, but every bit as good or better, according to those interviewed. They were talking about how great and skilled the docs were and that the nursing care was unbelievably good. "I hit my call bell and there she was!" All RN care, paid about a US dollar per hour. These beautiful facilities were swarming with nurses. The doctors made the same proportionately, some having also worked in the US, but opted to go back where they were needed more. The disadvantages were that if you weren't happy(malpractice claim) you end up in thier court and of course, you need to fly there. Still, if this catches on there is no way we can compete with that!!

Interesting story,
I work in New Zealand. Our hospitals are Goverment run facilities. We do have private surgery though and they are always touting for business. Our docs and nurses come from everywhere in the world, as well as NZ trained nurses who hav to have a BN level training. We have second level nurses similar to LPN, and docs train as most western docs do with about 7 years to Housman level and then Registrar and consultant level, all in all taking about 9-10 years of training. in my hospital , which is the Govt. run facility, we have travellers from the States who get ill while on vacation . Some of these patients have commented to me that they are surprised at the level of care we deliver and the standard of our practice.
I wonder how much this will catch on as money becomes more of an issue for US insurance companies. At present I think our exchange rate is about 73US c of your cents for every NZ $ . Thats not a bad saving , and if you take in to account the price of travel , which is about $900 US from LAX it might pay for non urgent surgery to be done in far off places. I say, watch out and watch this space...

[suzanne4]

Originally Posted by sbic56

It's interesting to read a first hand perspective. I had imagined there must be vastly varying levels of quality of care throughout the same country. Is there beginning to be a real influx of foreign patients yet? I can see it happening.

Depends on if you go to a private hospital, or government run. In the larger cities, there are quite a few private facilities. Up country, most are government run..........In Bangkok, the care is quite good in most places, but outside, you take your life in your own hands.........

[sbic56]

Originally Posted by g'daymate

Interesting story,
I work in New Zealand. Our hospitals are Goverment run facilities. We do have private surgery though and they are always touting for business. Our docs and nurses come from everywhere in the world, as well as NZ trained nurses who hav to have a BN level training. We have second level nurses similar to LPN, and docs train as most western docs do with about 7 years to Housman level and then Registrar and consultant level, all in all taking about 9-10 years of training. in my hospital , which is the Govt. run facility, we have travellers from the States who get ill while on vacation . Some of these patients have commented to me that they are surprised at the level of care we deliver and the standard of our practice.
I wonder how much this will catch on as money becomes more of an issue for US insurance companies. At present I think our exchange rate is about 73US c of your cents for every NZ $ . Thats not a bad saving , and if you take in to account the price of travel , which is about $900 US from LAX it might pay for non urgent surgery to be done in far off places. I say, watch out and watch this space...

So NZ is in the running, too. I can really see where the practice of taking a trip for many procedures will become more popular. Better care for less money, why not? This is one more area where the house of cards is falling for the US. It had to happen, as superpowers fall eventually, but I have to admit I didn't quite expect to see it in my lifetime. This is one solution to the nursing shortage!

[sbic56]

Originally Posted by suzanne4

Depends on if you go to a private hospital, or government run. In the larger cities, there are quite a few private facilities. Up country, most are government run..........In Bangkok, the care is quite good in most places, but outside, you take your life in your own hands.........

I'm sure. At least in the US there is a certain basic set of standards that are in place. Not so much in some other countries, right?

[Nitengale326]

I recently did some research on Bariatric surgery and was shocked at the number that travel out of country to have their surgeries performed because it is so much cheaper than in the US. Most of these folks do not have ins. for what ever reason or they do have ins. but it is not a covered procedure. I did not see the 60 mins piece and I have not heard of too many "resort type" recovery areas but I have never found anything negative said about having such a major procedure done out of country, nursing care was good, physician was skilled, cost was GREAT!!!