Medical Tourism

By Wouter Hoeberechts
8/18/2008

Experts in medical tourism, WorldMed Assist's mission is to improve lives by helping patients receive high quality medical treatment abroad at affordable prices.

Pioneertown, CA, Aug 18, 2008 - Steve Berg returned from a 15-day trip for hip resurfacing in India, a trip that only four months earlier he'd never imagined. He also never thought he'd be joining the fast growing ranks of medical tourists traveling overseas from North America for surgery they can't afford at home.

Last October, Steve Berg went to his chiropractor for an alignment to alleviate hip pain that caused him to pop up to 16 ibuprofens a day. But x-rays soon confirmed the chiropractor's initial suspicion: severe arthritis, not a chiropractic adjustment, would require surgery. The diagnosis was confirmed by an orthopedic surgeon. He was then hit with further bad news: hip replacement anywhere near home would cost about $60,000 because he was among the 47 million uninsured Americans forced to gamble that they'll never need serious medical attention.

He didn't have $60,000.

He hit the internet, and learned about an alternative to hip replacement - called hip resurfacing - that would provide him higher range of motion, shorter recovery time and the chance for future hip surgery should the arthritis cause further joint deterioration.
Berg, whose career restoring vintage motorcycles requires lots of mobility, chose Birmingham Hip Resurfacing (http://www.worldmedassist.com/Hip_Resurfacing_Surgery_India.html), but soon learned it's impossible to find an experienced doctor in the U.S. because it's a procedure only recently (2006) approved by the FDA. Berg found that several countries overseas had been resurfacing hips for a lot longer than in the U.S.

"There's a steep learning curve with this procedure, and I didn't want anyone in the U.S. practicing on me. When you look at our hospitals, you see a very high percentage of doctors from India, so I decided to go to the source!" Berg chuckled.

"First, I tried to arrange surgery in India myself, but I got so tangled up with all the options and paperwork, that I almost gave up," Berg recalled. "Finally, I landed on http://www.WorldMedAssist.com and was impressed with their information about hip resurfacing. I e-mailed them, and they immediately called me back to talk about details. I told them, "You're hired! Line up my options for India, and let's push this through as fast as we can."

With options in hand, Berg chose Wockhardt in Mumbai because their surgeon, Dr. Malhan, had done a large number of hip surgeries and is UK board certified. WorldMed Assist forwarded all Berg's records to Dr. Malhan, who then assured Berg he was a good candidate for hip resurfacing.

"WorldMed Assist quoted me a total cost of just over $10,000, including hip surgery, hotel, a two-week hospital stay and all my travel - about 1/6th the price I faced in the U.S. That price even included dental work I'd been putting off for 7 years. My decision was clear, and three weeks from the time I first contacted WorldMed Assist, I was on a plane."

While recovering from surgery in a private hospital suite complete with a refrigerator, visitor's couch, computer, cable TV and his own deluxe bathroom, Berg met several other medical travelers. About a third had made their own arrangements, as Berg had attempted to do; several others had used global healthcare facilitators like WorldMed Assist.

"But no one had as clean an experience as I did," he said. "The biggest deal is having handlers at home who line up people to lead you through the entire overseas process. I told these other patients about WorldMed Assist's service - how they expedited my visa, ensured I was met at the airport and driven directly to my hotel, and above all, how they stayed in touch with me from our very first contact throughout the entire ordeal. Those patients were all pretty amazed at the level of service compared with their own experience. WorldMed Assist handled all those loose ends I turned out to be incapable of pulling together on my own."

"Now, I'm home, and already back to work. The pain in my hip was gone a week after surgery. Before surgery, I could only stand for one hour and then I needed to lie down on a hot pad for two hours…that makes for pretty slow progress restoring these motorcycles."

About WorldMed Assist
Experts in medical tourism, WorldMed Assist's mission is to improve lives by helping patients receive high quality medical treatment abroad at affordable prices. WorldMed Assist coordinates and simplifies every aspect of care and travel. WorldMed Assist also provides medical tourism as an option for self-insured businesses seeking expanded and affordable healthcare options for employees. Hip Resurfacing in India and Belgium is significantly less expensive than in the U.S., yet delivered with the same or higher quality care and results as set by U.S. standards. Waiting times are virtually eliminated, track records are proven, and facilities are state-of-the-art. For more information, go to http:/www.worldmedassist.com
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Contact:

Wouter Hoeberechts
WorldMed Assist
Pioneertown, CA
866-999-3848 X710
whoeber@worldmedassist.com
http://www.worldmedassist.com

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August 12, 2008

The debate over U.S. health-care reform rages on. But why wait for someone else to dictate your future? You have many options -- if you're willing to take a vacation. If recovering from a medical procedure while lying on a palm-swept beach, relaxing by the hotel pool, or shopping for terrific bargains sounds good, then medical vacations may be exactly the right solution for you.

From hip replacement to heart surgery, more people are discovering the advantages of traveling abroad for their medical needs.

A big growth industry
In just the past few years, medical vacations have gone from a tiny niche market to an impressive growth story with substantial market-share gains. From Mexico to India, Costa Rica to Thailand, hospitals are taking advantage of this global trend. And U.S. companies are taking note as well. Aetna (NYSE: AET) and Blue Cross Blue Shield of South Carolina are among the health-care companies tailoring their corporate health insurance plans to give employees the opportunity to head to India or elsewhere for surgeries such as knee replacements and the more modern, less invasive approach to hip replacement, hip resurfacing...

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