The phenomenon of medical tourism is gaining a fast momentum with the growing interest from everyone including patients, providers, employers, and law makers. Many consider this phenomenon as a solution to the rising cost and demand of the United States healthcare system. Many others, however, find it detrimental as it competes with the local healthcare system outside the constraints of the local health policies and legislation. This paper discusses the steps healthcare providers, both academic and nonacademic, need to take in order to better negotiate their prices and be prepared for this new competitive era. It also discusses the urgent need of law-makers as to better manage and regulate medical tourism.
Healthcare management reaction to bargaining consumers
To better deal with the threat presented by the rapidly growing trend of medical tourism, administrators need to be aware of all aspects of the problem. Essentially, they need to understand the advantages and disadvantages of medical tourism from everyone’s perspective, the changes needed to ultimately establish a higher edge and superiority in the field, and the possible ways to lower their prices to or close to an international competitive level. Evidently, medical tourism has many significant ethical and physical downsides (Cohen, 2012) which administrators can use to defend their position when negotiating prices. For example, Cohen (2012) claims that medical tourism exposes patients to relatively poor medical care abroad in comparison to the proposed care available in their home countries.
Also, claims presented by companies pushing or marketing for medical tourism, like IndUShealth, are not fully supported by evidence and often allude biased beliefs. For example, s...
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Works Cited
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It would be necessary for a hospital administrator to look closely at ways to lower healthcare costs and provide more efficient care when a large employer like BRPP states they are thinking of relocating their employee inpatient hospital services to a company like InduShealth. InduShealth is offering substantially lower prices for several surgical procedures and a U.S. hospital administrator would not want to lose this large consumer population if it was possible to find more efficient methods of providing healthcare to their patients (McLaughlin & McLaughlin, 2008). One pricing strategy that a hospital administrator could advocate for is a bundled...
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Even during the worst economic downturn, the advantages of a universal health care system remain hidden from society. Instead, the adverse impacts continue to occupy the minds of many Americans. Misguidedly, citizens are repeatedly ensnared into ideological disputes inc...
Health care is one of those issues where the political spectrum shows some overlap. Both sides want the same outcome: a healthy and happy society. However, the ways they want to accomplish this varies greatly. The Republicans are staunchly against government-organized healthcare. They believe that the less government the better, believing that “government run affordable health care leads to inefficiencies and can be disastrous to the nation’s health overall.” They believe that health care should be left to doctors, HMOs and insurance companies to decide and manage. However, the democrats’ main point on health care is that it should be funded and controlled by the government for the people. They hold that all people should be able to have the assurance of health without worrying about losing coverage or going into debt. This would be most effective for the poor and elderly, those who normally would not be able to afford coverage and need it most. As such, Med...
Despite the established health care facilities in the United States, most citizens do not have access to proper medical care. We must appreciate from the very onset that a healthy and strong nation must have a proper health care system. Such a health system should be available and affordable to all. The cost of health services is high. In fact, the ...
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One of the most commonly debated topics in recent American history has been that of health care. Would Americans be able to reap more benefits if individuals continue to be independent in their pursuits of health care, or would it be beneficial for all if the government introduced more regulations regarding health care, changing our system to resemble those of other developed countries? As more solutions are offered, it becomes harder for people to reach a consensus on the best way to approach this issue. Despite this, America must decide what system of healthcare will benefit the most citizens and improve the quality of life the most. It is becoming increasingly apparent that a universal healthcare system would be the most effective and
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While Universal Health Care is viewed as having a positive effect on the world and seems to do only good, it is a thorned rose, that will produce more negative, disastrous, and unforeseen outcomes than positive ones. Universal Health Care is a system in which the government provides financial aid and medical care to everyone within the nation. Canada, Denmark, Taiwan, and Sweden have single-payer systems in which every citizens medicare costs are covered for. Currently in the United States we have private insurance and health care, meaning that if citizens can afford it they pay for their own health care privately. There has been much debate over if the United States should adopt a single payer system or if we should continue on with the system
As indicated by McLaughlin and McLaughlin (2008), governments must respond to the concerns of healthcare providers having a conflict of interest as it relates to patients and for others. In the 1990s, the United States saw the emergence of many physician-owned hospitals specializing in certain high-dollar procedures such as cardiac care and orthopedics. They had many reasons for their development. First of all, physicians sought to funnel the private insured patients to facilities in which they had a financial stake. Additionally, they were able to pick and choose patients who might have a better outcome. Moreover, the doctor had more control over the patient's care and length of stay in a facility in which he had ownership. This created problems
Marketing Malta to Different Segments: How Medical Tourism Fits within MTA's Marketing Strategy. N.p.: n.p., 2011. PDF.