State of the Heart: A Medical Tourist's True Story of Lifesaving Surgery in India

The story that helped kick-start "medical tourism" ..

In 2004, at the age of fifty-three, self-employed contractor Howard Stabb learns that a leaking mitral valve in his heart needs to be repaired. Left untreated, his doctors tell Stabb, his condition may kill him at any moment. The procedure to repair the heart valve costs at least $200,000 at the Durham Regional Hospital near Stabb's North Carolina home-if there are no complications.

This gripping memoir describes Stabb and Grace's experiences from the initial diagnosis through their trek to India, the operation Stabb undergoes, and the chilling dangers he faces after the surgery. In an afterword, the book offers resources for readers considering overseas health care, including hospital recommendations, visa and inoculation information, and things to look for when choosing an overseas health care provider. In all, the memoir alludes to the collective story of the more than 43 million uninsured Americans who face, everyday, the very real possibility that their lack of health insurance may either bankrupt or kill them-if not both.

Medical Tourism & Patient Data

Under "statistics, damn statistics and lies" ..

http://travel.nytimes.com/2006/10/15/business/yourmoney/15care.html?sq=thailand%20hospital&st=nyt&scp=4&pagewanted=print

In Bangkok, Bumrungrad International Hospital counts 55,000 American patients a year.

McKinsey & Company's report on medical tourism, using a very rigorous, very conservative data-approach --

http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/Mapping_the_market_for_travel_2134?pagenum=1

"Between 60,000 and 85,000 people annually travel abroad for inpatient hospital care, a number .. far lower than commonly assumed."

Probably some of the difference is between elective and acute situations.

Harvard's Michael "Healthcare" Porter in Israel

America's best in Israel ..

"No, No , No" exclaimed Michael Porter, chastising the Associate Director of a major medical center in Israel, "You have to raise your hand." Such blatant breaches of HBS etiquette were relatively frequent over the course of the week long IXP, which drew a wide range of participants, many of whom were unfamiliar with the peculiarities of the typical HBS classroom.

The Value-Based Health Care Delivery IXP, co-led by Professor's Porter, and Elizabeth Teisberg (formerly of HBS and currently a professor at the Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia), was a multi-disciplinary immersion program based on the framework presented in the book, Redifining Healthcare. The book, which diagnoses the problem of competition in the modern healthcare system, introduces a broad set of strategies which providers, payers, employers and the government can use to improve value. The immersion program was designed as an extension of the book, and involved case studies and subsequent discussions of companies and organizations who have implemented strategies that demonstrate the principles outlined by Porter and Teisberg.

Program participants came from all corners of the healthcare sector. In addition to 17 HBS MBA students with prior healthcare experience (10 of whom were MD MBA's), there were students from Harvard School of Public Health, Kennedy School of Government, and Harvard Medical School. Participants also included many medical residents and practicing physicians, most of whom were affiliated with hospitals in the Boston area, including several heads of departments and several senior surgeons and administrators. Finally, there was also a significant international contingent, with participants flying in from Ireland, Israel, England, and Canada.

Mumbai, India attacks

In a terrorist attack -- not even a hospital is off-limits --

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cama_Hospital

The 2008 Mumbai attacks were ten coordinated terrorist attacks across Mumbai, India's financial capital and its largest city. The attacks, which began on 26 November 2008 and lasted until 29 November, killed at least 173 people and wounded at least 308. The attacks drew widespread condemnation across the world.

Eight of the attacks occurred in South Mumbai: at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, the Oberoi Trident, the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower, Leopold Cafe, Cama Hospital, the Orthodox Jewish-owned Nariman House, the Metro Cinema, and a lane behind the Times of India building and St. Xavier's College. There was also an explosion at the Mazagaon docks, in Mumbai's port area, and in a taxi at Vile Parle. By the early morning of 28 November, all sites except for the Taj Mahal Palace had been secured by Mumbai Police and security forces. An action by India's National Security Guards on 29 November resulted in the death of the last remaining attackers at the Taj Mahal Palace, ending all fighting in the attacks.

EDITORIAL: USA medical costs -- next speculative bubble to burst?

AN EDITORIAL

Since the Dutch "tulip bulb" bubble of the 17th century, many speculative bubbles have exploded in the faces of the oh-so-smart. After Enron, Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac -- will U.S. medical costs be next?

IMHO, the rate of growth of USA medical costs is unsustainable. Left unchecked, with the aging of the baby-boomers, it could grow to 35% of U.S. GNP (now 16%). How can the "stimulus" be repaid, if that happens?

Medical Onshoring is dedicated to attempting to restain medical costs, while maintaining Joint Commission International standards.

And medical care and health care is more than just technology, money, bureaucracy, and politics.

It is about creating "circles of caring communities," that patients receive maximal service, with the resources available. From a simple physical exam -- to the final, precious moments of life.

Most of those in the medical-industrial complex are pushing for growth, growth, growth. Per previous -- that's unsustainable, IMHO.

Trying to restrain costs in a quality environment -- especially with so many pushing for "more, more, more" of medical services -- is a huge operational challenge. Not political -- operational.

Well -- I enjoy big challenges.

USPTO to publish patent app 4/29/09

U.S. Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) has notified yours truly that the patent application of Medical Onshoring (pat. pend.) is scheduled for publication on the USPTO web site on 4/29/09.

USPTO -- no immediate fatal flaw in patent application

Hello! It's a been a busy few months, being CTO, CEO, CFO and CBW (chief bottle-washer).

Best of all, last week, in a teleconference, the U.S. Patent Office voiced no immediate concerns about Medical Onshoring's patentability.

I sought patent protection for a number of reasons: to get credit for being the first-to-invent; to ensure quality; and, hopefully, recover the enormous amount of capital required to be a Thomas Edison.

More soon.