Recent Interviews

I spoke recently with Ira Nissel, CEO of IMS Global, a medical tourism company based in Israel. Israel is home to some of the most modern medical centers in the world and the country's physicians and scientists are known for medical breakthroughs.

IMS Global has three divisions. One focuses on fertility, another on children and the third on adults. The company works will all of the internationally known medical centers in Israel and provides end-to-end service. Patients are coming from all over the world including the US, Europe, and the former Soviet Union.

16:19 minutes (7.63 MB)

At the International Medical Tourism Conference in Washington, DC last week I spoke with Dr. Robert Crone, who was until just recently President and CEO of Harvard Medical International, (HMI). Over the past several years, HMI has been involved in the development of world-class health care facilities outside of the US, including Wockhardt Hospitals in India and Dubai Healthcare City.

We spoke about accreditation, the impact of the globalization of health care on the US, and the Medical Tourism Association.

14:12 minutes (6.85 MB)

During the International Medical Tourism Conference I had the chance to interview health care informatics expert Dr. David Kibbe, senior advisor to the American Academy of Family Physicians and Principal of the Kibbe Group. We spoke about the globalization of health care and the direct and indirect impacts it will have on US health care. We also focused on the role of information technology in health care and medical tourism specifically.

13:39 minutes (6.63 MB)

I’m in Washington, DC this week for the International Medical Tourism Conference. Earlier today I interviewed Curt Schroeder, Group CEO of Bumrungrad International of Bangkok, Thailand. We spoke about numerous topics including the magnitude and drivers of cost differences between Thailand and the US, the role of information technology at Bumrungrad and Microsoft’s recent purchase of Global Care Solutions, which has partnered with Bumrungrad on software development. We also discussed the number and nature of foreign patients, outcomes measurements, accreditation and the future of medical tourism.

25:15 minutes (12.5 MB)

James Bae promotes medical tourism on behalf of the Council for Korea Medicine Overseas Promotion and has organized my trip to hospitals in Korea this week. James and I had a chance to chat on our way back from Busan to Seoul this afternoon on the high-speed KTX train. If you hear a bit of background noise keep in mind that we were traveling at almost 300 kilometers per hour!

12:14 minutes (6.04 MB)

Christi deMoraes had weight loss surgery in 2001 and moved to Brazil with her family shortly thereafter. While there she underwent body reconstruction surgery. The results were great and the price was reasonable. As she shared this information with peers, she realized there was an opportunity to bring others to Brazil for the same experience --and MedNetBrazil was born.

19:26 minutes (9.05 MB)

I spoke last night with Elizabeth Nelle, Director of the Office of Product Research and Development in the Philippines' Department of Tourism.

17:52 minutes (8.39 MB)

In 2004 Howard Staab found out he would need surgery to repair a failing heart valve. Unfortunately for Howard he was uninsured. Unable to afford the $200,000 cost for the surgery in North Carolina, but too well off for Medicaid, Howard didn't know what to do.

His partner, Maggi Ann Grace, tried negotiating with Durham Regional Hospital. She offered to pay the hospital the discounted rate that an insurance company would pay. No dice, said the hospital CFO.

23:11 minutes (10.94 MB)

I spoke recently with Claire Tan of Avail Corporation. She is organizing the second annual International Medical Travel Conference, which will take place during November in Manila, Philippines.

Claire and I discussed medical tourism in the Philippines and other Asian countries, progress toward attracting US and European medical tourists to the region, and differences between JCI and other international accreditation bodies.

17:01 minutes (7.83 MB)

Jonathan Edelheit is an executive at a company that sells limited benefit health plans (sometimes called mini-meds). These plans cover day-to-day expenses but not major surgery. His involvement in medical tourism began as a way to add affordable major medical coverage to mini-med plans. But now he's going a step beyond, by founding the Medical Tourism Association. I spoke with him about the future of medical tourism as an insurance benefit and the plans for the Association.

19:50 minutes (9.12 MB)