Medical tourism hits New Zealand

Americans requiring complex surgery will be able to have operations in

New Zealand after the launch of a Kiwi medical tourism company.

Medtral was set up late last year to attract uninsured Americans or those looking for a cheaper option for surgery to come to New Zealand.

The company, whose creator is New Zealand obstetrician and gynaecologist Edward Watson,

will initially do surgery in private Auckland hospitals but aims to expand to Wellington and Christchurch within about five years.

It intends to do up to 1000 complex operations a year on United States medical tourists over the next next five years, but says the surgery on foreigners will not mean Kiwis miss out.

More than 100,000 private surgeries are done every year in New Zealand.

Watson is in the US seeking business.

Medtral director Andrew Wong, who is also chief executive of Auckland's MercyAscot private hospital, said the company would soon operate on its first patients.

One patient is Eugene Horn, of Williamina, Oregon, who needs both knees replaced at a cost of $US200,000 ($NZ216,000).

Source By : stuff.co.nz

How does ISO apply to healthcare?

Quality in healthcare is more important today than ever before. Today's health care consumers are better informed and participate in the care they receive. This has increased the awareness that the quality of service delivered is dependent not only on the hands-on practitioners, but also on every individual within the organization whose activities contribute in some way. The current trend toward public accountability continues to be one of the major factors driving the momentous changes in the health care industry.
SOURCE BY : www.medicalnomad.com

Asia/Pacific land of Medical tourism 4

New Zealand

New Zealand is a relatively new player to the medical travel market, focusing on non-acute surgical procedures and fertility treatment. Like other Commonwealth countries, New Zealand's medical system is based on the British health system. Most of its specialist physicians have received training in New Zealand and the US or the UK, and all use English as their first language. The costs of private healthcare are significantly cheaper than the US or the UK, with packages (airfare, accommodation, medical service etc) for procedures like hip replacement, or coronary artery bypass costing in total approximately 40% of the procedure cost alone in the US. Many private hospitals in New Zealand are accredited by the national accreditation agency Quality Health New Zealand (QHNZ). QHNZ, like JCI, is a member of the International Society for Quality in healthcare or ISQua.