Tag: destination medical care
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Study Confirms Long-term Stem Cell Benefits for Parkinson’s Disease
Newly reported research discovered neural dopamine-producing stem cells transplanted into patients with Parkinson’s disease stayed healthy and functional for up to 14 years. The findings were reported in the June 5, 2014 issue of the journal Cell Reports. This is exciting news for people with Parkinson’s Disease. Researchers studied the brains of five Parkinson’s Disease […]
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After Dental Care, What’s Left in Your Wallet?
Have you ever noticed that dental pain often finds its way from your mouth to your wallet? In the United States, major dental care can cost anywhere from a few hundred to more than $40,000. When you turn to your dental insurance policy for benefits, you find coverage limits of only a few thousand dollars, leaving you with a […]
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Are Americans Afraid of Traveling for Medical Care?
A medical tourism facilitator recently asked, “Are Americans afraid of medical tourism?” Unfortunately, the term “medical tourism” is a vexing part of the problem, as are companies who promote luxury travel over the quality of medical care. Soter Healthcare believes the quality of care and its outcome is much more important. According to Wikipedia, “medical tourism” was […]
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Clearing up the International Accreditation Noise
There is a lot of noise about accreditation in media and marketing surrounding international medical travel. With few clear voices, sorting the message from the madness is challenging. Accreditation, whether regulatory or voluntary, is simply a floor above which a hospital must work. That there are no “good, better, best” connotations implied or expressed in […]
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International Medical Accreditation Unwound
We often see the comment “We only use JCI accredited hospitals” on the websites of and marketing brochures of medical tourism facilitators. I always enjoy reading that statement, knowing that the company either doesn’t understand accreditation or doesn’t really believe the comment. Accreditation, put simply, is a means by which the medical community evaluates administration, operations, […]
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Time to Bend the Health Insurance Cost Curve
There was an interesting health insurance discussion on the social networking site LinkedIn recently. Participants were talking about the 2011 United Benefits Advisors Health Plan Study. The study noted that Consumer Directed Health Insurance Plans, at 22.9% of employer-provided health plans, surpassed HMOs, which now represent only 17.8% of employer health plans. Both still lag far behind PPO plans (48.4%), according to […]
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Destination Medical Care: Right New Take on an Age-old Practice
Many people look at a destination medical care as a new idea. In fact, nothing could be farther from true. From antiquity, people around the world have traveled to distant locations to reach the best medical care possible. The earliest references date from about 2650 BC, when people traveled to see the Egyptian physician Imhotep who was renowned […]
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American Medical Association Guidelines on Medical Tourism & Destination Medical Care
The American Medical Association advocates that employers, insurance companies, and other entities that arrange medical care outside the U.S. adhere to the principles below. As a leader in destination medical care, here’s our take on the American Medical Association’s guidelines. Medical care outside of the U.S. must be voluntary. Soter position: We agree. Soter Healthcare will not […]