Home Patient Stories Hip Resurfacing Testimonials Carol Wolske Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Carol Wolske Birmingham Hip Resurfacing Medical tourism COAL CITY WOMAN TRAVELS OVERSEAS FOR LESS COSTLY PROCEDURE AT HOSPITAL IN INDIA January 6, 2008 By KIM SMITH STAFF WRITER COAL CITY -- Carol Wolske, 58, was close to being an invalid due to a hip gone bad. Today, the Coal City resident is out of bed and back to riding a bike thanks to surgery she had in a resort-style hospital in India. Carol Wolske with her doctor, Dr. Kaushal Malhan, in India. Carol Wolske shovels the snow from the back porch of her son's Wilmington home. It is called medical tourism and it is a way other countries are capitalizing on our health-care crisis. Wolske, like 45 million others in the country, has no medical insurance. She would have had to put up her house to foot her medical bills. "I would have spent my entire life savings having the surgery here," Wolske said. "I believe I got better care there than what I would have received here." U.S. medical experts caution that it can be difficult to gauge the quality of caregivers and equipment at overseas facilities. After doing a year of extensive research, Wolske said the cost to have the surgery done here in the Chicago area would be more than $50,000. The India hospital cost her $11,000 and included flights, resort-like rooms and meals for both her and her husband, along with the needed tests and hip replacement surgery. "A friend of mine from Canada told me to check out the Internet for the medical tourism industry," Wolske said. "I found out there are plenty of places out there so I narrowed it down to the ones who did not ask for any money up front." There are many such Web sites boasting all sorts of procedures from places all over the world. Wolske chose to go with a company known as Healthbase Board certified Healthbase spokesman Saroja Mohanasundaram said most of its doctors and nurses are trained here in the United States and the United Kingdom. "Some of the doctors in our partner facilities are American Board certified and have worked in the U.S. for more than 15 years before joining the hospitals abroad," Mohanasundaram said. "Some have even worked with inventors of medical procedures and techniques." Mohanasundaram said one of the doctors, Dr. Vijay Bose, worked with the inventors of the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing procedure, which is the same procedure Wolske had done this past July. When searching for health care out of the country, Mohanasundaram said it is important to find out if the facilities are JCI (Joint Commission International) accredited. JCI is the international arm of the same organization that is used to evaluate hospitals in the United States. Hospital stay Wolske described her stay at the Wockhardt Hospital in Mumbai as phenomenal. "I had a nurse and a nurse assistant that only have three patients at a time," Wolske said. "They work eight- to 10-hour shifts. When you hit the button someone was there in an instant. Even the head administrator comes down to check on you every day." Their suite included a computer hooked up to the Internet, a television and a bed for her husband, Silvio. Wolske said the place was immaculate and done with impeccable taste. She even liked the food. "They assigned me a patient manager by the name of Moe," Wolske said. "Moe handled all the details from the flights and the rides to the airport." While at the hospital, the couple was offered the chance to get complete physicals at an extra cost of $194 each. Sonograms, X-rays, stress tests and more were done in one day with the results coming in the next day. "All the equipment was state-of-the art," Wolske said. "Everything there was so organized and made sense, unlike how they do things here." The trip took about two weeks. Wolske was sent home with all the medications she needed as well as crutches, X-rays and other medical devices at no extra costs. The doctor wrote her out a prescription for physical therapy that she had done in Wilmington. "I am in no pain and able to do things I have not been able to do in years," Wolske said. "I can ride a bike and go hiking. These are things I just was not able to do before the surgery." Growing popularity According to a story written by Jennie McKee and published in the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons, 500,000 Americans went overseas for medical care in 2005. They traveled to locales such as Singapore, Thailand, Mexico and Costa Rica for dental procedures, heart surgery, fertility treatments and orthopaedic surgery. They paid one-tenth of the costs charged in the United States. Dr. Glenn Pfeffer, an orthopaedic surgeon at the Cedars-Sinai Orthopedic Center in Los Angeles, Calif., said he is not totally against the concept of medical tourism. He once came close to setting up a practice in another country. "My biggest concern is with the quality of care," Pfeffer said. "It is hard for any of us to judge the quality of care given in our country. We often chose our doctors and hospitals on the advice of others." Pfeffer said often the equipment used in other countries may not be the most advanced. While most foreign caregivers claim their doctors and surgeons have trained in the United States, anyone considering going to another country for medical reasons should inquire about the technicians, nurses, physical therapists and other medical consultants that will also play a part in the procedures. More at: http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/heraldnews/news/728223,4_1_JO06_MEDICALTOURISM_S1.article   < Prev   Next > [ Back ]

Click here to register and get quote

Trusted Source for Medical Tourism and Dental Tourism