Fear and Medical Tourism in Vegas (Walter Eisner @ OTW)
Medical tourism is usually associated with foreign exotic places like India, Thailand and Costa Rica.
But Vegas? The metaphors are beyond tempting. One-armed bandits; what happens in Vegas…; gambling with your health; Fear and Healing in Vegas. Our gonzo-journalism hero, Hunter Thompson, would be inspired.
According to a story by Richard Velotta on May 16 in VEGASINC, a group called the Southern Nevada Medical Industry Coalition is in the process of drafting an asset analysis and a quality algorithm before writing a feasibility study on how to grow Southern Nevada’s $50 billion medical tourism industry as well as its $106 billion medical wellness industry.
Velotta writes that at a recent symposium an all-star panel of doctors agreed that “building on quality health care” and excelling at specialties and treatments people can’t get anywhere else are the most important elements in developing a thriving medical tourism industry.
Yevgeniy Khavkin, M.D., is a neurosurgeon at the Nevada Spine Institute, which markets in Russia, China and Middle East. Khavkin said Russian patients are convinced that the best medical care in the world is offered in the U.S. and he and his physician wife are more than willing to see their former countrymen as patients.
The asset analysis reported by Velotta would be an inventory of the medical specialties available in Southern Nevada while the quality algorithm would compare quality of care and treatment outcomes achieved in the area against peers nationwide.
The Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority embraced the concept, hiring Cheryl Smith as a medical tourism sales manager. Smith told physician attendees at the symposium that they are now “brand ambassadors.” Smith, wrote Velotta, told the group, “You can manage their experiences when they’re here, and we want to give people a healthy reason to choose Las Vegas.”
Velotta cited the example of an existing specialty at the Gastric Band Institute, which offers surgical remedies for obesity. Such a specialty has what many consider to be a perfect medical tourism operation. Surgeries are short and relatively painless, but patients need to stay in the area for several days for post-surgical follow-ups.
Perhaps to have a walletectomy performed at one of the family friendly casinos. They could also save the stem cells from the gastric procedure and prepare them for regenerative therapies. Your fat stays in Vegas, but you take the stem cells home.
Panelists agreed that as the reputation of medical professionals in Las Vegas becomes more widely known, more specialists will consider moving to the city. But they better sharpen up their skills as brand managers.
We’d love to hear from our readers which specialty medical services they’d suggest to the coalition.