Insurance company makes medical tourism deal
Accreditation Connection, February 19, 2007
The State, South Carolina's largest newspaper, reports that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina has formed a partnership with Bumrungrad hospital in Thailand, accredited by Joint Commission International. The deal also involves access to a Website, called Companion Global Healthcare, that allows users to set up plans to travel abroad for medical procedures.
This offer is the first of its kind in South Carolina and one of the first of its kind in the country. This deal will not only help those people with BCBS as their insurance agency, but it also works in BCBS' favor. The insurance company hopes this diversification will help it gain customers and offer new services to keep the customes it already has.
Medical tourism is just starting to take off as a viable business, the article says. The cost of many procedures in the U.S. is so high that it is financially worth it to go to a trusted hospital in another country and get the same procedure done for a percentage of the cost. Patients also get to see another country, one they might not have visited.
BCBS of South Carolina hopes to expand its services to two more hospitals abroad in the near future.
To read the full article, click here.
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