Policy

Michael D. Horowitz MD MBA and Jeffrey A. Rosensweig have an article published in the latest International Medical Travel Journal, which is well worth a read. Here's the abstract:

Medical tourism is an emerging phenomenon wherein citizens of industrialized nations bypass services offered in their own communities and travel to less developed countries to receive medical care.

David Williams: This is David Williams, CEO of MedTripInfo.com. At the International Medical Tourism Conference in Washington, D.C. last week, I spoke with Dr. Robert Crone. He was, until recently, president and CEO of Harvard Medical International or HMI.

Over the past several years, HMI has been involved in the development of world class health care facilities outside of the US, including Wockhardt Hospitals in India and Dubai Healthcare City. We spoke about accreditation, the impact of the globalization of health care on the US, and the Medical Tourism Association. Dr. Crone, thanks for being with me today.

Dubai Healthcare City in the Persian Gulf expects one day to be a larger entity than the Harvard-affiliated medical complex here in Boston, according to today’s Wall Street Journal (Health-Care Building Booms in Persian Gulf). Medical equipment makers, construction and engineering firms, and academic medical centers from the US are salivating over the opportunity to soak up some petrodollars as Dubai and other Persian Gulf nations gorge on health care infrastructure. Why is this happening?