A Vision of 21st Century Health Care and Medicine

It was clear to us that certainly the United States and humanity globally was entering a new age of health care and medicine that we called the New Health Age This new age would usher in transformational changes in health care and rapidly approaching medical miracles and that the economics of health care would be turned upside down We were clear that this would be a global phenomenon and that it was important to look around the world to see where the future that would be the New Health Age was first appearingWell our research quickly pointed to a true visionary doctor in India We realized this was significant due in part to the explosion in medical tourism around the world To quote directly from amp8220The New Health Age The Future of Health Care in Americaamp8221amp8220Dr Devi Shetty of BangaloreIndia for example now owns and operates an acclaimed heart institute program charging in average 2000 for open heart surgery while American hospitals charge between 20000 and 100000 Dr Shetty leads the NarayanaHrudayalayaHospital where 42 cardiac surgeons performed 3174 cardiac bypass surgeries in 2008 more than double the cases performed at leading US medical centers in a year His pediatric surgeons operated on 2777 children again more than double the volume performed at nationally recognized hospitalsDr Shetty did not stop his vision after building his 1000 bed heart hospital Adjacent to Narayana he build a 1400 bed cancer hospital and a 300 bed eye hospital These facilities share laboratories and a blood bank with the heart institute for efficiencies and cost savings Dr Shettyamp8217s familyowned business group Narayana Hrudayalaya Private Ltd Reports a 77 percent profit after taxes which beats the 69 percent average for a US hospitalSoon Dr Shetty plans to open a 2000 bed general hospital in the Cayman Islands seeking to draw more Americans on a one hour plane ride from Miami He plans to price procedures both elective and necessary at more than 50 percent below what they would cost if performed in the United StatesHow is the quality of care at NarayanaHospital Dr Shetty reports a 14 percent mortality rate within 30 days of coronary artery bypass graft surgery one of the most common procedures compared with an average of 19 percent in the US in 2008 Dr Shetty claims that is mortality rates would be even lower if he adjusted the figures for risk because his patients are often sicker than the average US cardiac patient Many of Dr Shettyamp8217s patients lack access to basic health care and suffer from more advanced cardiac disease before they finally have surgerySo for the last two years I have been talking about the inevitability of transformational change in American health care to audiences in the US and Australia To make the point I have consistently said that an American needing a heart bypass surgery could fly to India have surgery performed by one of Dr Shettyamp8217s surgical teams recover have the family member accompanying them stay in a nice hotel for a month and then fly back to America and it would cost less than going to one of the higher profile cardiac centers in the US And with a higher probability of livingThere were two reactions to this statement whenever I made it The first one was that this was incredible and that US health care was indeed overpriced and expensive The second was that of course Dr Shetty could do this as everything is so much cheaper in IndiaWhy am I writing this Because recently while on Grand Cayman Island for a speech I met the small dedicated and brilliant team that is working with Dr Shetty to build the hospital we wrote about in the book three years ago I actually toured the construction site which is remarkable in and of itselfDr Shetty and his team wants to show the world that superior compassionate and dramatically lower cost surgery can be done in the amp8220Western Worldamp8221 with Health City on Grand CaymanAs a futurist it was exhilarating to see the New Health Age I have envisioned actually taking shape and becoming a reality In the next column I will write more about Dr Shetty and his vision for HealthCity in the next column For now please take a look at what will be one of the most significant institutions of the rapidly approaching future of medicine httpwwwhealthcitycaymanislandscomDavid Houle is a futurist strategist and speaker He has always been slightly ahead of the curve Houle spent more than 20 years in media and entertainment Most recently David is a featured contributor to Oprahcom Check is out here wwwoprahcomdavidhoule David can be contacted at DavidDavidHoulecomRead all Davidamp8217s MediaBizBloggers commentaries at Evolution ShiftCheck us out on Facebook at MediaBizBloggerscomFollow our Twitter updates MediaBizBloggerThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaBizBloggerscom management or associated bloggers MediaBizBloggers is an 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A Vision of 21st Century Health Care and Medicine

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David Houle

"About That with Carl Mayer:" Alaina Donnellon (Episode 10: Political Spending) - By Carl Mayer

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A Vision of 21st Century Health Care and Medicine

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