Offshoring American Overall health Care: Higher High quality At Reduce Charges?

The Cayman Islands are nestled in the Caribbean Sea some 430 miles south of Miami. The 3-island cluster is identified for its inviting coral-sand beaches, laid-back island culture and tax-cost-free status.

While it lures a lot of tourists and large banking institutions, it’s not the 1st location you’d count on to uncover the long term of American well being care. That may possibly adjust quickly.

Last month, I flew to the Caymans to reasonable an afternoon-lengthy panel on delivering higher-quality, cost-effective wellness care. Earlier in the day, far more than 2,000 attendees from close to the world gathered below a large tent to celebrate the opening of a new 104-bed hospital.

Why all the fuss? Simply because this new facility is the perform of Narayana Well being chairman and India’s most renowned heart surgeon, Dr. Devi Shetty.

As featured in the Wall Street Journal and the extensively cited Harvard Organization School situation research, Narayana is internationally regarded as a reduced-price, higher-good quality well being care provider. Its newest hospital, Well being City Cayman Islands, is the organization’s initial advancement outside of India.

It has American wellness care suppliers watching closely and anxiously.

Rendering of Health City Cayman Islands, a 104-bed hospital that opened in February 2014 and just may possibly represent the long term of American wellness care. (Photograph courtesy of Narayana Health)

Narayana Overall health Positioned To Deliver High quality Care To Americans

At the finish of 2013, Narayana Wellness was working 18 hospitals across 14 cities in India. With a laser concentrate on efficiency and high quality, the regular Narayana cardiac hospital performs 40 heart surgeries a day for less than $ one,600 a case.

That’s about 2 % of the regular heart surgical procedure price in the U.S. with outcomes that rival the best American facilities.

With the 1st phase of the Cayman Island hospital completed in February, Dr. Shetty programs to expand Overall health City Cayman Islands to two,000 beds over the subsequent decade. And each his vision and technique lengthen well beyond this Caribbean destination.

In the United States, there is about 1 hospital bed per 333 folks. The Grand Cayman Island has about 50,000 residents. When Dr. Shetty completes his growth programs, his newest hospital will function 1 bed per 25 Grand Cayman residents. It doesn’t take a heart surgeon to see Dr. Shetty is contemplating way past the Caymans.

Offered the hospital’s near proximity to Miami, Dr. Shetty have to be preparing to appeal to patients from the United States. That would definitely describe the five-star hotel he developed following door with a foot bridge connecting the two planet-class structures.

These days, Well being City Cayman Islands focuses on cardiac and total joint surgical procedure. It will include cancer care and transplant solutions in the near long term. Strategies are presently underway to construct an international healthcare school and a range of substantial-quality residency training packages. He expects this facility to turn into a global academic medical center and a location for the very best health-related college graduates.

Some American wellness techniques may possibly scoff at the idea that Americans will travel to Overall health City. But if Dr. Shetty can match the performance of his hospitals in India, his vision is probably to be a reality sooner than they envision. Previously, the Cayman Island’s enterprise-pleasant government has permitted Dr. Shetty to move ahead with advancement considerably more swiftly than he ever could in the U.S.

Dr. Shetty’s Method: Charge Much less, Treat Much more  

Offshoring American Overall health Care: Higher High quality At Reduce Charges?