Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Sep. 21--It's already a major gateway for Latin trade. But those in the medical industry want to shape Miami into a 'medical mecca' for international patients.
Over the years, South Florida's hospitals have quietly developed foreign business individually. They've brought doctors and nurses from Latin America and the Caribbean to South Florida for medical seminars, paving the way for future referrals of complex or high-risk cases. They've sent their physicians abroad to observe and assist local doctors learning new procedures.
Hospitals now routinely offer foreigners one-price packages for common operations including heart bypass surgery, hip replacements and cataract removals. 'Nobody pays retail. We package-price everything,' said Brian Keeley, president of Baptist Health Systems, which touts everything from intricate surgeries to $1,170 executive physicals.
The number of foreign patients that received care at the chain's two largest hospitals, Baptist and South Miami, has climbed to 4,500, up from 3,000 in 1996.
Officials at Columbia-JFK Medical Center in Atlantis recently decided to beef up efforts to attract patients from the Dominican Republic -- home for several of the hospital's physicians. 'We do neuroscience and cardiovascular surgeries -- many surgeries people want to come to the U.S. for,' said JFK spokeswoman Sharon Ruben.
Other hospitals have conducted medical seminars via teleconference. Several reach out directly to the well-to-do by advertising their services in international magazines. Some have struck deals to provide specialty care for entire groups of government workers or employees of large international companies.
Last week, South Florida hospitals showcased their services to foreign health care leaders during the 5th Annual Hemispheric Health Ministers Conference, an educational and networking forum being held in Miami Beach.
Last year, more than 50,000 patients from Latin America were cared for in South Florida, a 53 percent increase over 1996, according tallies compiled by the City of Miami International Trade Board.
As more Latin and Caribbean residents are covered by international health insurance, hospitals see a growing opportunity.
Nearly 80 percent of foreigners treated in U.S. hospitals pay their bill up front -- in cash -- or have their employers write the check.
But about one-fourth of foreign nationals receiving medical care in the United States have health care coverage through their job or a spouse's job, national hospital observers say. That's up from about 5 percent only a few years ago.
Even more may be buying health insurance, thanks to a new law passed by the Florida legislature earlier this year. After Oct. 1, Florida-based companies are allowed to sell health insurance to nonresidents in the state's international airports.
The law was backed by Amedex, a Miami-based company that only sells health insurance to people abroad. Amedex is now negotiating for kiosk space at Miami International Airport, said John Carlson, president of Amedex's U.S.A. Medical Services, which directs foreign patients to local providers and overses payments to physicians and hospitals.
'The average income of our clients is over $250,000,' Carlson said. 'When somebody like that has a brain tumor or colon cancer, they want to come to the U.S. for care -- no second thoughts about it.'
Following the lead of a growing number of area hospitals trying to attract more patients, officials at South Miami Hospital are prospecting for business abroad.
South Miami's latest effort has taken them to the western Jamaican resort town of Montego Bay. The hospital entered a partnership with a new diagnostic clinic that opened in the busy tourist hotspot earlier this year. The owners of the Half Moon Golf, Tennis and Beach Club hotel built the 7,000-square-foot clinic in a hotel-owned shopping center.
The clinic cost Half Moon $750,000 to build and another $500,000 to equip. The sole cardiologist outside Kingston heads the clinic's medical staff of six full-time and three part-time physicians. The clinic also has a mammography machine, another medical service not offered outside the island's capital city.
South Miami contributed $250,000 worth of medical equipment and supplies, training sessions for the not-for-profit center's mammography and ultrasound technicians and on-site assistance with setting up the new clinic's computer system.
Other backers of the MoBay Hope Medical Diagnostic Center include fashion designer Ralph Lauren, who owns property on the island, and John Rollins Sr., a developer of Jamaican hotels and a former lieutenant governor of Delaware.
Even though South Miami has received referrals from Montego Bay area doctors in the past, the new affiliation with MoBay has given South Miami 'much increased visibility,' said Wayne Brackin, South Miami's chief executive. 'People are pleased that we're taking an interest in Montego Bay,' said Brackin, also a member of MoBay's board.
The new medical center serves both Jamaican residents and tourists; about 85 percent of the clinic's patients are residents, said Anthony McFarlane, a Jamaican-born and University of Miami-trained physician who heads the clinic's medical staff.
South Miami's investment is paying off, hospital officials believe. Since the clinic opened in January, about 30 patients have made the 90-minute flight from Montego Bay for care at South Miami. That's double the same period last year, Brackin said.
'Most major facilities are jumping on the bandwagon because they see a profitable department and an opportunity for the hospital,' said Mari Ana Junquera, administrative director of the 2-year-old international health center at the University of Miami/Jackson Memorial Hospital. 'It adds considerably to the bottom line.'
Mount Sinai Medical Center in Miami Beach saw its international patient count jump to 2,337 for the first six months of this year. Some of the increase has come from referral agreements signed with hospitals in Guatemala and the Dominican Republic. Agreements with two additional hospitals, in Costa Rica and Panama, were signed recently, said vice president Amy Perry.
While finding foreign patients is a priority for many hospitals, an alliance of nine Miami-Dade hospitals say there may be fortified power in numbers. Last year, the cooperative announced plans to band together in hopes of drawing more international patients.
In its arsenal -- a commitment to spend $1.4 million during the next three years on joint advertising efforts. Also participating will be the Greater Miami Convention & Visitors Bureau, whose marketing representatives will distribute brochures about Miami-Dade's health offerings to patients from abroad. The group, called the Miami Medical Alliance, is expected to begin its operations in earnest after an executive director is selected mid-month.
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