Beyond Incentives - Seven Strategies to Drive Utilization of Your Medical Travel Benefit Plan

Medical Travel Benefitsbehaviors, and what drives their health care
You may have noticed that many U.S. employersdecision-making. Approach the benefit design
are investigating whether they can reduce healthprocess from the ground up.
care expenses by using medical travel. But howStart by identifying and analyzing the
does this work? Can your business reducedemographics and health care consumption
healthcare costs by using foreign providers? Thepatterns of the employee population. You may
answer is complicated.want to survey the group to find out their
Medical travel is the practice of patients receivingopinions about their current doctors, traveling to
care for certain procedures in foreign countries.certain countries, and about health care in those
Medical travel professionals have built networks ofcountries. You may also want to find out how the
distinguished providers in India, Costa Rica,group spends its health care dollars now and what
Singapore and Thailand who are accredited andtypes of incentives are most likely to work. The
serving American patients. These providers offeranswers to these questions will help you build the
the same procedures by similarly qualifiedright global provider network and design an
surgeons at state of the art hospitals for 30% toappropriate beneficiary education campaign.
50% off of negotiated prices in the U.S.3. Build A Benefit Program That Responds To The
Employers and medical travel professionals areNeeds Of Your Beneficiaries
putting their heads together to design health plansArmed with the information learned during the
that allow employees to travel for care and save.investigatory phase, build a benefit plan and a
The employers who are embracing medical travelglobal provider network that reflects the needs
generally either go at it alone or collaborate with aand consumption patterns of the beneficiary
medical travel company to design a benefit addpopulation. For example, if you learn that the
on. Medical travel companies and other industrybeneficiary population is generally over weight and
experts have a lot of experience and expertisehas a proclivity for travel in Latin America over
to contribute to this process and should beAsia, that information may be used to build a plan
consulted while building a medical travel benefit.that encourages beneficiaries to investigate weight
Here's why. Medical travel experts generally focusloss surgery in Costa Rica and Mexico. Surgeons in
on financial incentives to drive utilization of foreignthese countries are expert in bariatrics. You may
providers. However, your business will see betteralso learn that your employee population is more
results if you invest early in the process tolikely to have orthopedic issues and favors Asia.
understand the employee population. By analyzingIn that case, a plan that highlights the orthopedic
your employee demographics and understandingexpertise of doctors in India, Singapore and
health consumer behavior, you can design a planThailand is more likely to be utilized. Either way,
that connects with your target beneficiary groupthe plan should specifically address the beneficiary
and changes their behavior.population to increase the likelihood of utilization.
The Anatomy of a Medical Travel Benefit4. Educate Employee About The Benefits Of
PackageMedical Travel
Health care consumers, both individuals andWork closely with medical travel experts to
groups, are demanding competitive prices, moredesign and implement a comprehensive employee
transparency and better quality care. Beneficiarieseducation campaign that demonstrates the
and patients have become health care consumers.advantages of using foreign providers and the
The movement is called consumer-driven healthadded incentives and benefits available through
care. Employers that offer health benefits arethe medical travel plan.
responding to this phenomenon with packages5. Create A Tiered Provider Network
that let beneficiaries to take greater responsibilityCreate a tiered provider network that favors
for their care and consumption decisions.higher quality, lower cost providers with lower
Global health benefits (as it is referred to byco-payments. Enrollees that select preferred
some in the industry) generally follow the healthforeign providers for specific treatments may
care consumerism model of high deductibles,have lower or no co-payments associated with
behavior-inducing co-payments, and a healththat service. Tiered provider networks are a
savings account. Global health benefits go onecommon health care benefit strategy that can be
step further and offer financial incentives forutilized to encourage beneficiaries to use foreign
patients who travel abroad for certain procedures.providers for certain services.
The Role Of Incentives6. Increase Provider Transparency And Patient
Generally global health benefit plans use threeResponsibility
types of incentives: financial incentives for patientsIncreased transparency and patient responsibility
to use preferred providers, non-use dependentenhances savings. Enrollees can make cost
incentives to attract beneficiaries. Like othersavings choices about whether or not to see a
low-cost health plans, global health benefits givedoctor (with information about disease
patients more responsibility for health-relatedself-management), which doctor to see (with
decisions. Enrollees choose from a network thatinformation about provider quality, success rates,
includes preferred out-of-country providers.and costs), and disease treatment and
Financial incentives encourage patients to choosemanagement (with information about symptoms,
foreign providers for specific procedures.treatments, risks, and costs). Plan providers should
Financial incentives reward patients who havebe encouraged to be transparent with their quality
certain procedures performed abroad. Employersdata and pricing. Giving enrollees the information
may have a lower co-pay for foreign providers,necessary to make important care decisions aligns
pay enrollees cash for choosing foreign providerstheir interests with the payer. By aligning the
and/or cover the cost of travel to and from theinterests of the consumer and payer, excesses
location of the procedure. Employers may also letcan be eliminated and costs can be contained.
employees use non-vacation or personal time for7. Implement Internet-Based Care Management
in-country recovery.Tools
Non-use dependent incentives attract newFinally, easy-to-use internet-based care
beneficiaries with low cost premiums and rewardmanagement tools encourage efficient use of
patients for taking advantage of preventativewellness programs, on-line nurses, on-line training
services like annual health check-ups,and more. Recent studies indicate that patients
mammograms, prostate screenings andwelcome more and better information that is
immunizations. While non-use dependent incentiveseasily accessible. Patients indicate that they will
won't directly drive utilization of foreign providers,use salient and easy-to-use information to make
they support the structure of plans thatinformed choices about their health care
encourage patients to take control of their healthconsumption.* By making relevant information
consumption.accessible and easy-to-use, patients can make
There are limits to the ability of financial incentivesmore efficient health care consumption choices.
to increase utilization of preferred foreignConclusion
providers. Incentives do not address what drivesConsumer-driven health care is here to stay. The
health care consumption. Without understandingability to maximize the benefit of cost
the decision drivers at work, global benefit planscontainment strategies depends on the ability to
may not reduce health care cost significantly. Ainnovate and respond to new information. Health
benefit plan must narrowly tailored to the targetcare consumers should not be underestimated.
beneficiary demographic to change their behavior.They are discerning and scrutinizing. Their behavior
Beyond Incentives: Seven Strategies to Designingis not monolithic. To predict future consumption,
Medical Travel Benefits That Workhealth care payers should carefully analyze
Below are seven strategies to help employersbeneficiary demographics and consumption
design a medical travel benefit that will achievepatterns and employ sophisticated benefit design
better results than incentives alone.strategies that address those findings. Without a
1. Assemble A Team Of Medical Travel Expertsfirm understanding of the covered population,
As with all projects, it is critical to assemble theincentives alone are insufficient to drive the kind
right team. Designing a medical travel benefit is noof utilization necessary to realize measurable
different. Identify medical travel experts and thirdsavings from medical travel.
party benefit administrators who want to* Consumer-Oriented Strategies for Improving
collaborate with you. Having an experienced andHealth Benefit Design: An Overview, Prepared by
knowledgeable team of experts is imperative.Stanford University-UCSF Evidence-based Practice
2. Analyze Beneficiary DemographicsCenter, Stanford, CA for Agency for Healthcare
The foundation of a successful global healthResearch and Quality, U.S. Department of Health
benefit is a complete understanding of theand Human Services, July 2007.
covered population, the group's demographics and