FDA Specialists Panel Endorses Weight Loss Surgery to More Americans

A specialists panel advised the FDA to lower the threshold of Body Mass Index that a person must have to be able to begin considering weight loss surgery. In what seems like a positive step to help millions of Americans suffering from obesity, the FDA is endorsing wider use of reversible and less invasive weight loss surgeries like the Gastric Band.

Bringing down the minimum BMI to 35 from the current 40 makes a lot of sense for us at Travel For Care, since we have seen many patients in this range and their results are fantastic. For patients who have tried everything and still have not been able to lose weight, undergoing a weight loss surgery while their BMI is still in their lower 30s comes very much in time to avoid future mishaps. With this market expansion, Travel For Care is as ready as ever to offer Americans and Canadians the best medical tourism has to offer. Mexico continues to provide affordable weight loss surgeries very close to home. With Lap Bands starting at $6,000 at the hands of internationally trained and board certified specialists, the value is clear.

More information on this important step can be found in the following New York Times article:

http://prescriptions.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/03/f-d-a-panel-backs-expansion-of-obesity-surgery/?scp=4&sq=FDA&st=cse

Travel For Care is an innovative medical travel company based in Monterrey, Mexico offering Americans and Canadians the best healthcare Mexico has to offer. For more info visit www.travelforcare.com or contact Gabriel Senior at 800-571-0640.

Travel For Care Launches New Special Weight Loss Surgery Offers In Monterrey

Monterrey, Mexico,June 10th, 2010

Even if the Medical Travel industry in Mexico caters to Americans and Canadians on the look for inexpensive Weight Loss Surgeries, the market is demanding even more affordable options. Always on top of the curve, Travel For Care delivers. Low cost, all-inclusive options for Gastric Band and Gastric Sleeve Surgeries are now offered in Monterrey for $5,400 and $6,600 respectively.

Travel For Care is always evolving to please the medical travel market. Until now, American and Canadian medical tourists had been choosing among two very different options in Bariatric Surgery: either go for the best doctors and hospitals and pay around $6,500 for a Lap Band (where savings are great, but the price tag can be hefty for some), or choose among the myriad of younger surgeons and less known clinics where that surgery might go for $5,000. After years of a strong market for the former options, the last three years have seen patients become more budget-conscious and flock by the thousands to inexpensive clinics in Mexican border towns. Believing that patients need to have better and safer options, Travel For Care has come up with a valuable solution.

“The newest development in our firm has been launching Low-Cost Weight Loss Surgery packages in Monterrey, grouping a very manageable four patients per day, which allows us to bring costs down dramatically and offer much more value” says Heather Wicklow, Manager at Travel For Care in Monterrey. These packages are priced at $5,400 for the Affordable Lap Band, and $6,600 for the Inexpensive Gastric Sleeve and are made up of this combination:

-Dr. David Arizpe MD and his team (over ten years and thousands of surgeries of bariatric experience)

-Pre-ops, surgery, and hospital stays at the CEMCA Clinic (a new state-of-the-art facility located in Monterrey’s prime medical cluster, just a block away from Hospital Christus Muguerza, counting with three ORs and four hospital suites)

-Hotel stays at Hotel Ibis, a modern hotel located in the nicest part of Monterrey

-Transportation provided by a professional driver company

-All arrangements, details, and personal assistance delivered by Travel For Care Last but not least, the main attribute that makes these packages valuable is their location in Monterrey.

Being Mexico’s largest, nicest, and most developed city, Monterrey counts on the best private healthcare facilities and attracts the top medical specialists in the country. Its location makes it an easy place to reach from Texas (2 hours), and its international airport makes flying in very easy (1 hour from Houston). Everything Travel For Care does has patient safety and satisfaction as a #1 priority and we strive to create value for our patients. Should you or someone you know be interested in these new options, please inquire with us at http://www.travelforcare.com or (800) 571-0640.

Contact: Heather Wicklow

Travel For Care

(800) 571 0640

heather@travelforcare.com

http://www.travelforcare.com

Travel For Care and Antonian Health Concierge Seal Medical Travel Promotion Agreement

As globalization is having an impact on almost every aspect of life, Healthcare had until very recently been overlooked by this 21st century trend. However, shortened distances, faster travel, and better telecommunications have made previously unthought-of actions like having a second opinion from a doctor far away, or traveling abroad for a less expensive surgery much easier and common. As citizens now have more options to get diagnosed and treated far from home, the only issue becomes information, coordination, and who to count on as a guide in this process.

Medical Travel is now embraced by more than one hundred thousand people around the world. A large part of this number travels from developing countries to the United States or Europe in the search for the highest quality of care. Another important figure,

probably around fifty thousand, travel from the US, Canada, and the UK to other neighboring countries in the look for more affordable elective and non-elective care. The former group consists of wealthy individuals that can find their way to a specialist, but have –until recently- the unmet need of guidance in the complex process of receiving healthcare in the US. The latter group faces the task of overcoming their fears of going abroad for a delicate surgery, choosing among an almost infinite number of

surgeons and hospitals, and actually getting to a foreign place, having it done, and coming back safely. Luckily for them, a whole industry catering to Medical Tourists, or Medical Travelers, as they’re also called, has sprung to life around the world. These firms have specialized in a certain healthcare procedure, or a certain destination, and help the foreign patient have a smooth and seamless process when he or she needs it most.

Travel For Care is one of such medical travel specialists. Based in Monterrey, Mexico’s nicest metropolis, a prime destination for medical travelers since the 1980’s, it caters to Americans and Canadians in need of affordable, high-quality healthcare, and has so far established itself as one of Mexico’s best regarded facilitators. Helping to assist the opposite flow of patients made up of Mexicans in the look for a second opinion or for a specific surgeon that has become famous for operating with a certain technique, Antonian Health Concierge has opened its doors in San Antonio, TX, a city with a healthcare infrastructure that easily rivals Houston’s. Antonian also bridges that huge gap between a patient willing to travel to the US for consultations, tests, or

surgery, but who has no idea with whom to go, or what the process is, or how to make things happen for an ideal outcome in difficult times.

As of May, 2010, Travel For Care and Antonian health Concierge have joined forces to cross promote their services in both countries and to complement their reach. As Dr. Andres Ibarra, MD, Director at Antonian states: “With this agreement we’ll not

only be able to market Mexican healthcare in Texas, but also better serve our Mexican patients once they return home. A fundamental part of our service is aftercare, and Travel For Care will be on our side offering their concierge, information, and liaison services for our patients over there in Mexico when they return”. Likewise, this is a great step for Travel For Care. As Gabriel Senior, CEO of the firm says: “Antonian is exactly the partner we were looking for. We have found a great firm that can provide our San Antonio and Austin patients with a second opinion before traveling to have surgery with our network in Mexico, as well as to count with aftercare once they return home. There’s nothing better than to count on a local partner in those premium

markets for us.” So whether you’re from Latin America and are looking for the highest quality healthcare in the world, or you’re an American wanting to access top-notch healthcare at a fraction of the US price, these companies have you covered. An agreement and cooperation like this is a great step for the Medical Travel industry.

Travel For Care is an innovative Medical Travel start-up firm headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, marketing Medical Solutions to American patients looking for elective and non-elective procedures. For more information, please visit http://www.travelforcare.com

Antonian Health Concierge is a medical concierge service headquartered in San Antonio, TX, delivering high quality end-to-end services for patients coming to San Antonio for healthcare. For more information, please visit http://www.antonianhealth.com

Contact:

Heather Wicklow

Manager

Travel For Care

Heather@travelforcare.com
Toll Free: (800)571-0640

Travel For Care Launches Institutional Video – How You Can Benefit From Medical Travel

Travel For Care has just launched an institutional video in which we explain how medical travel can help you save on healthcare. With Travel For Care it is now easier to achieve substantial saving in the best medical network in Mexico. Enjoy.

Video Contents:

1. What Is Medical Travel, or the Globalization of Healthcare

2. How can you benefit from Medical Travel, Health Travel, or Medical Tourism

-Elective Surgeries

-Non-Elective Surgeries

3. What Travel For Care Is

4. The Travel For Care Value Proposition

-Great Healthcare in Mexico
–Top Mexico Hospitals
–World Class Mexican Surgeons

-Very Affordable Healthcare
–Affordable Gastric Band
–Inexpensive Tummy Tuck
–Cheap Facelift
–Low Cost Knee Replacement

-Healthcare Very Close To Home
–Monterrey Surgery
–Tijuana Healthcare Options

5. Contact Travel For Care

Produced by:
Rodrigo Fernandez
Jr. Manager
Travel For Care
rodrigo@travelforcare.com
Toll Free: 800-571-0640
http://www.travelforcare.com

Research Pays Off When Looking For An Affordable Weight Loss Surgery Abroad

Weight loss surgery is a hot trend. And nowhere is it more evident than in Northern Mexico. Not only has the local healthcare industry gained experience with the Mexican patient population, but with thousands of Americans that come to have these procedures done at less than half the price. As in almost all services, you’ll find as many price and quality options as there can possibly be, so take good care when choosing a surgeon and clinic.

As in everything from cars to wines, the healthcare services industry is a perfect free market. There are expensive weight loss surgeons with lots of years of experience, a reputation second to none, and who usually operate in state-of-the-art hospitals. There are also less expensive players who are usually younger, less renown, and who operate in clinics. Basically said, there are no outliers. You get what you pay for. However, this does not mean that an expensive surgery will guarantee better results, or that an inexpensive one puts the patient at risk. As always, choosing the more expensive, carries just a layer of added comfort, safety, and helps some patients be more at ease when placing themselves in the hands of a doctor. The market is one of permanent and automatic self-selection among patients that choose according to their priorities and in line with their budget and travel constraints.

At Travel For Care, Mexico’s best network of Weight Loss Surgeons is available for you to choose from a pre-screened and track-record-proven group of professionals. We do our best to make sure that when you choose a certain surgeon given his price, experience, or qualities, you are essentially getting the best. For us, to help you understand what stands behind a name and a price is always key. For example, our Gastric Band offering begins with a $6,500 price tag for US-trained, well-reputed surgeons that have over 2,500 surgeries in record, and who work at Hospital San Jose TEC, one of Mexico’s best hospitals (JCI Accredited). In the mid-range, we have a $5,900 price tag for a group of experienced, up-and-coming surgeons operating out of a small, standard hospital that counts on fully-compliant and safe facilities, but lacks recognition and a nice location. In the lower end, we are able to offer a $4,990 price for this same surgery performed by younger surgeons focused on volume, with hundreds of cases per year, and operating out of a small clinic in Tijuana.

With Gastric Band prices in the US starting at $10,000 and usually costing above $15,000 it is easy to understand how an industry has developed to answer these needs all across Latin America and Asia, with important clusters in cities close to the US border like Tijuana and Monterrey. “American patients have no where else to look. Their local bariatrists are very expensive; Asia may have destinations with very low prices, but they’re extremely far and travel costs offset savings; Central and South America may also be close but are either more expensive or lack the convenience of being right across the border. Within the medical travel industry, Mexico has the most affordable prices, experienced surgeons, and best location.” mentions Gabriel Senior, Founder and CEO of Travel For Care. After all, tens of thousands of happy patients can’t be wrong. A country usually known for its beaches and cuisine is fully set to make an impact in the globalization of healthcare.

Travel For Care is an innovative Medical Travel start-up firm headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, marketing Medical Solutions to American patients looking for elective and non-elective procedures. For more information, please visit www.travelforcare.com

Keywords: cheap lap band, inexpensive gastric bypass, gastric sleeve mexico, affordable bariatry, lap band mexico

Contact:

Heather Wicklow

Manager

Travel For Care

Heather@travelforcare.com

Toll Free: (800)571-0640

Travel For Care Exploring Even More Affordable Weight Loss Surgery Options

Affordable Weight Loss Surgery in Monterrey

Weight Loss Surgery, the quickest and most effective way for a person to lose weight permanently is being adopted by surgery centers abroad in order to offer Americans safe and inexpensive options to having it done at home. Although Medical Travel is a trend that has been around for a while, and almost all weight loss surgeons in Mexico can name a US patient of theirs, several surgical centers in Mexico are working on gaining efficiency and driving great volume in order to cater to an ever increasing budget-conscious patient segment looking for cheap weight loss surgery.

 

“Even if our offering includes the top surgeons and hospitals in Mexico for prices such as an inexpensive lap band surgery at between $6,800 and $8,500, which is literally half the US price, lots of interaction with our target market showed us that there is still demand to pay less.” states Travel For Care’s CEO, Gabriel Senior. However, entering the territory for cheap lap bands (below $6,000) is something facilitators and patients must research well before proceeding. Since such prices are something that can be offered by either a less renowned doctor, or a famous doctor working in a less expensive hospital or clinic, Travel For Care decided to find options like the latter.

 

The first network extension was done by including Dr. Miguel Angel Zapata, MD, a very successful bariatrician from Monterrey, Mexico which operates out of Clinica Vitro. This combination allowed Travel For Care to break the previous price barriers and offer an inexpensive gastric bypass at $10,550 and an affordable lap band surgery at $5,900. The next step will be to look carefully at an affordable bariatry clinic in Tijuana that has been focusing on gaining efficiency and driving patient volume, therefore becoming unbelievably competitive in price, albeit complying with Travel For Care’s decision of maintaining high standards with regards to the surgeon in charge. With this new clinic the company is exploring offering one of the cheapest gastric bypass surgeries in the market, introduced at the special price of $8,499 and also an inexpensive gastric band for just $4,990.

 

The current market of around 220,000 weight loss surgeries performed in the US every year is poised to continue its double digit growth now that clinics south of the border are gaining efficiency and competing for volume. What some American patients are finding when they look for deeply discounted bariatry options is now much better than what they used to. As in any product in an adoption phase, weight loss surgery is still growing leaps and bounds while it becomes more and more affordable, and will soon benefit millions of citizens living with obesity.

 

Dr. Zapata operates at several of Monterrey’s best regarded healthcare institutions, including Clinica Vitro, a employee-benefits hospital owned by a large Mexican group, which is also open to the public.

 

Travel For Care is an innovative Medical Travel firm headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, marketing Medical Solutions to American patients looking for elective and non-elective procedures. For more information, please visit www.travelforcare.com

 

Contact:

 

Heather Wicklow

Travel For Care

Toll Free: (800) 571-0640

heather@travelforcare.com

www.travelforcare.com

Medical Travel – The Answer to Your Healthcare Needs

Medical Travel, also known as Medical Tourism, is basically the globalization of healthcare. As technology and information flows are shrinking our world, healthcare is becoming universal. This year, more than one hundred thousand people from all over the world will travel away from home seeking healthcare. Their reasons range from wanting access to higher quality and more advanced technologies (typical of patients from developing countries traveling to the U.S.), to needing quicker access (common in Europeans and Canadians), to requiring far less expensive treatments (U.S. patients going abroad). Today, this constitutes an unstoppable trend that is gaining additional acceptance as patients from all over the world find more and better options for their healthcare needs in places they never thought possible. In the case of Americans looking for high quality medical or dental care at great value, neighboring countries have shown to have private healthcare systems which exceed expectations.

 

Although a wide variety of treatments can be found abroad, the most common surgeries sought after are orthopedic, cardiovascular, dental care, cosmetic/plastic, and weight loss surgery. The under or uninsured American as well as those seeking elective care can benefit greatly from seeking healthcare options overseas. For example, a knee replacement which costs around $40,000 in the U.S., only costs about $12,000 in Thailand, and an abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) which can cost between $8,000 and $12,000 in the U.S., costs only around $4,200 in Mexico. Although some people may think that low prices translate to lesser quality, the truth is that patients do not have to sacrifice first-rate care in order to achieve excellent savings.

 

As a way of certifying quality healthcare abroad, The Joint Commission, a U.S. accreditation agency, established its counterpart, The Joint Commission International in 1999. For an international hospital to receive their Gold Seal accreditation, it must follow the same set of rigorous standards set forth in the U.S. by the Joint Commission. Up to now, more than 200 hospitals outside of the U.S. have been approved, and the number continues to increase. These JCI accredited hospitals not only offer state-of-the-art facilities, but also attract a staff of well-known, internationally trained surgeons, therefore providing an atmosphere where medical travelers are guaranteed very high standards in line with their budget.

 

Due to the enormous amounts of information online concerning the types of doctors and clinics abroad, patients are advised to seek the help of a Medical Travel Facilitator to assist with the details of their trip. These “health travel agents” help to make the Medical Travel process as seamless as possible. Gabriel Senior, CEO of Travel For Care in Monterrey, Mexico states “we have previously selected each and every doctor, hospital, clinic, and facility in the geography where we operate in order to create nothing but the best possible network covering a very wide spectrum of specialties and several price levels to fit your budget. This was done in months of interviewing doctors, hospital directors, visiting facilities, talking to past clients, checking records and statistics, and cross referencing and validating everything with the most reputed and knowledgeable healthcare professionals and consultants.” Patients can also count on Medical Travel Facilitators to offer better prices on hotels and airfare than they would be able to find on their own, as well as detailed resumes and descriptions of the surgeons and hospitals within their network.

As the term “Medical Travel” continues to become an accepted part of our vocabulary, countries throughout the world are trying to find ways to get a “piece of the pie”. However, in order for a Medical Travel destination to be truly successful, a few key enablers need to be in place. It is the fulfillment of these qualifications which make Monterrey, Mexico a first rate destination for Medical Tourism. To begin, Monterrey’s close proximity to the U.S. and Canada offers the advantage of less time and spending on travel and the benefit of being closer to loved ones. Once here, patients will find that Monterrey is not only a beautiful city with lots to do, but is distinguished as a top “healthcare hub”. Monterrey boasts four Joint Commission International Accredited Hospitals (the most in any Latin American city) with the Gold Seal of Approval including: Hospital San José TEC, Christus Muguerza, CIMA Santa Engracia and OCA. Healthcare professionals with world-class qualifications and experience, plus internationally-acclaimed hospitals are giving rise to the healthcare capital of Latin America.

Although the thought of heading outside of ones home country to receive a medical treatment may seem daunting, the statistics are showing that those who have taken the leap have had a very positive experience. A study done by The Medical Tourism Association found that a large majority of patients who traveled abroad for a medical procedure said they had an equal or better medical experience than in the U.S. It has been projected that as healthcare costs continue to rise above inflation, so will the number of uninsured in the U.S., and therefore a similar trend will be observed in Medical Travel. Tens of thousands of happy U.S. patients later, Americans are changing the way they see healthcare abroad.

Travel For Care is an innovative Medical Travel start-up firm headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, marketing Medical Solutions to American patients looking for elective and non-elective procedures. For more information, please visit www.travelforcare.com

Weight Loss Surgery Can Mean More Than Just Looking Better

Affordable Weight Loss Surgery

Being overweight brings upon a person consequences that are much more than merely aesthetic. The overall burden of being overweight is usually hard on both health and finances. Luckily, healthcare technology has advanced enough for viable surgical alternatives to achieve great results while maintaining excellent safety records.

Grievous as the consequences of obesity can be, both for the people who suffer them in health terms and for the insurance companies or social security systems that will cover the expenses of all future illnesses and conditions, weight loss surgeries are usually not covered by insurance. This means that both insured and uninsured people alike, must share the equal predicament of having to face, choose, and pay for what may well be a life saving procedure that should be understood in two ways. First, an action that crafts a more enjoyable and healthy future for themselves, and also one that saves them the heavy cost of all economically destabilizing and inevitable medical procedures that will come later.

A study from Stanford University shows that an obese individual will have to plan for at least an extra $40 thousand in lifetime healthcare spending when compared to a non-obese person. This statistic makes investing in weight loss surgery an obvious choice, especially when US prices for weight loss surgery range $15,000-$25,000. However, for an average citizen it is never easy to come up with that amount of money and many people tend to postpone or forget weight loss surgery. Nevertheless, Weight Loss Medical Travel always offers a great deal and is gaining acceptance from Americans and Canadians. Dr. Horacio Guajardo, MD, a veteran in his field with more than 1,500 weight loss surgeries and founder of the Advanced Center for Bariatric Surgery in Monterrey, Mexico states that “Having weight loss surgery with us is always an obvious choice for my Texas patients. We have narrowed down our costs to beat both US and other Mexican doctors, and you’ll not only look better and feel better, but also are likely to have future health savings of five times what this costs.” With US-trained doctors performing these procedures in internationally accredited hospitals in Monterrey, Mexico and charging only between $6,400 and $11,000, the investment starts making even more sense.

As Heather Wicklow, manager at the Medical Travel firm Travel For Care, says “Health Travel has opened up a huge window of opportunity for American patients to get their life back and save themselves from all future obesity-related conditions for a fraction of the US cost. Inexpensive Gastric Band and Affordable Gastric Bypass surgery is offered by top doctors in the beautiful city of Monterrey, just an hour away from Houston.” As the US maintains high obesity growth rates, so will the specialty of weight loss surgery gain more acceptance, and as a consequence, will the Medical Travel trend unravel further.

Dr. Guajardo operates at Hospital San José TEC de Monterrey, one of Monterrey’s best regarded healthcare institutions, accredited by the Joint Commission International, and part of the Monterrey TEC, Mexico’s largest private education system. For more information, please visit www.hsj.com.mx

Travel For Care is an innovative Medical Travel firm headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico, marketing Medical Solutions to American patients looking for elective and non-elective procedures. For more information, please visit www.travelforcare.com

Contact:

Gabriel Senior

Travel For Care

Toll Free: (800) 571-0640

Gabriel@travelforcare.com

www.travelforcare.com