Under a three-year grant worth $500,000, researchers at UHC and Rush University Medical Center will further President Obama’s National Export Initiative, which aims to double exports by 2015 and increase U.S. jobs.
“The U.S. is experiencing increasing competition from hospitals abroad for patients with specialty care needs,” the release said, citing the phenomenon of U.S. medical tourists to places like Thailand, Singapore and India.
In 2007, 43,000-103,000 foreigners came to the U.S. for healthcare and 50,000-121,000 Americans went abroad for care, amounting to a net loss by headcount but a net surplus in billings of as much as $1 billion in charges, Rush researchers reported. The researchers will update those statistics and then develop strategies to stimulate growth.
Read the University HealthSystem Consortium release on foreign patients (pdf).
Read more coverage on attracting foreign patients to the U.S.:
– Going Global: The Perils and Potential of International Expansion
– Hospital Fundraisers Should Include Small Businesses, International Activities
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