From now up to and including 30 September 2011 Bangkok Heart Hospital is offering heart bypass surgery at a discount price of THB 395,000 (US$ 13,550).
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There is no advertising in the national press regarding this special offer, so to get all the relevant information on this requires people picking up the phone and calling the hospital’s call centre. Bangkok Heart hospital is one of the many hospitals throughout Thailand owned by the Bangkok Dusit Medical Services Group. To many people, advertising a major surgical procedure such as a heart bypass will seem strange, but for potential patients in need of the operation who have been unable to have it done due to lack of money, this offer could be the answer to their prayers. Bangkok Heart hospital has built up a reputation for being one of the top hospitals not only in Thailand, but throughout the medical world for treating cardiovascular disease. The hospital boasts the latest equipment and their facilities are second to none. Almost all their surgeons have been trained in the United States or United Kingdom and all theatre staff members are very highly trained. There are a number of factors that prevent comparison with the prices in the western world. The first factor to be considered is the level of bypass surgery to be performed. Single bypass surgery is obviously cheaper than a quadruple bypass. Secondly, there is the vast number of insurance programmes in the western world. All of these programmes have their own entitlements and benefits which makes it difficult to calculate the true cost of the surgery. |
According to the Healthcare Bluebook in the US, a fair price for coronary bypass surgery is US$ 62,000. This price includes the stay in hospital, anaesthesia and the fees for the physician. It has been well documented that patients actually pay much more than this. In 2006, a Houston man who was covered by Medicare had bypass surgery. The cost of the procedure was US$ 169,000 and Medicare would only pay US$ 135,000. This left the patient having to find US$ 34,000 despite being fully insured. It has been calculated that having heart bypass surgery in Thailand is 10 per cent the cost of the same surgery performed in the United States. It was announced on 22 August 2011 that the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) and private hospitals would be working together to promote medical tourism among tourists from across the world. The medical package tours would be presented for the first time at the Medical MATIW-Leisure 2011 being held in Moscow. The TAT and the Products and Tourism Deputy, Pensuda Prai-A-Ram, announced that they will be participating in the event being held from 21 – 24 September 2011. During the event, Eastern Europe will be introduced to the services and medical products available. |
