Dr. Kevin Huffman, Medical Travel Associates

About Dr. Kevin Huffman Dr. Huffman travels extensively throughout the U.S., educating patients, physicians, surgeons, hospitals, insurers, employers and policy makers about the safety and value of medical/surgical travel (medical tourism). His expertise is in developing and delivering Continuing Medical Education programs for referring physicians, to educate and engage them in order to help reduce peri-operative and travel risk, improve patient outcomes, and increase patient referrals to both domestic and international surgical centers. By working with these referring physicians, destination surgeons and hospitals, Dr. Huffman is building a network of educated and engaged physicians who will become the leaders of medical/surgical travel healthcare so that collectively they can set and maintain high medical standards for this emerging field. Contact Information Cell Phone: 440-610-2030 E-mail: [email protected] Medical Travel Today (MTT): How do you see the domestic medical travel market as opposed to the international medical travel market? Is there any particular difference that you see in terms of getting a referral from a physician in the U.S. vs. getting one overseas? Kevin Huffman (KH): There is a two-tier structure here—one level of apprehension is certainly connected to domestic medical travel, but then there is a significantly higher level of trepidation involved with international medical travel. With any form of travel, there are potential hurdles. That being said, there is inevitably less concern when a doctor from Nashville, Tenn., for example, has a patient who is employed through Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart now has a contract with the Cleveland Clinic to provide cardiac surgical care nationally, so the patient will simply receive treatment accessible through the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, which is a familiar process. If that patient instead receives treatment abroad, in India, for example, even though the level of care produces the same outcomes at a lower cost, there is going to be increased apprehension involved due to a lack of familiarity with international doctors, surgeons and institutions. In order to ease levels of anxiety regarding treatment overseas, referring physicians need to establish relationships with participating doctors globally in order to feel the same level of comfort when referring a patient for treatment internationally. MTT: How about the transfer of Electronic Health Records (EHR)? Do you notice any challenge transferring records domestically? Do you find more of the EHR being utilized in the U.S. vs. abroad? KH: I believe the EHR is utilized more in the U.S. rather than internationally. At this point there are a number of major companies that offer platforms for physicians, surgeons and patients to access their records, but the key to opening up the U.S. market is that primary care physicians (PCPs) need to be able to go on their laptop or mobile device and pull up operative reports, discharge summaries and discharge orders. Likewise, the cooperating surgeon overseas needs to have access to the same platform and access information regarding the patient’s pre-operative and post-operative care in order to open up the international market. MTT: How about the concierge medical doctors? Do you find them more amenable to medical travel aftercare? KH: Yes, partly because concierge doctors are already thinking outside of the box of conventional medicine. My area of expertise is in bariatric surgery and/or weight loss, so I have been able to connect with doctors I have previously worked with and network them with our domestic bariatric surgical cases. The concierge physicians are definitely more likely to work with us to provide the post-operative care, making them a great target audience for medical travel purposes. MTT: Are there any countries that you would say are comparable—not in cost—but in terms of outcomes and patient satisfaction to the U.S. doctors? KH: A percentage of surgeons abroad are U.S.-trained, which gives referring physicians in the U.S. a little more assurance. From what I have seen through the network of physicians that I have worked with, the hospitals that have an English-speaking staff seem to gain the most referrals. I have seen an increase in travel to Mexico for bariatric surgical cases, a rise in cosmetic and dental cases traveling to Costa Rica, as well as a boost in orthopedics and cardiovascular travel to India. At this point, I don’t think one country in particular stands out as a leader. It is based more on the proper accreditations and training that individual hospitals and facilities have. MTT: Are you involved in any other kind of area or market niche beyond bariatric surgery? KH: Yes. My niche was bariatric until 2008, when I got involved with medical travel, and then I began developing Continuing Medical Education (CME) for physicians encompassing all surgeries—cosmetic, orthopedic, cardiovascular, and so on. Essentially, it is all the same basic education of the PCP. The patient must be prepared pre-operatively and fit for flight. Post-operatively, the PCP must look for potential complications, whether it is a hip, gastric bypass or liposuction. The only difference now is that we need to integrate into post-operative care specific orders, whether it is orthopedic rehab, physical rehab, cosmetic or bariatric surgery. In terms of nuances associated with peri-operative care, the standard education of the physician is generally the same across all surgical fields. MTT: Do you find that bariatric patients are accommodated in hospitals outside or even inside the U.S. regarding the size of the wheel chairs, the MRI machines and all of the accommodative technology that is required? KH: If a hospital in the U.S. or overseas specializes in bariatric, then adequate accommodations are generally available. However, other hospitals across the board, internationally and domestically, are otherwise failing to provide adequate bariatric accommodations to patients in terms of beds, wheelchairs, walkers and all other durable medical equipment. We are not quite where we should be. MTT: Are there any particular centers of excellence in the U.S. that you would point to that are exemplary for bariatric surgery? KH: There are probably 40 to 50 exceptional centers of excellence here in the U.S., ranging from the Cleveland Clinic to the Mayo Clinic. Even where I am in Florida, Celebration Hospital and Orlando Regional Hospital are excellent, as well. It is important to keep in mind that some bariatric surgeries, particularly the adjustable lap bands, are now being carried out in outpatient centers rather than hospitals. I have had the opportunity to familiarize myself with a lot of centers of excellence in the U.S. and internationally, and have had the pleasure of working with many surgeons worldwide, as well. I am not in any way affiliated or tied financially to these centers, granting me the ability to offer my non-biased opinion to prospective patients and physicians. MTT: Great! Do you have any other thoughts that you would like to share? KH: As we look at the healthcare system as it begins to change, the PCP will become the gatekeeper for the patient. If the patient decides to travel internationally for treatment, permission will need to first be granted by the PCP. The development of the medical field in general depends on the growth of this emerging new medical travel industry and the ability to access educated and engaged PCPs. I hope I can play a role in helping raise the credibility of medical travel, reduce post-operative risk, improve outcomes and then begin to engage physicians, employers and insurers to make referrals domestically and internationally in order to help drive down rising healthcare costs.