SPOTLIGHT: Richard Krasner, MA, MHA, Principal Consultant, FutureComp Consulting, and Blogger, Transforming Workers’ Comp 7151 Summer Tree Drive Boynton Beach, FL  33437 561-738-0458, 561-603-1685, cell [email protected] http://www.linkedin.com/in/richardkrasner Skype: richardkrasner About Richard Krasner Richard Krasner received a Master of Health Administration from Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton, Florida, in December 2011, a Master of Arts in American History from New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts in Liberal Arts (Political Science/History/Social Sciences) from SUNY Brockport. He has studied world history, global politics, international relations, and has been interested in the future of human civilization in all aspects: economic, political and social. Krasner has worked in the insurance and risk management industry for more than 30 years in New York, Florida and Texas in the claims and risk management spheres, primarily in workers’ compensation claims, auto no-fault, and property and casualty claims administration and claims management. In addition, he has experience in risk and insurance business analysis, risk management information systems, and insurance data processing and data management. About FutureComp Consulting FutureComp Consulting is dedicated to transforming the workers’ compensation industry by freeing employers and injured workers from the high cost of surgery for work-related injuries common to workers’ compensation claims, such as back, hip, knee, shoulder, and carpal tunnel. Medical Travel Today (MTT): It’s been awhile since Medical Travel Today has checked in with you. Remind our readers of your position in the medical travel industry, as well as what you have been involved with since we last chatted in 2013. Richard Krasner (RK): I am the blogger-in-chief of the Transforming Workers’ Comp blog, as well as the CEO and principal consultant of FutureComp Consulting – an as yet not official company dedicated to bringing the medical travel industry into the workers’ comp industry. Since 2013, I have continued my blogging, and in November 2014, I spoke at the 5th Mexico Health & Wellness Travel Show in Reynosa, Mexico. I was invited to speak again at the 6th Mexico Health & Wellness Travel Show in December, in Puerto Vallarta. MTT: Can you give the readers some background on FutureComp Consulting and its goals? RK: I came up with the name of the company because I truly believed that the future of workers’ compensation in the U.S. has to be more globally focused, especially since the workforce in the U.S. is increasingly Latino and Asian, as has been reported by those who follow the demographic makeup of the U.S. population as a whole. The goal of FutureComp Consulting is to transform the workers’ compensation industry by freeing employers and injured workers from the high cost of surgery for work-related injuries common to workers’ compensation claims, such as back, hip, knee, shoulder, and carpal tunnel. MTT: Do you work directly with the patient, employer and/or both? RK: As FutureComp Consulting is at the very early stage as a startup company, there are no patients or employers that I am working with, however, there is one health plan that has expressed an interest to expand what their members’ employees are already doing in northern Mexico with regard to general healthcare, and not workers’ comp. My vision for the company would involve employers and insurance companies seeking to lower the cost of surgeries for work-related injuries, with the injured workers agreeing to go out of the country when the option is presented to them. They would not be under any obligation or pressure to go abroad for medical care, and should they decline to do so, they would be free to get treated here in the U.S., as if the option was never offered. I think that with the large and growing Hispanic workforce in the U.S., that if presented correctly, they would choose to go to their home country, or similar country for surgery. This would help them overcome any language or cultural barriers, and assure their friends and relatives in that country that they are getting the best care possible, in the best facility their country has to offer. For non-Latino workers, it would be a chance to see another region of the world, and to learn about other cultures. Naturally, in both cases, spouses and even children, would be allowed to travel with them to make the worker feel more comfortable with going abroad. MTT: Will FutureComp Consulting help connect medical travel patients to specific locations? RK: I would like to see injured workers travel to Latin America and the Caribbean, because the travel time from the U.S. mainland would be less than four hours, and less of a strain on their injury and recovery from surgery. MTT:Medical travel provides patients with the opportunity for high-quality, cost-effective healthcare, so in 2015, why do you think there is still pushback? RK: For one, I think because of media reports about the negative outcomes and serious injuries that have occurred, even a few deaths, here and there. Second, I think too many Americans are under the impression that medical care in other countries outside of North America and Western Europe is so-called “third-world medicine,” and therefore not as good as medical care at home. Third, the concept of “American exceptionalism,” of which I have written about in the past, is too strong in the mindset of most Americans, especially those who have never traveled abroad or to those regions where medical travel is currently offered. I have written about the issue of “third-world medicine” as well, and one domestic critic of mine insists that I want to send patients to Bangladesh or some other country that does not have first-world medical care, as they would define it. I don’t want to disparage Bangladesh or any other country, but that is the perception, and that is why there is pushback, at least in terms of what I am trying to do. The workers’ comp industry is too conservative, and too stuck in their ways to look outside the box and outside the border of the U.S. to find solutions to the problems plaguing workers’ comp. In other words, they have not caught on that the world, healthcare and workers’ comp are all globalizing. MTT: Where do you see the future of healthcare headed, domestic and international? RK: As far as workers’ comp is concerned, I think that the future of medical care is uncertain, because there are forces both internal and external that are challenging the original intent of the system. International medical travel for workers’ comp is years away in much the same way that sub-orbital, commercial flights between one and four hours travel time is — something that may happen by mid-century. However, domestic medical travel in workers’ comp is occurring due to differences in medical and surgery costs from state to state. With regard to general healthcare, the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has not yet been felt as either hurting or helping medical travel, because the timeframe is too short at this point. Not enough information about the impact of the law has been developed, although there are some conflicting opinions about aspects of the law, which I have recently written about in regard to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). I am not sure if the ACA is driving some people to look abroad, but those who are now covered, and who were not covered before, are more likely than not to stay home, unless it gets too expensive or they lose it because opposition politicians get their way. MTT: At this point, is there anything else you would like to share with our readers? RK: Yes, there is. The end of October 2015 will mark three years since I began writing my blog, and one of the biggest disappointments I have encountered has been the number of individuals and organizations that are not behaving in an ethical or professional manner. This has been brought to my attention by several individuals I have had contact with over the past three years. I believe that it is time for this behavior to stop. We must treat each other ethically and professionally. Standards should be established for how to conduct business with each other, between our partners, and with the patients themselves, as well as for how to practice medicine, and relate to foreign patients in terms of learning to speak their language, and providing meals at the proper time and in accordance with their cultural norms, etc. We must also develop organizations to bring the industry together under common laws and procedures for handling problems. Lastly, I think there is far too much emphasis on conferences and congresses, and not enough on actually going out into the market and getting the business, instead of bringing providers and facilitators together. Also, the industry must, as I said in Reynosa, go after the workers’ comp market; it will not come to you. You must go beyond cosmetic and plastic/reconstructive surgery, dentistry, spas, wellness programs, etc., and market your services for the masses, and not just the rich and affluent. Healthcare should know no class distinctions. I have been unable to get traction from both the workers’ comp industry and the medical travel industry, but I am willing to partner with anyone who sees what I am trying to do, and wants to be a part of it. I hope this interview will allow me to do so.