Hip Resurfacing Surgery

About Hip Resurfacing Surgery- The following is provided to you by WorldMed Assist, Medical Tourism experts, and contains general information that may not apply to you. You should consult with your physician about your specific situation.

What is Hip Resurfacing?
Hip Resurfacing is a type of hip replacement which replaces the two surfaces of the hip joint.
The procedure is very bone conserving as the head of the femur is retained. Instead of removing the head completely, it is shaped to accept an anatomically sized metal sphere. There is no large stem to go down the central part of the femur and the surface of the acetabulum (the socket) is also replaced with a metal implant, which is press fit directly into the bone.
The resurfacing components are made of 'As Cast' cobalt chrome which is finely machined to produce a very high quality surface with a low friction finish, hence low wear. The BIRMINGHAM HIP™ Resurfacing has the largest independently verified clinical history of any resurfacing device available today.




This operation is primarily intended for use in people who are in need of a hip replacement at a younger age and therefore are likely to be more active. There are certain causes of arthritis of the hip which mean that this technique cannot be used - namely those which have resulted in extreme deformity of either the head of the femur or the acetabulum.
For people needing a replacement under the age of 55, regular consideration is given for this procedure. People aged between 55 and 65 who are very active and otherwise fit may also be suitable and this will be determined by their bone quality and activity level.
Patients who need to have hip replacements under the age of 50 - 55, assuming they have normal life span, have a very high chance that the conventional hip replacement will wear out and need to be replaced during their lifetime - hence the resurfacing procedure offers potentially significant advantages in this group.

About WorldMed AssistExperts in medical tourism, WorldMed Assist’s mission is to improve lives by helping patients receive high quality medical treatment abroad at affordable prices. WorldMed Assist coordinates and simplifies every aspect of care and travel. WorldMed Assist also provides medical tourism as an option for self-insured businesses seeking expanded and affordable healthcare options for employees. Surgeries in India, Turkey and other carefully selected destinations matched with the client’s needs are significantly less expensive than in the U.S., yet delivered with the same or higher quality care and results as set by U.S. standards. Waiting times are virtually eliminated, track records are proven, and facilities are state-of-the-art. For more information, go to http://www.worldmedassist.com/

Quality of doctors and hospitals

People that are interested in getting medical treatment abroad should determine the about the quality of the doctors and hospitals they are interested in. When it comes to your health, nothing is more important than quality. The question is: how do you determine the quality. This is where the services of a health care facilitator, also known as a medical tourism company, plays a very important role. The better companies out there submit their potential partners to a very rigorous selection process and weed many of them out throughout the process. A good medical tourism company should select the best of the best with the goal to serve you better. What does ‘best of the best’ really mean?

• Specific to the doctors, we look for the world’s best doctors in their fields. These doctors are typically internationally trained physicians. What we look for are physicians that have received a significant amount of training in western countries such as the US, England or Australia. Part of our agreements is that these are the doctors that will treat you, if available. Not only does this provide you with the best medical care possible, but it also improves communications and you will feel much more at home. In many countries, the care that you will receive from your doctor will be much more personal and involved than what you are used to in the US.

• First of all, the hospital abroad needs to provide you with at least the same quality of care that you would receive in the US. We determine this in many ways. First of all, we research whether the hospital is JCI accredited. The JCI accreditation is given to hospitals that meet the stringent requirements that US hospitals also need to comply with. JCI stands for Joint Commission International and is the international division of JCAHO, the organization that accredits US hospitals. By selecting JCI accredited hospitals, we know that these hospitals and their doctors are at least as good as the US doctors and hospitals. We don’t stop here, however and raise the bar much higher.

• Another criteria we use is whether our hospitals have a close affiliation with a leading US hospital. A good example of such a US hospital is Johns Hopkins. Johns Hopkins has been voted best US hospital for 16 years straight by US News and World Report. When we partner with a hospital that is affiliated with Johns Hopkins we know that Johns Hopkins goes through extensive quality assurance procedures on an ongoing basis. You directly receive the benefits of these relationships.

• State of the Art equipment. During our in person evaluations, we determine how advanced the medical equipment is in the hospitals that want to become our partner. We want our hospitals to have the latest equipment. As a result, our partner hospitals have the latest equipment such as PET-CT scanners and the best surgical components from the US. That results in a good diagnosis and ultimately a better outcome of the surgery.

• Experience dealing with international patients. Our partner hospitals are used to receiving patients from outside of their own country. The result of that is that you will be dealing with staff that is used to your specific needs such as dietary needs, will speak English and will help you wherever you need help.

A successful outcome of your surgery is what it ultimately comes down to. We do extensive research in this area as well and inquire about infection rates and success rates for specific procedures. If we decide to partner with a hospital, we are very proud to offer it to you knowing that you will receive high quality of care while at the same time saving significant amounts of money.
All of the points above are determined by doing extensive background research that takes several months. If the outcome of this research is positive, we visit the hospitals in person. We do not rely on emails and faxes when it comes to something that is this important. We visit the hospitals, meet the doctors, staff and senior management, determine whether you will feel at home, figure out all of the logistics such as transfer from the airport to the hospital, look at quality hotels and restaurants. To do this right takes time so we usually spend 2 to 3 days at each hospital that we visit.

About WorldMed Assist
Experts in medical tourism, WorldMed Assist’s mission is to improve lives by helping patients receive high quality medical treatment abroad at affordable prices. WorldMed Assist coordinates and simplifies every aspect of care and travel. WorldMed Assist also provides medical tourism as an option for self-insured businesses seeking expanded and affordable healthcare options for employees. Surgeries in India, Turkey and other carefully selected destinations matched with the client’s needs are significantly less expensive than in the U.S., yet delivered with the same or higher quality care and results as set by U.S. standards. Waiting times are virtually eliminated, track records are proven, and facilities are state-of-the-art. For more information, go to http://www.worldmedassist.com/
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Using a Medical Tourism Company

Using a Medical Tourism Company



There are hospitals that directly try to access the North American market. We believe that you will be better off using the services of a reputable medical tourism company, also known as a health care facilitator. Here’s why:

1. Hospital and doctor prequalification. When you look on the internet, you don’t know which hospital is good and which one is not. Same with the doctors. A good medical tourism company has done extensive research in selecting the best hospitals and doctors for you, thereby eliminating a lot of work, or even better, prevent you from making the wrong decision as to which hospital you trust with your wellbeing. Ask your medical tourism company if they have visited the hospitals they work with in person.

2. The power of numbers. Because a well established health care facilitator brings a lot of business to a specific hospital, they have a very strong negotiation position. Over time, they will also have developed personal relationships with many people in the hospital. You will directly see the results of that when it comes to which doctor will treat you, the room type that you will get, the amount of personal attention, etc.

3. Hassle free. If you choose a medical tourism company that is based in the US, you can talk to them in your own time zone, or close to it. They will arrange for the medical diagnosis to take place by electronically submitting your information to your doctor abroad and present you with a treatment approach developed by him. The health care facilitator can get you on the phone with the doctor to finalize some details. We will also help you obtain a passport and visa, advise you on the best travel and hotel options. You usually will be greeted at the airport.

4. Follow up. Because their ongoing relationship with the hospitals abroad, a good medical tourism company can make sure that you will get the attention that you need when it comes to after care when you are back in the US.

Overall, a reputable medical tourism company provides end to end services that start well before and finish well after you undergo the actual medical treatment. The best news is that they usually only charge a nominal fee of a couple of hundred dollars for all of the above. I believe that you will agree with us that that is a small price to pay.

About WorldMed Assist
Experts in medical tourism, WorldMed Assist’s mission is to improve lives by helping patients receive high quality medical treatment abroad at affordable prices. WorldMed Assist coordinates and simplifies every aspect of care and travel. WorldMed Assist also provides medical tourism as an option for self-insured businesses seeking expanded and affordable healthcare options for employees. Surgery in Belgium, India, Mexico and Turkey and other carefully selected destinations matched with the client’s needs is significantly less expensive than in the U.S., yet delivered with the same or higher quality care and results as set by U.S. standards. Waiting times are virtually eliminated, track records are proven, and facilities are state-of-the-art. For more information, go to www.WorldMedAssist.com

Why Surgery Abroad?

Provided by WorldMed Assist, experts in Medical Tourism.
http://www.worldmedassist.com/
866-999-3848 X710


Why Surgery Abroad?
Medical Tourism is growing fast. For those of you not intimately familiar with the concept of medical travel, the first question to be answered when it comes to having surgery done abroad is ‘Why’? Why not just go to my regional hospital? Why fly all the way to a foreign location to have the same procedure done? The answer to this very basic question has a lot of different components:

1. The biggest reason for going abroad is the cost savings. These can be substantial, up to 90%, taking the costs of airfare and lodging into account! While a heart bypass surgery in the US often times costs more than $80,000, you can get that same procedure outside of the US for $6500. If you have no insurance or do not have adequate coverage those savings are obviously important to you. If you are looking for cosmetic surgery your insurance company will definitely not be able to help you and tremendous cost savings can be obtained for those procedures as well.

2. Access to high quality. The second biggest reason is getting access to high quality doctors with significant experience in the procedure that you need. For example, only late last year did Hip Resurfacing get approved in the US. Even now that it is available domestically, you would be hard pressed to find a doctor in the US with a lot of experience performing this surgery while outside of the US this procedure has been performed for many years and surgeons that have performed more than 2500 surgeries are available. Other examples exist where the procedure has not yet been approved in the US.

3. Finally, waiting times. This specifically applies to people from Canada where the waiting times are often multiple years. When going abroad, the surgery can usually be scheduled within two weeks. This is a significant advantage when you are in pain or are looking to significantly improve your quality of life by for example having weight loss surgery done.

With almost 50 million Americans that don’t have health insurance and a broken social health care system in Canada it is easy to see that you are not alone in pursuing this. In 2006 more than 150,000 Americans went outside of the country to obtain medical care.

About WorldMed Assist
Experts in medical tourism, WorldMed Assist’s mission is to improve lives by helping patients receive high quality medical treatment abroad at affordable prices. WorldMed Assist coordinates and simplifies every aspect of care and travel. WorldMed Assist also provides medical tourism as an option for self-insured businesses seeking expanded and affordable healthcare options for employees. Surgeries in India, Turkey and other carefully selected destinations matched with the client’s needs are significantly less expensive than in the U.S., yet delivered with the same or higher quality care and results as set by U.S. standards. Waiting times are virtually eliminated, track records are proven, and facilities are state-of-the-art. For more information, go to http://www.worldmedassist.com/