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Session 5: The Role of Free Trade in Controlling Health Care Costs
As the quality of health care in developing countries improves, the cost advantages of “medical tourism” are becoming more attractive to consumers and insurers alike. This session will explore how global competition might lead to more efficient delivery of medical care and even slow the rate of increase in healthcare costs by making the U.S. medical sector more competitive.
Speaker Materials
Michael Horowitz presentation
Renee-Marie Stephano
Speakers
Devon Herrick
Senior Fellow, National Center for Policy Analysis
Chair, NABE Health Economics Roundtable
Devon Herrick, Ph. D., concentrates on health care issues, such as Internet-based medicine, health insurance and the uninsured, as well as pharmaceutical drug issues. Other areas which Dr. Herrick focuses on include managed care, patient empowerment, medical privacy and technology-related issues.
Dr. Herrick has been responsible for the NCPA's computer and information services, as well as oversight of the design and maintenance of the NCPA's award-winning Web site - Idea House. He has training in financial analysis and health economics, and has conducted several major research projects for the NCPA, having published several research studies and papers on health policy. Herrick is a sought-after speaker on health policy issues.
Prior to joining the NCPA, Dr. Herrick was a research assistant at the Bruton Center for Development Studies at the University of Texas at Dallas. The Bruton Center integrates geographic information systems, spatial analysis, and exploratory data analysis in the social sciences, applying research on trends, forces, and public policy. In addition, he spent six years working in health care accounting and financial management for a Dallas-area health care system.
Dr. Herrick received a Ph.D. in Political Economy and a Master of Public Affairs from the University of Texas at Dallas with a concentration in economic development. Dr. Herrick's dissertation research examined patient empowerment through empirical analysis of the Internet and disease advocacy.
He also holds an MBA with a concentration in finance from Oklahoma City University and an MBA from Amber University, as well as a BS in accounting from the University of Central Oklahoma.
Michael Horowitz
Medical Insights International
Dr. Horowitz is Founder and President of Medical Insights International, a firm devoted to researching and analyzing medical tourism, and providing valuable information to parties involved or interested in this industry.
Dr. Horowitz provides critical insights regarding the marketplace forces that drive and shape the evolving medical tourism industry as well as anticipated business trends and opportunities. He has a strong interest in the marketplace dynamics and macroeconomic underpinnings of medical tourism. His experience and perspective as a seasoned physician provide deep understanding of the issues of quality of care, patient safety and accreditation. Dr. Horowitz has visited key medical tourism destinations. He is a sought-after speaker and has given many professional presentations on medical tourism for audiences from the healthcare community and medical tourism industry. He is the author of numerous articles on various aspects of medical tourism.
A graduate of the University of Miami School of Medicine, Dr Horowitz completed specialty training in Surgery and in Cardiothoracic Surgery. Dr. Horowitz was on the faculty of the University of Miami School of Medicine from 1988 to 1993. Next, he developed and managed a cardiac surgery program in a community-based hospital that previously did not have these services. He is a Diplomate, Fellow or member of numerous professional medical and surgical organizations.
Dr. Horowitz received an MBA with concentration in Organization and Management from the Goizueta Business School of Emory University in 2006. He has been elected to membership in Beta Gamma Sigma International Business Honor Society.
Renee-Marie Stephano
Medical Tourism Association
Renee-Marie Stephano is a Founder and COO of the Medical Tourism Association, also known as MTA, the first international non-profit trade association for the medical tourism industry. Ms. Stephano also serves as general counsel for the MTA and is Editor of the Medical Tourism Magazine, a monthly journal that addresses all of the issues surrounding medical tourism including legal issues, accreditation, economic issues and a geographical focus on countries growing their business in treating foreign patients.
Ms. Stephano received her undergraduate degrees in international relations in Virginia and received her Juris Doctorate degree in Law in Pennsylvania. She has a background in international marketing and health law and then went on to open her own law firm, spending six years serving as general counsel for a US national healthcare administrator which was the first US healthcare administrator to implement medical tourism into both self-funded and fully insured health plans in the United States.
Ms. Stephano works full time for the Medical Tourism Association and is considered an expert in medical tourism on legal issues. In her role at the Medical Tourism Association, Ms. Stephano helps countries and hospitals create strategic marketing plans and helps identify target markets. She has helped many countries and hospitals achieve their goals of attracting foreign patients and international insurance companies. Ms. Stephano works with global health care providers to maintain transparency with respect to quality of care as they increase their flow of patients and she also works with medical travel facilitators to establish best practices to ultimately ensure patient safety.
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