International Business

Part One Case Study, page 42

May 12, 2013

1.What are the facilitating developments that have allowed health care to start globalizing?

The decline in the barriers of free flow of health care services has facilitated and allowed health care to start globalizing. The cost of medical services in other countries (i.e., Mexico, India, Singapore) generally runs from 20-35% of the cost of the same procedure in the United States (Hill, 42). Many people find it far cheaper to fly abroad to get treatment versus the high cost of medical care in the United States and the quality of care is often comparable to what they would receive in the U.S. This creates opportunities for health care providers in other countries to grow their business, for U.S. insurance companies to lower their costs by agreeing to pay for treatment in accredited hospital overseas, and for health brokers in the U.S. who make money arranging for U.S. citizens to have treatment overseas. More importantly it benefits health care consumers.

2. Who benefits from the globalization of health care? Who are the losers?

Advances in technology, particularly the dramatic developments in telecommunications, information processing, and transportation have facilitated and allowed health care to start globalizing. The rapid growth of the Internet (World Wide Web) has been a major force facilitating and allowing hospitals in the U.S. to send images (i.e., X-rays, Ct scans, MRI scans, and ultrasound) over the Internet to doctors/skilled workers overseas that specialize in reading and interpreting diagnostic medical images. This reduces the workload on medical specialists in the U.S., cuts costs, and is effectively faster. Some of these countries are on the opposite side of the globe, thus the images could be interpreted while it is night time in the U.S. and be ready for the attending physician when he or she arrives for work the following day (Hill, 42). The losers would be the hospitals and...