Health care

Latin CEO: Executive Strategies for the Americas, August-Sept, 2002

With its historically strong medical community, South Florida has been a natural destination for Latin American patients for decades. In recent years, however -- thanks in part to a concerted marketing effort -- it has treated more patients from the region than ever before.

When Angel and Alberto were born as conjoined twins in Lima, Peru on October 31, 1999, their parents feared the boys might never be able to lead independent lives. Joined just below the hip, the two boys shared part of the same spinal column, as well as their gastrointestinal and urinary organs.

Dr. Hernan Carrion, chief of urology at Miami Children's Hospital, and a native of Peru, heard of the boys' plight and met the young parents in Lima. He then made arrangements for Angel and Alberto to be transferred to Miami to see whether it would be possible for the boys to survive a surgical separation.

After a long series of examinations to determine their overall condition, a team of surgeons successfully separated the boys in a 13-hour surgery on September 1, 2000. Two years later, the twins are enjoying a normal childhood in Peru, according to Miami Children's Hospital executive director Jose Perdomo. Perdomo and Dr. Rafael Gosalbez, medical director of the hospital's international program, recently traveled to Lima's Children's Hospital for a follow-up examination, where "the boys were rambunctious, making noises and starting to talk," says Perdomo.

Those types of collaborative relationships with hospitals and physicians in Latin America distinguish South Florida's internationally oriented healthcare system. Many Latin American physicians refer their patients to South Florida specialists in complicated cases, while thousands of patients and families contact regional institutions directly for checkups, second opinions, diagnostic procedures or treatment.

"More and more often the trend is for Latin patients to come to South Florida, rather than other medical centers up north," says Dr. Ronnie R. Pimentel, a board-certified gastroenterologist who heads the committee on international services at Cleveland Clinic Florida. "The reasons are simple: cost, language and proximity. It's hard for a Hispanic family to spend several weeks in a state like Minnesota that is so distant from home -- especially when a medical case gets complicated."

Many South Florida hospitals and clinics have international programs designed to expedite the medical process, assist with financial arrangements, and provide personalized service, from arranging accommodations to interpreters to activities for family members traveling with a patient.

"Every day Miami is becoming more and more the medical capital of the Americas," says Michael Carricarte, the chairman and CEO of Miami-based Amedex, which provides medical insurance to approximately 120,000 affluent policy holders in Venezuela, Mexico, Ecuador, Central America and the Caribbean. "Miami is even starting to win over the Mexican market, which used to be almost 100 percent [going to] Houston."

While the Houston Medical Center remains a strong draw for Latin American patients, Carricarte says that about 55 percent of all Latin American patients coming to the US are now heading for Miami, compared to about 35 percent a decade ago -- data which comes from Carricarte's other company USA Medical Services, which processes claims from Amedex as well as other US medical insurance companies active in the region.

Part of the reason for the upswing in Miami-bound patients is the Miami Medical Alliance, a five-year-old consortium of seven hospitals that partners with hotels, airlines, travel agents and the medical community to offer personalized health care services to Latin American patients.

"Our hospitals have a history of serving the international community," says Victoria Brewer-Anderson, executive director of the alliance, which is marketed in Spanish-speaking Latin America as "Salud Miami" and in Portuguese-speaking Brazil as "Saude Miami." Says the executive director, "We have the experience behind us, and we are at the forefront of medical technologies and treatments."

Brewer-Anderson says the volume of patients declined after the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, but has been gradually coming back in the past year. "We've been concentrating on Mexico and the Central American countries this summer," she says. "The most frequent requests are for diagnoses, second opinions, cancer treatments--especially prostate and breast cancer--and advanced cardiac procedures."

Cleveland Clinic Florida, a multi-specialty group practice that moved to a new Broward County facility in Weston last year, is among the South Florida facilities offering "executive checkups" for business travelers to the region. "We have a full range of tests, with different specialties right here at the clinic," says Pimentel. "We also handle complex medical cases, and expedite those visits for Latin patients."

When a patient returns to Latin America, South Florida physicians can stay in touch via email and phone. Pimentel notes that he uses the Internet to consult with physicians in Panama and Peru regarding several former patients at Cleveland Clinic Florida. "We also go to Latin America for physician symposiums," he adds. "We're trying to make a positive impact on medicine in Latin America."