International Travel & Health Insurance Conference, New Orleans 2018
The International Travel & Health Insurance Conference (ITIC) is a world-renowned integral travel and health insurance event. Its objective is to provide an atmosphere where professionals in this sector can showcase, discuss, and debate topics of interest.
ITIC Americas 2018 edition comprised of the regions of the United States, Canada, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. Hosted in New Orleans, Louisiana (#ITICNOLA) at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. Experts from all over the globe gathered to present their work and to learn about trends and information on the Technology and Travel industries. With topics such as: Insurance, Cruise Travel and Assistance Problems, International Insurer Concerns, and Billing from Mexican Hospitals. Its objective is to optimize the way companies work in an extremely globalized market.
For this reason, we are proud to be the first Mexican hospital invited to participate in the informative session on Billing from Mexican Hospitals. Our Finance and Marketing Director, Jorge Villanueva Medina, along with Dr. Salvador Belilty (Logimedex CEO), Scott Rosean (Founder of MDabroad & MD International Assistance Capital), and Jacquie Schwoerke (Vice-president and representative of the Sharp HealthCare Global Patient Services), professionally discussed the global issue of Billing at Mexican Hospitals.
Finding ways to work with international billing companies is an issue for the private health sector in Mexico. These make medicine and treatment more expensive, without showing a proportional increase in the quality of medical attention, facilities, technology, and bilingual staff.
We have a collaborative work agreement with SHARP Hospital in San Diego. Because of this link, Schwoerke connected Villanueva with the organizing directors of the International Travel & Health Insurance Conference Americas (ITIC), who exposed the dilemma mentioned above in search of a Mexican hospital where this problem would not happen. It was then that Schwoerke recommended our hospital and our director.
“Being the first Mexican hospital invited to this world-renowned event is a recognition of the work that we have done throughout the years”
For over 20 years, we have worked hand in hand with American, Canadian, and European insurance travel companies. We have signed agreements with each of them, and we have adapted to their systems. We know how they work and we understand that billing must be direct. You do not bill the foreign patient nor a billing company. You deal directly with the insurance company that the patient uses. No intermediaries.
This is one of the biggest problems that foreign patients face at Mexican hospitals. The refusal to accept foreign insurance companies. And this makes patients pay out of pocket despite having an insurance that can cover them.
Being the first Mexican hospital invited to this world-renowned event is a recognition of the work that we have done throughout the years. It shows that there is a positive side despite the problems that currently occur and that become erroneously generalized.
To present these global issues and their importance is to increase the growth of our country. There is a bad reputation of what the Mexican government and Mexican hospitals want or expect from international insurance companies. Many of these refuse to work in conjunction with insurance companies. They fear the unknown, that they will not receive payment, or low fees. In our experience – proven at this event -. Working with international insurance companies must be reciprocal: if we demand quality in service, nothing less than excellence must be provided in return.
About New Orleans
Located in the Southeast of Louisiana, the city of New Orleans was founded by the French settler Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville in 1718 in the dams of the Mississippi river. 300 years later, the French, Spanish, Latin-American, and African influence still predominates in the city’s construction, streets, and lifestyle. It is a city cover in culture, music, and gastronomy. Its world-known events are: Mardi Gras, Jazz Fest, and Sugar Bowl. Which lure tourists to take a stroll along its enigmatic streets full of mystery, but vibrating with its characteristic urban culture.
