Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MONTERREY801
2007-08-23 21:33:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Consulate Monterrey
Cable title:  

NUEVO LEON AT THE HEART OF MEXICO'S MEDICAL TOURISM

Tags:  PGOV EINV ECON SOCI TBIO MX 
pdf how-to read a cable
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH
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FM AMCONSUL MONTERREY
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 2393
RUEHME/AMEMBASSY MEXICO PRIORITY 3196
INFO RUEHXC/ALL US CONSULATES IN MEXICO COLLECTIVE
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0008
RUEHGP/AMEMBASSY SINGAPORE PRIORITY 0004
RUEHBK/AMEMBASSY BANGKOK PRIORITY 0014
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEAUSA/DEPT OF HHS WASHINGTON DC
RUEHMC/AMCONSUL MONTERREY 7657
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000801 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, PLEASE PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EINV ECON SOCI TBIO MX
SUBJECT: NUEVO LEON AT THE HEART OF MEXICO'S MEDICAL TOURISM
INDUSTRY

MONTERREY 00000801 001.2 OF 003


UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MONTERREY 000801

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT OF STATE, PLEASE PASS TO USTR

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV EINV ECON SOCI TBIO MX
SUBJECT: NUEVO LEON AT THE HEART OF MEXICO'S MEDICAL TOURISM
INDUSTRY

MONTERREY 00000801 001.2 OF 003



1. SUMMARY. Nuevo Leon is actively working to become the
medical tourism destination-of-choice in Mexico for Mexican and
American citizens seeking quality, affordable health care. The
Nuevo Leon State Government has formed a Specialized Medical
Services Cluster of ten public and private hospitals to promote
their services, particularly to un- or under-insured Americans
who require costly medical procedures in the U.S. With a
growing number of U.S. and Northern Mexican "tourists" traveling
to Monterrey for treatment, Nuevo Leon seems poised to realize
its goal, particularly with the construction of two new
state-of-the-art hospitals. In an effort to improve its
competitiveness with other popular medical tourism destinations
such as India, Thailand, and Singapore, the Cluster hospitals
are currently seeking Joint Commission International
Accreditation, and have plans to develop all-inclusive airline,
hotel, and surgery packages. While Nuevo Leon has the potential
for success in this growing international market, patients
should beware because Mexico lacks a robust medical malpractice
regime and public information about physicians' professional
histories is not readily available. This may pose a roadblock
in convincing would-be U.S. patients to seek medical treatment
in Nuevo Leon. END SUMMARY.

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BRING US YOUR POOR, YOUR UNINSURED
--------------


2. While Monterrey is already known as Mexico's industrial
capital, the Nuevo Leon government wants it to be known as the
medical capital, too. The Government of Nuevo Leon has
developed a comprehensive plan to become the
destination-of-choice for Mexicans and Americans seeking
high-quality, affordable health care. According to press
reports, Nuevo Leon's medical services cost 25-33% of comparable
services in the United States. Under the direction of the Nuevo
Leon Secretariat of Economic Development (SEDEC),a group of ten
private and public hospitals have joined together to form a

"Specialized Medical Services Cluster." In essence, the Cluster
integrates and promotes services on behalf of all of its member
hospitals. According to Dr. Jesus Zacarias Villarreal, the
former Secretary of Health for Nuevo Leon and current Chair of
the Cluster's Advisory Committee, Nuevo Leon is the only state
in Mexico that is actively working to develop itself as a
medical tourism destination.


3. Econoff met with Zulamith Berlanga, the Director of SEDEC's
Office to Promote Monterrey as a City of Health, to discuss the
Cluster's promotion plan. She said that their outreach efforts
will focus on people who seek elective surgeries (namely
cosmetic and plastic surgery) and those un- or under-insured
people seeking less costly alternatives for non-emergency,
non-elective surgery, such as organ transplants, oncology
services, and orthopedic surgery. A large-scale advertising
campaign that will direct potential tourists to SEDEC's
"Monterrey City of Health" website will begin in October 2007,
with preliminary ads being placed in American Airlines "American
Way" in-flight magazine. SEDEC also plans to reach out directly
to Hispanic groups and tourists boards in Texas, and later to
tourist boards in other states.


4. Though SEDEC has not yet begun advertising in the United
States or other parts of Northern Mexico, anecdotal evidence
from local hospital administrators suggests that a growing
number of persons travel to Monterrey for medical treatment.
Previously, most of the "tourists" hailed from other parts of
Nuevo Leon and the states of Tamaulipas and Coahuila, but over
the last three years, more people from Texas and other Mexican
states, including Yucatan, Veracruz, Tabasco, and even Oaxaca,
have traveled to take advantage of Monterrey's quality
hospitals. When Econoff asked for statistics on the numbers of
patients seeking treatment at the Cluster's ten hospitals,
SEDEC's Berlanga said that the hospitals maintain their own
statistics and that SEDEC does not have access to them. She did
add that SEDEC plans to compile its own statistics in order to
measure the success of its promotion and outreach efforts. One
of the Cluster member hospitals, Monterrey Tec's San Jose
Hospital, reported to Econoff directly that over 7500 of its
patients in 2006 came from outside of Nuevo Leon.


5. During a separate meeting, Dr. Villarreal qualified
Berlanga's statement by adding that, while there are not exact
statistics about the number of medical tourists that have come
to Monterrey since the Cluster was conceived in March 2005, the
number of private hospital beds in Monterrey has doubled in the

MONTERREY 00000801 002.2 OF 003


last three years. Further, due to a significant increase in
demand for non-elective and plastic surgery, two new hospitals
have recently been constructed in Monterrey - one in the
northern part of the city and one in the southern suburbs - to
meet the need for more hospital beds.

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MEETING INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS
--------------


6. In order to increase its competitiveness, the Cluster wants
to have all ten of its member hospitals accredited within the
next five years by Joint Commission International (JCI),the
U.S. based non-profit organization that accredits hospitals
around the world. The purpose, according to Dr. Villarreal, is
to help demonstrate the quality of patient care available in
Nuevo Leon. (Note. Currently, there are no hospitals in Mexico
accredited by the JCI, but all of SEDEC's Cluster hospitals are
accredited by the Mexico National Institute of Public Health.
End Note.) Hospital accreditation would help Nuevo Leon compete
with other popular medical tourism destinations around the world
that boast JCI-accredited hospitals, such as the National Heart
Center in Singapore and the Apollo Hospital Group in India. Dr.
Villarreal readily admits that without accreditation, Mexico,
and Nuevo Leon in particular, will not be able to compete in the
long-term as a destination-of-choice for Americans who want
guarantees that the level of hospital service is up to U.S.
standards.


7. In addition to the JCI accreditation, the state government
plans to make Nuevo Leon a more attractive medical tourism
destination by working with travel agencies and hotels to
develop the type of all-inclusive medical tourism packages
promoted by hospitals in Singapore, Thailand, and India. To
this end, some hospitals have already begun forming partnerships
with established medical tourism facilitators. For example, the
Christus Muguerza Hospital system in Monterrey has partnered
with Global Choice Healthcare, a New Mexico based company that
handles the range of logistics services required by medical
travelers. Further, the Cluster plans to invite other medical
practitioners to join them, most notably dentists and oral
surgeons, who would also benefit from the type of
state-sponsored international promotion that will be enjoyed by
the current Cluster members. Finally, the Cluster is already
exploring the possibility of developing service provider
agreements with U.S. insurance companies so that, once the
hospitals are accredited, patients from the U.S. will not have
to pay up-front for non-elective procedures and, instead, can
present their insurance cards as a financial guarantee.


8. Comment. It seems likely that at least some of the
Cluster's hospitals will receive their JCI accreditation, since
most of the Cluster hospitals have Board Certified physicians,
as well as state-of-the-art laboratory and diagnostic equipment.
Additionally, at least one of the Cluster hospitals, Christus
Muguerza, has a direct affiliation with a U.S. hospital group
that is already certified by the U.S. Joint Commission. This
affiliation should also help when SEDEC endeavors to establish
service-provider agreements with U.S. health insurance
companies. End Comment.

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BUYER BEWARE: PATIENTS LACK LEGAL RECOURSE
--------------


9. While SEDEC's plans to turn Nuevo Leon into Mexico's medical
tourism capital have real potential for success, patients may
not be aware that they have little recourse for malpractice
litigation and limited access to public information about
physicians' professional histories. This could serve as a
potential roadblock in the State's efforts to attract "tourists"
from the U.S. First, Mexico has a limited system to handle
cases of medical malpractice or malfeasance. Each state has a
Medical Arbitration Commission, and the patient's complaint is
decided by an arbiter who issues a final, legally-binding
resolution. The problem with this type of case is that the
arbiter relies on General Practitioners with little or no
specialized experience to render a professional opinion on the
case. These appeals are rare, with only four cases filed in
Nuevo Leon in 2006. A civil or criminal medical malpractice
lawsuit is even more uncommon, and rarely finds in favor of the
patient. In fact, there was only one medical malpractice suit
filed in civil court in 2006 for all of Mexico. Cluster
officials acknowledged to Econoff that they believe that some

MONTERREY 00000801 003.2 OF 003


potential tourists will decline seeking treatment in Nuevo Leon
if they know that there is no real precedent for medical
malpractice claims


10. Moreover, there is little to no public access to
physicians' professional or medical malpractice history in most
Mexican states. Dr. Villarreal told Econoff that, while any
patient can ask a physician directly for his or her educational
history and professional accreditations, this type of
information is not made readily available to the general public,
which is why Mexicans often rely on word-of-mouth to choose
physicians and hospitals. This lack of transparency may also
frustrate some potential U.S. patients who expect the same level
of public information that is available in the United States.
"Regardless," said SEDEC's Berlanga, "patients from throughout
Mexico and the United States will still seek treatment in Nuevo
Leon because of the exceptional quality of care and low cost
that we offer, even when they clearly understand the limits of
the Mexican medical system."
WILLIAMSON