Marketers

Study: Medical tourism market smaller than predicted

Tue, 06 May 2008 06:59:57 -0400

A new study suggests that the medical tourism market isn't quite as hot as some observers thought, though it's still got a great deal of upside. The study, by consulting firm McKinsey & Co., concludes that between 60,000 and 85,000 patients travel to other countries for inpatient hospital care. Contrary to popular wisdom, at present most of these tourists aren't looking for low-cost care, researchers said. Forty percent of such travelers are looking for cutting-edge procedures, especially those who visit the U.S., while 32 percent sought better care than at home, McKinsey concluded. Another 15 percent are avoiding waiting times faced in their home medical system, especially in Canada and the United Kingdom. People seeking cheaper prices on medically-necessary procedures, meanwhile, made up only 4 percent of the total.

The McKinsey figures are far lower than the figures typically used by medical-tourism companies, who typically contend, for example, that more than a million medical tourists go to Asia each year. These numbers are likely to stir up a tempest in this emerging market, as they undercut marketers' reassurances that "everyone is doing it." Still, even McKinsey executives believe that the segment of patients seeking lower cost care will grow dramatically in coming years.

To learn more about this study:
- read this Wall Street Journal piece

Related Articles:
Middlemen take uncertainty out of medical tourism
Critics won over by medical tourism options
Patients, employers choose overseas care
Indian hospital uses YouTube to sell medical tourists

Studies show problems with four big-name drugs

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 06:59:56 -0400

It looks like yet another set of popular drugs are facing allegations that they pose safety risks. Drugs named this week in unfavorable studies include Fosamax, which may create heart problems for women who take it for osteoporosis and epilepsy med Dilantin, which may put young women at higher risk of developing osteoporosis. Another study concludes that diabetes drugs Avandia and Actos double or triple the odds of non-spinal fractures, particularly among patients who took the drugs for a year or more. Particularly given other drug safety controversies still very much in the public eye, this can't be giving pharma marketers a warm and fuzzy feeling.

To find out more about the studies:
- read this FiercePharma item

Related Articles:
Merck expects $1.8B hit on Fosamax
Avandia problems erode GSK profits
Takeda touts Actos as heart attack-free
Despite safety issues, Vioxx still in demand

ALSO NOTED: Provider groups ask CMS to delay NPI enforcement, again; Zyrtec marketers try something new; and much more...

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Several groups have asked CMS to delay the implementation of the National Provider Identification number, arguing that no one involved is really ready to move ahead. FierceHealthFinance

> To market over-the-counter Zyrtec, drug marketers have turned to a very old ad medium--fliers posted on telephone poles. FiercePharma

> Researchers at Johns Hopkins have come up with a cheaper, easier-to-deliver vaccine for NPV, strains of which are responsible for most cervical cancer cases. FierceVaccines

> Dallas nurses are mulling over whether they should join a labor union, the California Nurses Association. If they do it would be the first nurses union in the state since the 1970s. Article

And Finally... This sounds like something out of a cheap horror flick, but it really happened. Article

SPOTLIGHT: Medical groups urge Web privacy for kids

Mon, 21 Apr 2008 06:59:52 -0400

As a coalition of medical groups see it, children don't have enough privacy online. Right now, marketers could potentially be tracking the online behavior of minors, including adolescents who divulge more information than they realize. The American Academy of Pediatrics and American Psychological Association, plus other groups, are asking the FTC to issue rules barring the Net industry from profiling adolescent web activities, including activity tracking and scans of profiles posted on social networking sites like MySpace. Article