I WOULD!
My name is Tom Hiland from Denver, Colorado. In July 2005 I journeyed to New Delhi for life-saving open heart surgery. A heart murmur from birth had evolved into mitral valve prolapse. Symptoms were telling me not to wait for congestive heart failure. In July 2005 it was Destination Delhi! What an Adventure! What an Experience!
World Class Care, from the hospitality staffers who met my son and I at the airport, to the RN’s(sisters) who provided 24X7 in-room care. And the doctors? I received special attention from the chief of anesthesiology and the chief of cardiology to mention only a few.
My new mitral valve was a product of Edwards Lifesciences of Irvine, California. Since then, several American patients have questioned whether Indian cardiac surgeons go the extra mile to repair valves, rather than replace them. The answer is that in Western patients, the repair rate is 90%. It drops to 75% in the Indian population. More valves require replacement due to rheumatic heart disease because the valve cannot be repaired. In June 2008 I returned to Delhi for an “all is well” cardiac checkup and Total Knee Replacement. I’ve saved over $200,000 compared to US self pay charges. Since 2006 I’ve been helping others find a more affordable alternative to America’s high health care costs and Canada’s long waits.
My company, Boomer Health Travel, offers coordination and facilitation services to those of you facing high cost cardiac care on a self-pay basis. There are other facilitators out there, but none will provide you with a specific recommendation and none are managed by an American who has actually been treated in an Indian Hospital. Choosing a care provider is one thing. Making the arrangements and seeing to the details of visas, passports, traveling arrangements, and high speed transmission of medical records, is another. Boomer Health Travel offers the convenience of one stop organization of your medical travel and tourism. If you or your loved-one’s cardiac treatment is non-emergency, such as valve-replacement, pacemaker, ablation, angiography or non-critical angioplasty with stent or without stent, you can’t find a higher quality, more affordable destination on the Planet!
If you are uninsured and self-pay or willing to self-pay because your wait is too long in Canada or the UK, the most important criteria are quality and cost. You welcome transparency when you can find it. You’ve just found it! What would cost you $40 to $100 thousand and higher in the States on a self-pay basis is available for, in many cases, under $10-$15,000 including FDA approved hardware through IncredibleHeartCare and our Medical Travel experts. Learn More.
If you have a sense of adventure, like to travel and consider yourself a cut above on the intelligent design scale read on. You’ll be rewarded with a life changing experience and save at least $40,000 or more in the process. Be sure to request more information here on this site, qualify for a free opinion and be prepared for a rewarding, gratifying journey to better cardiovascular function and an improved quality of life. If the notion of exceptional doctors, new private hospitals and best outcomes in India is hard to fathom, consider Slumdog Millionaire. Who would have thought this movie filmed in Mumbai would steal the show, winning not one, but eight Oscars including Best Picture in February 2009. We will make your Medical Travel journey an Oscar winning experience! And you don’t have to be a Millionaire to do it.
If you have health insurance and don’t care what the cost is, then prepare to be a victim of your own circumstances, the health insurer, the surgeon, the hospital and the maize that is the American healthcare system. And don’t count on getting the best treatment for you! However, if you care about getting the best, if you want to learn more about the variety of implants and what constitutes a World Class Surgeon, read on. It’s Heart Care for the well informed. More informed decision making leads to more control over the outcome.
North Carolina and National Public Radio have reported Tom’s journey to India on The Story with Dick Gordon. It runs 22-minutes, but you can listen as long as you like. Listen Now.
Nancy Kuhlman . . . Pagosa Springs, CO
58-year old Nancy Kuhlman received a new mitral valve and hole in heart repair. Without insurance, she and husband Steve own a restaurant-saloon in picturesque Pagosa. Not surprisingly, her Durango cardiologist didn’t get it. The doctor didn’t trust the patient to make the best choice for herself. Instead, the doctor recommended a Denver area hospital the patient didn’t trust. A close friend of the patient nearly died at this hospital from a staph infection last year. Another MVR patient received horrible treatment and suffered serious complications after December 2006 surgery. Besides, no Denver hospital offered minimally invasive, her method of choice. Nancy now spends most of her time in Arizona.
Billy Shipp . . . Elkhart, TX
Age 58 -- 3 Months Post-Op
“I am doing great!!!!!!!
The surgery went great, and I couldn’t be happier with that part of it. The doctors, nurses and
everyone at the hospital were excellent. I had two nurses around the clock with me, and I can’t imagine
getting better care anywhere in the world. I have only one incision, and it’s under my right breast,
that is only around 5-inches long (port access minimally invasive technique). Having the surgery is not
something I want to do again, but I don’t see how things could have possibly gone any better.” -- Billy Shipp
Cousin James Shipp . . . Houston, TX
The doctors and sisters were wonderful. They are certainly compassionate and thoughtful people.
The entire staff of the hospital was terrific. We ended up being there a total of 21 days and the hospital fee was
$12,500.00 USD. This is probably 10% of what it would have cost Billy to have the same surgery here. Thank you,
Tom, for your recommendations. Without your endorsement, we would not have made the trip and
Billy's days would be numbered.” --- James Shipp,
November 27, 2006
Howard Staab . . . Durham, NC
Howard Staab kayaking a year after mitral valve replacement surgery in New Delhi in 2004. He enjoyed the
minimally invasive "port access" technique rather than a sternotomy. It's cosmetically better with faster recovery times.
His Durham cardiologist says his heart is working well. A design-build contractor-carpenter in his mid-50's, "Howard
is busier than he was before India" according to friend Maggi Grace.
Jeti Singh . . . Fullerton, CA
Jeti Singh of Fullerton, California, a naturalized American citizen from India, underwent coronary bypass surgery in July 2005 after falling ill while on a business trip in New Delhi. Kaiser Permanente reimbursed the $8,000 cost, which would have amounted to over $61,000 at home in California. Kaiser saved a bundle and Mr. Singh has resumed his globe trotting.
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