Background

Thomas Schmidt,
chief editor of the TravelMedicus and
CEO of mediScon worldwide and MedicalQM is a new member of the International Advisory Board of the Council on the Global Integration of Healthcare - CGIH.

www.CGIH.org

3 GHCPC Advisory Board Members will Speak at
HFMA Region 11 Symposium
January 25-29 at Caesar's Palace, Las Vegas /USA

Representing more than 100 collective years' experience in health care, public health, hospital administration, finance and reimbursement, each speaker will relate a different perspective on how globally integrated care impacts the business and delivery of Healthcare in the US.

About the Council

The Council on the Global Integration of Healthcare (CGIH) was founded in 2008, and is the premier non-profit association of global health care policy for medical travel and medical tourism. CGIH's members play a crucial role on the forefront of globally integrated health delivery and medical tourism every day. Members represent a cross-section of industry, private business, labor, government and academia.
For more information, please visit www.ghcpc.org

Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare

The Council on the Global Integration of Healthcare (CGIH) has announced that three members of its Advisory Council will present a three-part presentation on Medical Tourism and Global Healthcare, entitled Globalization of Contracted Care; Positioning for Off-Shoring of Entire Segments of Clinical Care.

"To say that globally integrated health delivery is coming is to be in denial," says Maria K Todd, MHA PhD, Council president. "It's here. The insurers, employers and patients are beyond investigation and have started to accept it and participate. The US health care delivery system must examine its role and strategic response to globally integrated health care delivery. After all, they too are on the globe."

Larry Preston, MBA FHFMA has over 30 years in healthcare finance and management as a hospital controller, chief financial officer, and chief executive officer of an integrated health care delivery system. He is a long time member and Fellow in the HFMA, and former HFMA National Matrix member.
He has visited several continents as a consultant on the forefront of globalized health care. Most recently he returned from a familiarization trip to several facilities in Costa Rica. He and a team of professional colleagues consult to international hospitals to refine operations in preparation for the participation with third-party reimbursement for medical travel and globally integrated healthcare delivery. He is currently collaborating with several members of the Council including Todd, Silvers, and Hodges to author a book on Medical Tourism Program Development to be released in the Summer of 2009 by Productivity Press, a Taylor and Francis group.

Michael Silvers, DO MPH serves the Council as its Chief Medical Officer.
Dr. Silvers is an expert in international health with distinctions such as a member of President Clinton's emergency medical team, former chief medical adviser to the Peace Corp and a member of the Center for Disease Control's international health program office. Dr Silvers is a board certified family-practice physician with worldwide health development experience. He is also the former Director of Corpus Christi/Nueces County Health Department, Director of International Health at the University of Louisville, consultant for Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and a former Assistant Professor at Touro University Medical School of Nevada. As a member of the Center for Disease Control's international health program office, Dr. Silvers inspected healthcare systems in countries as far reaching as Guatemala, Belize, Jamaica, Brazil, Togo, Kenya, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Fiji and Thailand. Dr. Silvers operates the only private Medical Travel and Immunization clinic in Nevada.

Jacqueline Hodges, MBA RHIA is a consultant, speaker and author with over 30 years experience in accreditation preparation, hospital operations and management, revenue cycle development, who guided the first American hospital through the internationally recognized ISO 9000 certification. She is a long-time member and speaker for the HFMA and recently visited several hospitals and medical facilities in Thailand to conduct accreditation readiness reviews for Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation preparation and met with Ministries of Public Health and Medical School and University teaching hospital leadership.

About the Symposium

The 2009 Healthcare Financial Management Association (HFMA) Region 11 Symposium program provides attendees with an outstanding educational experience of policies and trends affecting major segments of the healthcare industry. A Trade Faire is also hosted.

This year's opening keynote speaker will be John Stossel, ABC News Correspondent and co-anchor of the 20/20 news magazine show.
Other keynote speakers will include: Chuck Lauer, former publisher of Modern Healthcare, Cam Marston, founder and President of Generational Insight, and Dr. Bertice Berry, noted sociologist, author, lecturer, and educator.

For more information about the Symposium, visit:
www.hfmaregion11symposium.org

For more information about HFMA, visit: www.hfma.org



(Jan. 8th 2009 - tho)