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I should mention that Paul Buchheit wants to fund the Uber of medical tourism: https://twitter.com/paultoo/status/566379518261088258 https://twitter.com/paulto

I should mention that Paul Buchheit wants to fund the Uber of medical tourism: https://twitter.com/paultoo/status/566379518261088258 https://twitter.com/paultoo/status/566379518261088258 The tweet: "I want to fund the 'Uber' of medical tourism Needs 5 star service, simplicity and safety Let me know if you apply - http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/" http://www.ycombinator.com/apply/" It really has to happen. Health care in the US is just fucked, and everyone knows it.

endymi0n 11y ago
Well, the "Uber" business model is actually pretty hard to do in an industry as heavily regulated as medicine (and honestly it's a difference between getting into an unrated driver's car or putting yourself under the knife of an unrated developing country's doctor)... Then again, our friends at Medigo seem to do great service in this direction so far and have just raised a series A ( https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/medigo#/entity https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/medigo#/entity ), the competition seems to be heating up in this space and honestly, I can't think of anything to truly "disrupt" this industry, as the margins are pretty well known, the market is reasonably mature and the order volume is very low.
- LunaSea 11y ago
  Just do it like Uber, it's illegal in most places but hey if you "disrupt" the market it's alright.
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- dalore 11y ago
  Wouldn't the "Uber" business model mean they are rated? Bad doctors would not get 5 stars and then get dropped. Vs the current state of affairs where the doctors aren't rated at all. If people were going to travel for medical tourism anywhere wouldn't you want to go to a doctor that has been rated 5 stars vs one that hasn't? Bearing in mind they all have qualifications.
jasonlotito 11y ago
> Health care in the US is just fucked, and everyone knows it. And yet people still move here for the "fucked" health care because it's cheaper, better, and available unlike other countries held in high regard, such as Canada. I am one such person who was lucky enough to be able to do that, and would never return to Canada after the abusive treatment handed out by the health care "professionals."
- ashark 11y ago
  So I suppose there's a serious movement to reform their healthcare system to be more like ours? Maybe also in all the other universal healthcare-having countries with advanced economies (so, the entire rest of the OECD states, more or less)?
  - jasonlotito 11y ago
    There is a push to reform the way they handle long term care in Canada, but it's not something people think about until it happens to them. Mental health care is generally like that. Do some reading on the lack of autistic services up in Canada and the efforts people are trying to go through to improve the lack of support up there. The services are severely lacking. I had to deal with it in 2010-11, and it's only gotten worse from people we talk to still dealing with it. Don't blindly think that just because you can get your broken arm fixed for cheap or no cost that it means health care is a solved problem in other countries. Coming to the US, it was 100% cheaper, available now, and better compared to anything Canada remotely offered, even looking at private services.
    - ashark 11y ago
      Is it a problem that's more pronounced in some provinces than others? My understanding was that there's a nationwide mandate to provide universal insurance, but that the details are left to the provinces. As for mental healthcare in particular: thanks for the insight, I know very little about how that works in other countries. Seems like an area with room for improvement just about everywhere, unfortunately. I'll definitely keep that kind of thing in mind when reading on related topics in the future.
ThomPete 11y ago
Interestingly I posted this on HN the other day. No love though :) But very relevant. http://blog.jayparkinsonmd.com/post/134547527433/why-theres-no-uber-for-healthcare-back-in?platform=hootsuite http://blog.jayparkinsonmd.com/post/134547527433/why-theres-...
- curun1r 11y ago
  I wonder if this is a case where the actual Uber could overcome the lack of efficiency that the Doctor wasn't able to achieve on his own. Uber as a service doesn't work with just one driver. That driver would be crisscrossing around the city constantly picking up fares, just like the doctor was with his patients. Instead, the service works by matching up riders and drivers that are close together. If the problem with the described medical practice is lack of efficiency and too much time spent in travel, perhaps Uber could make a system for multiple doctors which involves less travel time so long as patients didn't require a specific provider. Also, Uber could take advantage of the fact that its drivers' time is significantly less valuable than the doctors' time and have them pick up supplies from the pharmacy so that when they pick up the doctor, all the supplies for the next appointment are already in the car and the doctor can head straight to the next appointment. As with many things, scale matters and trying to be a solo provider of an Uber-like service is unlikely to work.
drumdance 11y ago
I don't see how this helps people who are the most fucked: the working poor.
- yummyfajitas 11y ago
  Because they can spend less money on medicine?
- tim333 11y ago
  Even the working poor in the US could probably scrape together the kind of sums mentioned in the story - about $4000 inc a flight. Though I guess time off could be an issue. Still there are probably a lot of people with like $10k in the bank that could afford Indian care but not US.
  - drumdance 11y ago
    Sure, I don't doubt that. But it's not a fix to the core problem. More of a segmentation of the market. I doubt a lot of the working poor use Uber with any regularity either.
mariannaa 11y ago
We're making the "Uber" and "AirBnb" of medical tourism happen here >> www.medigo.com Tell us what you think!

endymi0n 11y ago

Well, the "Uber" business model is actually pretty hard to do in an industry as heavily regulated as medicine (and honestly it's a difference between getting into an unrated driver's car or putting yourself under the knife of an unrated developing country's doctor)... Then again, our friends at Medigo seem to do great service in this direction so far and have just raised a series A ( https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/medigo#/entity https://www.crunchbase.com/organization/medigo#/entity ), the competition seems to be heating up in this space and honestly, I can't think of anything to truly "disrupt" this industry, as the margins are pretty well known, the market is reasonably mature and the order volume is very low.

LunaSea 11y ago
Just do it like Uber, it's illegal in most places but hey if you "disrupt" the market it's alright.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
dalore 11y ago
Wouldn't the "Uber" business model mean they are rated? Bad doctors would not get 5 stars and then get dropped. Vs the current state of affairs where the doctors aren't rated at all. If people were going to travel for medical tourism anywhere wouldn't you want to go to a doctor that has been rated 5 stars vs one that hasn't? Bearing in mind they all have qualifications.

jasonlotito 11y ago

> Health care in the US is just fucked, and everyone knows it. And yet people still move here for the "fucked" health care because it's cheaper, better, and available unlike other countries held in high regard, such as Canada. I am one such person who was lucky enough to be able to do that, and would never return to Canada after the abusive treatment handed out by the health care "professionals."

ashark 11y ago
So I suppose there's a serious movement to reform their healthcare system to be more like ours? Maybe also in all the other universal healthcare-having countries with advanced economies (so, the entire rest of the OECD states, more or less)?
- jasonlotito 11y ago
  There is a push to reform the way they handle long term care in Canada, but it's not something people think about until it happens to them. Mental health care is generally like that. Do some reading on the lack of autistic services up in Canada and the efforts people are trying to go through to improve the lack of support up there. The services are severely lacking. I had to deal with it in 2010-11, and it's only gotten worse from people we talk to still dealing with it. Don't blindly think that just because you can get your broken arm fixed for cheap or no cost that it means health care is a solved problem in other countries. Coming to the US, it was 100% cheaper, available now, and better compared to anything Canada remotely offered, even looking at private services.
  - ashark 11y ago
    Is it a problem that's more pronounced in some provinces than others? My understanding was that there's a nationwide mandate to provide universal insurance, but that the details are left to the provinces. As for mental healthcare in particular: thanks for the insight, I know very little about how that works in other countries. Seems like an area with room for improvement just about everywhere, unfortunately. I'll definitely keep that kind of thing in mind when reading on related topics in the future.

ThomPete 11y ago

Interestingly I posted this on HN the other day. No love though :) But very relevant. http://blog.jayparkinsonmd.com/post/134547527433/why-theres-no-uber-for-healthcare-back-in?platform=hootsuite http://blog.jayparkinsonmd.com/post/134547527433/why-theres-...

curun1r 11y ago
I wonder if this is a case where the actual Uber could overcome the lack of efficiency that the Doctor wasn't able to achieve on his own. Uber as a service doesn't work with just one driver. That driver would be crisscrossing around the city constantly picking up fares, just like the doctor was with his patients. Instead, the service works by matching up riders and drivers that are close together. If the problem with the described medical practice is lack of efficiency and too much time spent in travel, perhaps Uber could make a system for multiple doctors which involves less travel time so long as patients didn't require a specific provider. Also, Uber could take advantage of the fact that its drivers' time is significantly less valuable than the doctors' time and have them pick up supplies from the pharmacy so that when they pick up the doctor, all the supplies for the next appointment are already in the car and the doctor can head straight to the next appointment. As with many things, scale matters and trying to be a solo provider of an Uber-like service is unlikely to work.

drumdance 11y ago

I don't see how this helps people who are the most fucked: the working poor.

yummyfajitas 11y ago
Because they can spend less money on medicine?
tim333 11y ago
Even the working poor in the US could probably scrape together the kind of sums mentioned in the story - about $4000 inc a flight. Though I guess time off could be an issue. Still there are probably a lot of people with like $10k in the bank that could afford Indian care but not US.
- drumdance 11y ago
  Sure, I don't doubt that. But it's not a fix to the core problem. More of a segmentation of the market. I doubt a lot of the working poor use Uber with any regularity either.

mariannaa 11y ago

We're making the "Uber" and "AirBnb" of medical tourism happen here >> www.medigo.com Tell us what you think!