We chatted with Medtral Chairman Dr. Edward Watson . Medtral is a company specially set up by New Zealand physicians to provide people living in other countries with access to world-class surgery and aftercare in some of New Zealand’s leading private hospitals.
1. When was Medtral started, why and how is it funded?
After several years of research I started the company in September 2007. My background as a physician with experience conducting clinical trials for large pharma companies like Pfizer showed me the huge price discrepancy between the USA and New Zealand with regards to the provision of medical services (diagnostic or procedural). If that was true for clinical trials it must also hold true for elective medical procedures.
Hence I found we in New Zealand are able to offer combined medical and travel packages (which includes all flights, accommodation, expected medical costs, after care in New Zealand and contingency insurance) from 30-40% the cost of the procedure alone in the USA and in some instances 25%.Yet at the same time as offering such savings we are able to provide healthcare quality at least as good as found in North America in a similar cultural and English speaking environment.
We are funded from private investment.
2. What is your value proposition to the consumer?
We can offer people wishing to travel for non-urgent medical procedures access to world class healthcare in a first world English speaking country, renown for its beauty at a fraction of the cost of that same procedure in the USA
The hospitals we use are all accredited to internationally recognized standards by Quality Health New Zealand (QHNZ). QHNZ , like JCI is a member of and conforms to the standards of the International Society of Quality in Healthcare (ISQua).
We offer a destination- New Zealand that is both medically and culturally aligned to what they are used to. Travelling to New Zealand for people from the US will not be foreign experience and when you are undergoing a surgery procedure that fact is very reassuring. How medicine is practiced here is very similar to how surgery is performed and patients are medically treated in the USA.
New Zealand is closer than is often realized being a direct flight of 12 hours from the west coast of North America. Direct flights are available from Los Angeles, San Francisco and Vancouver.
We also offer contingency insurance as standard, which covers the medical aspects if for some unforeseen reason someone suffers a serious adverse event as the result of the surgery. As far as we are aware we are the only medical travel company to do so. This cover includes prolonged hospitalization, related medical costs and even private medical evacuation back to the USA if deemed necessary by the treating doctor.
3. To what extent is America our primary market?
America is certainly our primary market, as we believe there is significant unmet need there for high quality lower cost options for American consumers. However we are also interested in the Canadian market and the market in the UK where due to the nature of their medical systems patients have to wait inordinately long periods of time for non-acute or elective surgery.
4. What kind of savings are you helping consumers realize?
The table outlines the cost savings .For example by having valve surgery in New Zealand you can save up to 70% the cost of the procedure in the USA.
Note also that this comparison is not between the procedure costs in both countries. Such a comparison, although very favourable to New Zealand, would be misleading since you obviously have to travel to, and have accommodation in, New Zealand. So the true comparison is between the cost of having the procedure at home in the USA and comparing that cost to the sum of all the costs of traveling to New Zealand, staying there before and after the operation, having the operation and traveling home. That is comparison we have done in the table below.
| Procedure | US Procedure (US$) | Medical & travel package (US$) | Savings (US$) |
| Heart Bypass | $125,000 | $40,000 | $85,000 |
| Heart Valve replacement | $150,000 | $42,000 | $108,000 |
| Angioplasty | $57,000 | $22,000 | $35,000 |
| Hip replacement | $68,000 | $26,000 | $42,000 |
| Knee replacement | $67,000 | $26,000 | $41,000 |
The Medtral New Zealand costs can be defrayed even more if the person is willing to travel economy class on the airline. While New Zealand is the closest medical travel destination (with the exception of central and South America) to the west coast of USA, we have built our prices around the assumption of the patients traveling premium class on the airline of choice, Air New Zealand.
5. What kind of growth are you seeing in patient counts?
Interest and booking are growing daily as the message gets around that New Zealand is a very affordable option when considering elective and medically necessary medical procedures.
Our product resonates very clearly with self-insured companies and the large health plans in the USA, who want high quality healthcare, a safe, culturally aligned and English speaking destination and lastly impressive savings. We deliver on all three. Recently we have announced the partnership with several preferred provide networks (PPOs) in the USA. Soon we hope to also announce agreements with two large USA health insurers to be their option as a destination in the medical travel market.
6. What will be coming soon from Medtral?
Medtral has some very exciting plans in store including a greater range of hospitals and destinations here in New Zealand as well as the possibility of an additional country with similar culture and feel as a destination.
Medtral is also keen to offer access to revolutionary new techniques in the areas of cardiac procedures and surgery including the expansion of the surgical robotic program already offered.
