Why and how members of the Forbes list invest in medicine. More and more foreigners are being treated at the Pirogov center Private clinics in Hong Kong

Now our clients can use the services of a new provider - CIGNA Global.

Foreign citizens, while in a foreign country, use the health insurance service for expats. This type of insurance is designed for people living and working abroad. Our main goal is to provide you and your family with the opportunity to benefit from high-quality medical care, no matter what country you are in.

Level of medical care in different countries may vary significantly. Services can be either better or worse. A person has a hard time with all the changes and it is quite difficult for him to adapt to new circumstances. Therefore, the main mission of the company CIGNA Global is to provide insured persons with the opportunity to receive the best medical services and feel at home. IN CIGNA Global Flexible insurance plans are available. Thanks to this, you can choose the most suitable plan that will fully satisfy your needs.

The standard plan provides for hospitalization and provision of all necessary services in the event of inpatient treatment(professional counseling, provision of medicines, payment for operations, ambulance). Additionally, you can also order coverage for: evacuation, dental services, maternity, outpatient consultation.

Company CIGNA has 30 years of experience in the field of health insurance. The company's services are used by more than 70 million clients from more than 200 countries. The company has 31 thousand qualified employees. More than 1 million medical providers providing high-quality services are available to insured individuals.

In Kyiv, many clinics use the “direct billing” scheme in their activities, according to which all payments occur directly between the insurance company and the medical institution. All that is required from the client is to fill out and sign the application for reimbursement upon leaving the clinic. Using the services of partner clinics, including: family medical center Ilaya Family, Kyiv City Heart Center, Isis, Medic, Oberig, American Medical Centers, Eurolab You don't have to think or worry about the cost of these services. This is a very convenient scheme for clients. It allows patients to focus on their recovery and forget about all their worries.

If you have an insurance policy Signa, then all you need to do is sign the Clain Form when leaving the medical facility. Task CIGNA Global– take care of your health, safety and well-being.

Russia is becoming increasingly popular in the world as a country where health is saved. The number of foreigners who come to us for treatment is increasing. Behind Last year According to official data, the number of foreign patients increased by 16%.

I am attracted by the price-quality ratio, as well as the advanced achievements of domestic medicine. For example, innovative method treatment, which is used by doctors from the Moscow Pirogov Center, allowed to save a patient from Scotland, in her homeland she was considered hopelessly ill. Our correspondent Andrey Ivlev will continue.

Her portrait is on the first pages of foreign publications. Scottish woman Lucy Clarke, suffering from multiple sclerosis, survived thanks to Russian doctors. Transplant surgery bone marrow it was successfully carried out at the Pirogov Center in Moscow.

Lucy Clark:“The disease is no longer progressing. I see positive changes. Every day there are more and more of them. Russian doctors gave me a chance! I feel more active. Even though I still walk with a stick, I can swim and am starting to ride my bike again.”

Lucy Clark decided to go to Russia after doctors at home essentially abandoned her. The patient and European doctors considered her to be hopelessly ill. The woman even wrote a will when going to Russia for surgery. But a miracle happened. Engineer from New Zealand Simon McCarroll now calls his recovery nothing less than a miracle. Recently, at the Pirogov Center, a man also underwent a bone marrow transplant. The procedure was successful.

Simon McCarroll:"Why am I here? The answer is very simple: this is the best hospital in the world. After treatment, I plan to return home, rest a little and return to my favorite job, which I already miss.”

Today his sister came to visit Simon. The girl admits that she was very happy to see her brother in a good mood.

Janelle Maxwell, sister of Simon McCarroll:“Simon is very positive, very calm and happy with his treatment at this clinic. As it turns out, stem cell transplantation is not scary at all.”

Today there are 9 foreigners in this department. Europeans are discovering Russian medicine and they never cease to be surprised: how is it that something that in their homeland is considered a hopeless case, here they know how to fight and have been doing it for a long time.

Vladimir Melnichenko, Head of the Department of Hematology and Cell Therapy, National Medical Center named after. N. Pirogova:“Russia and the medical-surgical center today have the greatest experience in using this technique for the treatment of immune diseases and multiple sclerosis in particular, that’s why foreigners trust us and go to Russia for treatment.”

Stem cell transplantation, or bone marrow transplantation as it is also called, is somewhat similar to a blood transfusion. The operation is performed using a special device. Doctors call it a cell separator.

Denis Fedorenko, hematologist, Department of Hematology and Cell Therapy, National Medical Center named after. N. Pirogova:“The computer here is quite powerful. The sterile system is loaded into this flask and connected to the patient. The blood components are centrifuged and a high-powered laser separates the blood components based on optical density.”

Stem cells are introduced into the human body through an IV. One such cell is capable of producing numerous cellular progeny, which allows the bone marrow to be restored. Surgery is simply necessary in the treatment of immune diseases and multiple sclerosis.

This laboratory is a kind of holy of holies of the Pirogov Center. All blood tests are carried out here. For patients preparing for bone marrow transplant surgery, Special attention. Currently, 10 people are undergoing treatment, 9 of whom are foreigners. Muscovite Vyacheslav Buldygin is the only Russian patient at the clinic so far.

Vyacheslav Buldygin:“The treatment here is wonderful. Unfortunately, they do. Not all. If the process has gone too far, it is already too late. Strike while the iron is hot".

Vyacheslav is only too happy to be around foreigners. He says that it is nice to see their surprise and sincere joy when they find out that the disease is receding. This gives a feeling of pride for the country and domestic science. And of course, while they are all together in one department, you can learn a little language, or even more than one. Scotland, New Zealand, Australia, Norway, Sweden. The geography of patients who have trusted Russian doctors continues to expand. And for experienced surgeons performing stem cell transplants, the main thing, of course, is not the quantity, but the result, especially when it is a real miracle for patients.

I owe many of my achievements in life to crises.
And, of course, my ability to learn lessons and take advantage of the opportunities that life gives me.

25 years ago I settled in London ( before leaving, Karina worked as the chief administrator at the Leningrad Philharmonic; the illness of her English husband forced her to become more familiar with the intricate system of British medicine. - Approx. ed.). Later I got another one here higher education- in the field of stress management and complementary medicine, - I worked in this specialty, and then completely changed my occupation. First, I was invited to HCA, the largest network of clinics in the world, as a consultant to promote their services among patients from Russia and the countries of the former USSR. Later, out of this work grew my own business, an AngloMedical company. The company has expanded, we now promote not only HCA hospitals, but also about 20 different British hospitals, including university ones.

When organizing treatment for Russian-speaking patients in London, we do everything: find the best specialists and clinics, translate medical documentation, request a second opinion from British doctors, issue visas, organize flights and accommodation, provide the services of a translator-coordinator... Moreover, we recommend - if we have such an opportunity - good doctors in the patient's hometown to ensure continuity and that treatment continues at the appropriate level. I think it is this patient-centered approach that has helped us operate effectively over the years. It is still relevant now, in times of crisis: people still want to be treated where they are treated humanely.

IN Russian healthcare The principle “money follows the patient” is now being actively implemented. We have been implementing it for more than six years, and it has never let us down.

Your own clinic

As AngloMedical developed, it became clear that there was another related
market - health care Russian-speaking expats already living in London. This is how the idea of ​​creating PolyClinica No. 1 came about. As with the first project, I decided to do without the help of investors.

Before opening in 2013, I had to resolve a personnel issue.
He had nothing to do with the Russian “hire doctors”. In private British medicine, doctors are independent of clinics: their financial results are in no way related to the revenue of the medical center where they work. Essentially, every doctor is individual entrepreneur. This ensures that the doctor will not prescribe unnecessary examinations or increase the medical center’s revenue in any other way. Only doctors who have successfully worked for at least five years in the public health system in high clinical positions are granted the right to private practice. We managed to gather more than 60 specialists, including Russian speakers. However, knowledge of the language was not the determining criterion for selection: we have coordinator-translators on our staff.

A doctor's consultation with us costs from 200–250 pounds. This is the average price for a private London clinic. As a rule, the patient makes an appointment with a doctor, who sends him for diagnostics, and then he returns and receives a conclusion and treatment plan. We strive to ensure that all this happens in one day.
We see between 70 and 100 patients per week. About 60% of them are Russian speakers, the rest are other expats and Britons.

We help expats understand the language of English doctors, and doctors understand what is bothering the patient. For example, Russians often come to us with osteochondrosis, but English doctors do not understand what it is. In addition, many people from Russia are hypochondriacs and like to be examined. But here the doctor does not send for tests if there is no need. A Russian patient once demanded a full scan to make sure there was no tumor anywhere in his body. But it's not the safest thing, and English doctor refused him. He flew to Europe, made a scan there and returned to us with a disk so that it could be read here.

Our main income comes from these coordination services, as well as file storage and translation. The money for the consultation goes directly to the doctor himself, and then he pays for the office. While the clinic is operating at a loss. I had to spend about 25 thousand pounds to open it, it will start making a profit in a year or two.

What changed during the crisis

We did not immediately feel the economic crisis in Russia. Later, when our number decreased Russian patients, I panicked a little. My projects are my children, I started them myself, rejoicing at the first successful steps. Of course, I was afraid of losing them.

First I analyzed the strengths and weak spots AngloMedical and PolyClinica No. 1. There were more strong ones. Firstly, we already had an established reputation, including among patients with incomes significantly above average. Secondly, health is a commodity that is always in price. No matter what the economic situation is, no one wants to get sick.

Refocusing on expats and locals. Previously, money was primarily brought in by the AngloMedical brand, but with the pound/ruble exchange rate more than doubling, we decided to spend more effort on promoting services for those living in London and its suburbs. When we started doing this, we discovered that many people still (as when they lived in Russia) fly to the continent for treatment because they do not know where to find excellent specialists in England.

Search for new sales channels. With the onset of the crisis, we began to pay more attention to those promotion opportunities that were not sufficiently addressed before. We began to cooperate with companies sending children to study in Britain: we have a special package that allows schoolchildren, in case of any ailment, to immediately contact our doctors, receive advice in Russian, and, if necessary, go to hospital immediately. As it turned out, this is a quite popular service. We work more with law firms that help Russians get legalized in Britain, with international concierge services, and with aggregators of offers for treatment abroad.

Prevention. We began to pay special attention to preventive medicine, and the approach to it became more personalized. We have developed a range of packages that take into account individual characteristics various patients. This not only increases the effectiveness of prevention, but also reduces its cost for the patient.

Communication with customers. Before the crisis, the sites only had a London phone number and a feedback form. Now we have concluded a contract with a company that provides us with text and voice chats, visitors have begun to communicate more with the company’s employees.

Hiring Russian employees. There are many excellent specialists living in Russia who are ready to work for results. However, their talents were unclaimed as a result of the crisis. However, the average salary there is significantly lower than in Britain. What is considered the income of entry-level employees here is received by managers in Russia. I made a number of personnel changes in the London offices and began to collaborate with specialists from Russia who help promote the clinic. I realized that when working with Russian-speaking clients it is necessary to have employees from Russia: they are familiar with the local media market, know local sales channels, and are able to find opportunities that specialists in Britain simply have not heard of.

Plans

Despite the difficult economic situation in Russia, the organization of treatment of Russian-speaking patients in Britain still remains promising business. Since the beginning of the year, I have received two proposals to create new medical centers for expats - for now we call them PolyClinica No. 2 and PolyClinica No. 3. The first of them should open in autumn 2015. Yes, it is now difficult to predict how the market situation will develop in eight to nine months, but we have enough experience and flexibility to adapt to changing market conditions, and therefore I look into the future with constant optimism.