We've all heard of dental tourism: going to Hungary or Croatia for a complicated orthodontic procedure that costs about a quarter of the price it would in Dublin.
But what about other types of medical procedures? Elective surgery costs a fortune, wherever you live. In Ireland and Europe, there is a limited private sector market for elective operations (aside from cosmetic surgery, which is big business world-wide).
But in the US, elective surgery is a booming industry. The thing is, the same procedure can vary massively in price, depending on which state you go to.
With this in mind, Aidan McKenna and Stuart Chaney (pictured) are setting up a service called Sokohealth.com that allows you to search for different types of surgery, pricing and comparing different hospitals or clinics.
Chaney said that the company would focus its activity on the US west
coast, where co-founder Aidan McKenna has sales experience in the
cosmetic surgery sector. The company will base its revenue model on
clinics, hospitals and specialists paying to be included in the
comparison list. It will also take a four per cent commission on the
surgery fee, which can be over $20,000. The service will be free to use
for those seeking surgical services.
Chaney said that the service would offer its service free of charge to
clinics and hospitals for the first three months of its operation. The company was one of the recent crop of startups to receive a stipend and a desk in the National Digital Research Centre.
Comments