(CNS): Government says it is planning a major national health care conference in November as part of its goal to improve the country’s health care system and see the industry play a part in developing the local economy. The Ministry of Health said the 11-13 November gathering will include insurance companies, patients, healthcare professionals, regulators and the Chamber of Commerce. Health minster Mark Scotland said the industry would be a future driver of growth. “It affects everyone, and our goal is to create a forum where we can bring together the divergent views, interests and collective intellect of all stakeholders with the benefit of international experts to develop a cohesive approach that will ensure a modern and sustainable healthcare system in the Cayman Islands” he added.
“A Participative Approach in Setting the Agenda for Health” will cover topics such as Medical tourism and its impact on economic and social development; Chronic disease and implications for the islands’ future; Health insurance: affordability, coverage, portability; The impact of technology on healthcare delivery; Healthcare careers for Caymanians; The potential for public/private-sector partnerships in sustainable healthcare delivery and questions of the sustainability of current expenditure on healthcare.
Scotland said healthcare impacts almost every area of life and it was important for all groups interested in healthcare, particularly the private sector and the Chamber of Commerce, to be at the conference, the minister stated. “Healthcare is critical to economic growth and the involvement of the private sector is essential to our goals in making healthcare a major growth pillar of the Cayman economy,” he revealed.
The country’s premier said Cabinet had given its full support to the conference as government was committed to making healthcare a driver of economic development in the Cayman Islands.
“This conference will provide the opportunity for everyone to bring our collective mindstogether to identify areas for the Cayman Islands to continue to modernize our healthcare delivery whilst taking advantage of global opportunities for growing our economy,” said McKeeva Bush.
Scotland explained that with technological innovation the way healthcare is delivered is changing and with easier access to healthcare information came a more knowledgeable patient. “Our challenge is to maintain a high quality cost effective service,” the minster said. “Hence the timeliness of this national conference, which will help to ensure that we are ahead of the curve in making sound, decisions to guarantee the sustainability of our healthcare-delivery system well beyond the next 20 years.”
Government said that a number of local and international organizations have already agreed to sponsor the event: LIME; Cerner Corporation, a leading US-based provider of healthcare information technology; Deloitte; Joh Alli Medical; Baptist Health; Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare, which owns and operates acute care hospitals and related businesses; and The UK-based Medical Protection Society, a provider of comprehensive professional indemnity and expert advice to health professionals.
Does health care include eye care? If so they need to closely take a look at the eye clinic at the HSA – news is that they are doing surgeries for cataracts by the dozen and the patients dont even need this surgery – good insurance scam. This is a fact as someone has already had one eye done which didnt need to be done and now they have been told that they need to have the cataract on the second eye removed and they dont even have a cataract on the other eye. This is a disgrace. Someone needs to do an audit of the eye clinic to determine exactly what surgeries are being done and if there is a trend for numerous cataract surgeries above anything else.
Sure hope that Dr. Shetty is invited.
I agree, it seems very odd, or at best stupid that there is no mention of participation from the Dr. Shetty hospital group in relation to this upcoming medical conference. It makes one wonder the reason why? It is not surprising that the project is taking so long to get going if whomever is organizing this thing doesn’t even have the common sense to put 2 and 2 together and invite the folks that are trying to give us such a wonderful gift!
Get it together….for the good of this country!!!
I find it amazing Mark Scotland hasn’t uttered the guy’s name in some time. First there is the ridiculous haste to push through the legal right to transplant organs without having the means or infrastructure to implement such a law. What other conditions were in that MOU? Did it expire? If our economic existence depends upon Dr. Shetty’s hospital do we get to know if there is a snowball’s chance in hell that it will happen? I asked this last month and will keep on asking no matter how many thumbs down I get.
Bla Bla Bla and nothing will change.
I sure hope they deal with those doctors that don’t accept insurance. For everything we have to pay up front. So basically, we get hit for paying the exhorbitant rates and then the doctors screw us by not accepting it. Then, we submit our claims and it comes back half paid or not covered. What the heck deal is that? It’s a racket and a mafia and our government is letting them get away with it! Hopefully that will stop and whoever deals with it in Government will get my vote in the next election for sure!
Prevention is the best health care. If you eat sensibly, exercise, quit smoking and drink moderately, you probably will not need fancy and expensive health care.
To bad that both of our leaders are bad examples for the young ones. They are both grossly obese.
Huh? Mac is "grossly obese"? Still?
If Government allows the industry to continue to deny coverage for preexisting conditions It will be a clear example of money ruling reason.
More talk and conferences…lets get some decision making guys, actually do something and move this economy forward. We cannot eat conferences.