MediCzech approved under Treatment Abroad Code of Practice

19-Apr-2011

MediCzech, a brand of Progress Medical, the leading healthcare facilitator in the Czech Republic, has become the first provider in the Czech Republic to receive full certification under the Code of Practice for Medical Tourism managed by Treatment Abroad. The certification became valid as of 11th April 2011. The Code of Practice for Medical Tourism has been set up by Treatment Abroad to encourage the adoption of best practice in medical tourism through the commitment of international healthcare providers to a voluntary code of practice.

MediCzech has been offering its services in the UK since early 2011. Complex bariatric treatments and aesthetic surgery is currently available; later, other surgical treatments will be added, including orthopaedic and cardio surgeries, dental treatments and assisted reproduction procedures.

Vera Fischer of MediCzech says “we are delighted to have met the standards set out in the Code of Practice for Medical Tourism. We have a strong belief in the need to build our business on transparency and access to impartial information available to our clients. The certification with Treatment Abroad reassured us that our values and policies are on top of the industry standards”.

As an EU member state since 2004, the Czech Republic continues to grow as a preferred destination for medical tourism. With a long tradition of high quality medical care and rigorous regulations governing surgical qualifications, the country has become a very interesting alternative for many patients. Leveraging on its lower input costs, the Czech Republic can offer top quality medical treatment combined with a high level of patient safety at very competitive pricing. The total costs of the operations MediCzech is offering, inclusive of transportation and accommodation costs, are typically around 50% of the UK private care pricing level.

The “flagship treatment” among the bariatric surgeries available through MediCzech is laparoscopic greater curvature plication (LGCP), also known as gastric wrap. LGCP is an emerging bariatric weight loss procedure similar in its effects to sleeve gastrectomy. The main advantage of LGCP is that no gastric resection or irreversible disruption to the normal anatomy is needed. The procedure, therefore, does not leave any foreign object in the patient’s body, is done laparoscopically, and, all in all, is a low risk and relatively simple.

OB Klinika, the principal partner of MediCzech, is one of the pioneers of this method in Europe, after its inroduction in the bariatric field in the USA. The clinic is a teaching centre in bariatrics for Johnson Johnson for Europe. “We have operated on hundreds of patients already with LGCP and so far the results are extremely promising. The LGCP procedure brings together the effects of sleeve gastrectomy with a reduced length of stay in hospital, reduced risks for the patient and fewer and less costly follow up visits compared to other bariatric surgeries,” says Professor Martin Fried, head surgeon at OB Klinika and executive director of the European section of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity.