PlanetHospital started quite by accident in September 2002 when I took my fiancee (who a:describes herself as a professional patient because she has been suffering from lupus for over 23 years and had the joy of visiting several hospitals, clinics and physicians during all that time and b: does not want to be identified), was visiting Bangkok with me.  During her visit she got a painful lupus flare (her joints basically locked) but she refused to go to a hospital in Bangkok.  Why?   Well, flashback nine months ago (Jan 2002), a similar lupus problem happened back home in Los Angeles and I took her to a hospital there.  After a day in in a very nice hospital in Beverly Hills, she discovered she contracted MRSA (a hospital based infection) and she suffered with it for over 3 weeks.  So when she got sick in Bangkok she deduced "if I can get MRSA in Beverly Hills, imagine what exciting new disease I might catch in Bangkok!"

Meet my fiancee, the REAL founder of PlanetHospital (read our story).

Well, I did not want to watch her suffer (nor did I want her to use the expensive mini-bar as medication) so I coaxed her to visit a hospital I had heard of.  When we arrived, we were both amazed by how manificent the hospital looked.  She thought she was at a 5 Star hotel instead.  She asked the receptionist in the spartan all marble reception area if they had heard of lupus and they gave her a puzzled look that suggested "well, we are a hospital." 

Within moments we were wheeled into a private room that looked like it was reserved for VIPs (I had insurance so I was not worried by this but I was puzzled that they never did a wallet biopsy -- you know, to see if we can afford it or not so that there would be no embarrassment at discharge).  Within twenty minutes we were visited by an Australian trained Thai physician who was able to diagnose my fiancee's situation properly and accurately and my fiancee was very impressed by her knowledge and her approach.  She ordered some tests and then proceeded with her treatment.  After she was done, she gave my fiancee HER MOBILE NUMBER(!) and told her quite frankly, "Call me if you need to talk to me or if you are not feeling better within two hours" (what doctor in the US or Canada would ever give their patients their cell #?). Nurses came to routinely check on us and we were assigned our OWN PERSONAL NURSE.  When we pushed a call button, the nurses showed up PROMPTLY; they did not waddle in after a while; they were literally there within minutes.  We were so bored of our FLAT SCREEN TV (and we are talking 2002 here when a 21 inch flat screen was about $1,000) that we would call for a nurse and time her to see how long it would take -- always under 90 seconds, incredible! 

A few hours later, a CHEF (not a hospital nutritionist but a 3-star michelin award winning CHEF!) came by our room and discussed tasty low sodium menu options with her and took her dinner and breakfast order.  Let me pause for a moment to say, that we are both Joe Nobodies, this celebrity treatment was not because I was kind of a big deal around Bangkok or friends with the big man or something, it was apparently what all patients received at this awesome hospital.  I stayed in the room with my sweetie and the nurses prepared a bed for me. 

The next day, the physician came back to make sure she was doing fine (she was and she told her she had never felt this good after a lupus attack before).  Well, it was time to check out (er, be discharged) and I was expecting a crazy bill (our deductible was $500 and our insurance would cover the rest).  To my shock the entire bill was $411.00 (15,000THB at the time).  I thought there was a decimal missing. And so our insurance company was spared a claim and my fiancee got to enjoy bangkok pain free. 

Once she returned home, she told others about her amazing experience and some of the people in her lupus support group wanted to go to this hospital.  So we ended up escorting 6 people from our locality to visit the hospitals in Bangkok with us when my fiancee and I returned, and that's how PlanetHospital was born.

 

As of December 2010, we have helped over 3000 people receive medical care in over 10 countries around the world.  While my colleagues and I no longer personally escort our patients like we used to in the earlier years, our concierges do a much more superior job.  They meet our patients at the airport, and take care of them from the moment the land to the moment they leave.

While the words medical tourism didn't exist when we first started, today this is become a rather interesting industry where anyone with a Blackberry and a basement can put up a website and call themselves medical tourist company.  PlanetHospital has REAL offices in Calabasas California (home of Kim Kardashian, Britney Spears, Howie Mandel, Jessica Simpson, and others) with REAL full-time employees in those offices.  We have an A Rating with the Better Business Bureau since 2002 with zero unresolved complaints.  While I can't claim every single one of our medical tourists were thoroughly satisfied with their experience, a great majority have been because of the tremendous amount of referrals we receive.  Those who've experienced our service know that we go out of our way to make sure our clients are thoroughly happy.  Planehospital is more than a business to me, it's like a tribute to my fiancée.  Because of her condition she cannot work, but because of her condition this incredible company was born so it is genuinely a part of her and I continue to honour that.

Rudy Rupak, Founder of PlanetHospital

 

 

 

 

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  • The best thing about PlanetHospital
    "Rick and Paula kept a blog of their experience The best thing about PlanetHospital is not My experience with PlanetHospital was excellent."
    - Gloria

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    "Would like to let you know how very pleased I am with the services provided by PlanetHospital. I won't hesitate to use your services in the future and I would recommend PlanetHospital to anyone desiring excellent service."
    - Gloria

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  • Would like to let you know
    "Would like to let you know how very pleased I am with the services provided by PlanetHospital. I won't hesitate to use your services in the future and I would recommend PlanetHospital to anyone desiring excellent service."
    - Gloria

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  • Would like to let you know
    "Would like to let you know how very pleased I am with the services provided by PlanetHospital. I won't hesitate to use your services in the future and I would recommend PlanetHospital to anyone desiring excellent service."
    - Gloria

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    • Passport to Cheaper Health Care? - Good Housekeeping
    • Adventures in Medical Travel - Kiplinger
    • Surgery and sightseeing, in one trip - Los Angeles Times
    • Brunei medical tourism lures US firm
    • Planet Hospital promotes medical tourism
    • Developments in Korean medical tourism
    • http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25415614/ns/health-health_care/
    • http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1196429,00.html


                                     
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