Outsourcing Grandma’s Care Overseas

There is a lot of discussion in the news lately about outsourcing of American jobs, visas for foreign workers, and tariffs to protect American industry.

One of the reasons I thought it was a good reason to go into the assisted living industry was that it didn’t seem like it would be outsourced. People want their Mom around the corner.

Not around the world.

That may be partially true. It may be less and less true every day these days. As more and more people try medical tourism (going to another country for much lower cost medical care) or decide to become ex-pats, they start wondering about assisted living in these other countries.

And the international market is starting to take notice.

Right now a lot of the domestic assisted living industry may think they don’t have to worry about international competition. At first glance, average US assisted living operators seem to have some advantages besides location. Even location may not be as big an advantage as it used to be. Video conferencing and other communication technology has made it easier than ever before to stay in touch with relatives and their care staff. Here are some other supposed advantages:

• Regulations by government to avoid abuse

• US medical care nearby

• Availability of prescription drugs

• Licensed staff

Are these really advantages?

When the Arizona Department of Health Services show up at my door for their annual inspection, it’s primarily about the paperwork.

They want to see that we are complying with all their bureaucratic rules. Whether all the residents are walking around and looking healthy, or drooling all over themselves in front of the TV, the Department of Health doesn’t care. They want to see if you have filled out their paperwork correctly.

And are giving them their pharmaceutical drugs according to the manfucturer’s instructions.

This bureaucratic atmosphere means that a lot of assisted living facilities in America are working to please the inspectors more than the residents. Sure, most places care about the residents as well. However, there is little room for innovation when there are so many regulations  telling all facilities to do things the same way.

Contrast that with this paper that talks about the growth of assisted living in Thailand:

The lack of regulation is leading to more innovation overseas.

Medical care in foreign countries is also improving all the time. And more and more people who are fed up with the high-cost and low effectiveness of US medical care are seeking help overseas through medical tourism.

Not to mention prescription drugs are sold for a lot less overseas as well. These other countries are providing all these services at a much lower cost than the US.

Something it looks like these places are not doing overseas is emphasizing diets and other therapies that can help so many residents with chronic disease.

That’s why I’m not so worried about overseas competition. At least for now.