For years, wealthy Canadians have been heading to the U.S. Now the tables have turned and Canadian facilities are attracting a small but growing number of border-crossings in the other direction thanks to their new marketing efforts.
Targeting American patients with television promotions that tout Canada's internationally recognized doctors, high-quality medical centres and _ most importantly _ its far lower prices for most procedures than in the U.S., Canadian hospital administrators are tapping a market for health services that could be worth hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
"The private sector in various forms has identified enormous gaps in the market," says Pamela Divinsky, a senior consultant for accounting and advisory firm KPMG who is studying the changing structure of the Canadian health-care system. "We all know from Economics 101 that if there's a gap in the market someone is going to try and fill it," she added. (KPMG, 202/467-3000)