1. What is NASH?
The North American Specialty Hospital is a Center of Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare located in Cancun. Above all, NASH is committed to providing an exceptional level of quality in healthcare, with pricing that is bundled, transparent, and competitive.
2. What inspired the creation of NASH?
To achieve greater consistency in healthcare quality at a lower absolute cost, U.S. employers increasingly are offering to their employees the option of specialized healthcare services delivered at a limited number of Centers of Excellence located within the United States. NASH is designed as the first such Center of Excellence located outside of the United States, away from what is essentially a competitively-restricted, price-inflated healthcare marketplace.
3. Who benefits from NASH?
As a Center of Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare, NASH seeks to serve U.S. employers primarily, and their U.S. employees in particular. As such, NASH’s emphasis on healthcare quality benefits both the employer and the employee when in a position as patient, and NASH’s emphasis on competitive pricing benefits both, as well, given that employers typically share cost savings derived from a Center of Excellence with the employee through a reduction, for example, in the patient-pay portion of a medical procedure.
4. What kind of surgical procedures does NASH provide?
NASH currently focuses on orthopedic procedures in particular, such as total knee and total hip replacements. In the future, NASH will broaden its services to include other medical specialties, such as those of spine, cardiology, oncology, among others.
5. Where is NASH Located?
Away from the competitively-restricted, price-inflated marketplace for healthcare in the United States, NASH is located in Cancun, a familiar tourist destination for many Americans and one which offers 125,000 hotel rooms and a bilingual, customer-oriented service culture. Temperatures in Cancun vary on average from 76 degrees to 85 degrees, and convenient, half-day tourist excursions for patients and/or their families include the beach, an aquarium, swimming with dolphins, a museum and archaeological ruins of the Mayans, and many options for shopping and dining.
6. Are there direct, non-stop flights to Cancun from the U.S.?
Yes, and the options are plentiful. As one of the busiest airports in the region, Cancun International Airport (CUN) welcomes more than 17 million passengers through its terminals every year. Most airports in the U.S. offer direct, non-stop, year-round flights to Cancun, from cities such as New York, Philadelphia, Washington, Charlotte, Atlanta, Miami, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Denver, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
7. Will I need a passport to travel to NASH?
Yes, if you are traveling as a U.S. citizen. Some nationalities, such as Canadians, require only a birth certificate and a picture I.D.
8. Is assistance available for the logistical aspects involved with NASH?
Absolutely. On behalf of each and every patient, NASH oversees the process of pre-operative evaluation, medical records transfer, surgical review and scheduling, the application for a passport if applicable, flight reservations, ground transportation from and to the Cancun airport, hotel reservations, reception and registration at NASH, concierge services including meals throughout the patient’s stay in Cancun, post-operative physical therapy on site, and post-operative evaluations back home in the United States.
9. How many days are anticipated at NASH?
Patients typically arrive one or two days before surgery. Although the precise timing depends on the surgical procedural involved, most patients remain in the NASH hospital floor for one or two nights, and in the hotel in Cancun post-operatively for another four or five nights – for a total duration, therefore, of roughly one week.
10. Is there a recommended hotel?
Yes. In Cancun, NASH functions as a Center of Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare at the Galenia Hospital. Right next door, and attached by a common corridor, is a newly-constructed Four Points by Sheraton, offering 112 hotel rooms, each one of which is spacious and comfortable and handicapped-accessible in order to maximize patient post-recovery. In addition, other hotels are within a distance of three or four blocks, such as the Fiesta Inn which is built within a modern shopping mall including more than 100 retail establishments and a multi-screen movie theatre.
11. Can I take a companion with me?
Certainly. In fact, NASH encourages the patient to bring along a companion, as that individual can be a tremendous source of assistance and comfort.
12. How much will the NASH treatment and the travel involved cost the patient?
Most U.S. employers who provide to their employees a travel-for-treatment option to a Center of Excellence in the Delivery of Healthcare cover 100% of the cost of travel for the patient and a companion. In addition, the employers typically cover 100% of the cost of the treatment involved. As a result, a procedure that might have required the payment by a patient of the maximum deductible, co-pay, and patient-pay portion during a calendar year — amounting often to $5,000 or more — ends up costing the patient absolutely nothing. Not only does the patient avoid a significant expense, therefore, but even more importantly, the patient benefits from the more consistent, data-driven quality of healthcare that is the focus of a Center of Excellence.
13. How can I be considered for treatment at NASH?
If you’re aware that your employer has a contractual relationship with NASH, all you need to do to be considered for treatment is reach out to NASH using the methods listed in Question 14. If you’re uncertain about the relationship, feel free to contact NASH and we’ll confirm your employer’s status. If your employer doesn’t yet have a contractual relationship with NASH, we’ll be happy to contact your employer’s human resources department, if you would like, to explore the possibility of establishing a relationship.
14. How can answers to other questions be obtained?
Please feel free to contact NASH at inquiries@nashosp.com, or by dialing (303) 339-3683, or by filling out the informational form in the Contact Us section of this website.