The growing number of foreign travellers who need medical care while in Iceland has not only meant an increasing strain on the health care system, it has also created a new revenue stream for the University Hospital. Last year the hospital had an income of 385 million ISK (3 million USD/2.7 million EUR) from patients who were not insured by the Icelandic health insurance system. Most of these were foreign travellers in Iceland.
An editorial in the Icelandic Medical Journal points out that the number of uninsured patients who were treated at the National University Hospital grew by 44% between 2010 and 2014, from 2167 to 3122.
Cruise ships pose a special problem, the editorial argues, as their passengers are frequently senior citizens, and more likely to have more complex health care needs than other travellers. Doctors at the Icelandic University hospital obviously don’t have access to these patients’ medical histories, making treatment more difficult.
“We have examples of entire coaches with passengers from cruise ships, referred by the ship doctor who has decided to use the opportunity while the ship is in harbour to refer all issues to the hospital that cannot be taken care of on board.”
The editorial argues that the hospital has been quite successful at dealing with this increased demand, but that it has is creating new kinds of challenges. One of these is that most of these patients seek care during the summer months, when the hospital is more thinly staffed, due to summer vacations. 46% of the foreign travellers who sought medical care at the hospital in 2014 came during the months of July, August and September. As a consequence the hospital might have to reconsider how it is staffed.
The growing number of foreign travellers who need medical care while in Iceland has not only meant an increasing strain on the health care system, it has also created a new revenue stream for the University Hospital. Last year the hospital had an income of 385 million ISK (3 million USD/2.7 million EUR) from patients who were not insured by the Icelandic health insurance system. Most of these were foreign travellers in Iceland.
An editorial in the Icelandic Medical Journal points out that the number of uninsured patients who were treated at the National University Hospital grew by 44% between 2010 and 2014, from 2167 to 3122.
Cruise ships pose a special problem, the editorial argues, as their passengers are frequently senior citizens, and more likely to have more complex health care needs than other travellers. Doctors at the Icelandic University hospital obviously don’t have access to these patients’ medical histories, making treatment more difficult.
“We have examples of entire coaches with passengers from cruise ships, referred by the ship doctor who has decided to use the opportunity while the ship is in harbour to refer all issues to the hospital that cannot be taken care of on board.”
The editorial argues that the hospital has been quite successful at dealing with this increased demand, but that it has is creating new kinds of challenges. One of these is that most of these patients seek care during the summer months, when the hospital is more thinly staffed, due to summer vacations. 46% of the foreign travellers who sought medical care at the hospital in 2014 came during the months of July, August and September. As a consequence the hospital might have to reconsider how it is staffed.
