The US Cooperative for International Patient Programs (USCIPP) is a consortium of American academic medical centers, hospitals, and health systems with international programs. USCIPP operates on a member-driven agenda of interorganizational learning and collaboration, the continuous and open sharing of knowledge and industry best practices, peer benchmarking and research, market analysis and business intelligence, the organization of international business development events, and more.
Full USCIPP membership is open to US-based provider organizations with international patient programs. In addition to caring for international patients who travel to the US for care, nearly all USCIPP members also engage in cross-border healthcare collaborations of some kind with partners from around the world.
USCIPP organizational affiliate status is open to professional associations, academic societies, or other non-provider organizations with a stated mission aligned with USCIPP’s goal of expanding global access to US expertise in high-quality healthcare or to US-based provider organizations with a program or focus on international collaborations.
*Organizational affiliate
As the only consortium of its kind in the United States, the USCIPP program offers a unique value proposition to its members and wields considerable influence on the international healthcare industry more broadly. Cornerstones of the program include:
Inclusion in the USCIPP listserv allows for members to receive important industry news and updates, exchange best practices, anonymously ask questions to peers and receive blinded responses, receive international business development opportunities identified by USCIPP, bring attention to employment opportunities posted on the NCHL Member Job Board, and other forms of networking and collaboration. The USCIPP distribution list includes 700+ professionals across all of USCIPP’s member organizations.
The following information/resources can be found by logging into the member portal:
Available Exclusively to USCIPP Premium/Premium Plus Members and USCIPP Organizational Affiliates
• USCIPP International Healthcare Collaborations Map, which geospatially visualizes and documents all known international healthcare collaborations
• Competitor country marketing materials library
• Long-form international market reports
• USCIPP Monthly International Healthcare Digest archives
• Other Premium member research reports archive
Available to All USCIPP Members
• Member directory
• Archived learning sessions
• USCIPP annual benchmarking survey FAQs and resources
• Historical listserv questions archive
• Post-embargo USCIPP research reports
• Events calendar and registration
• International Patient Experience Initiative © resources (for participating members)
• USCIPP Qlik Sense dashboards links and resources (for participating members)
Throughout the year, the USCIPP program specifically and NCHL more broadly host a variety of events, both virtual and in person. Some events are limited to members only, while others are open to anyone with an interest in the content.
Click here to learn more about our events.
One of the benefits of USCIPP membership is inclusion/participation in activities or initiatives whereby USCIPP collectively engages with key industry stakeholders – both public and private – on behalf of the membership and under guidance from the Advisory Council and the External Relations Subcommittee.
Members are eligible to participate in the international business development events that USCIPP regularly organizes in collaboration with our international partners. Our experience includes trade missions to China, trade missions to Brazil, a trade mission to Bahrain and Kuwait, a trade mission to Mexico, numerous in-person events in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, virtual events focused on the Caribbean, and more.
USCIPP members are able to participate in and access deliverables from a number of research initiatives related to international healthcare.
USCIPP’s Annual Benchmarking Survey of International Programs in the US surveys American hospitals and health systems with international programs. Recognizing that our members comprise most (but not all) US hospital and health systems with international health programs, this benchmarking survey is best considered as a lower bound for the actual size of the US market. The goal of this survey is to allow respondents to benchmark their programs against those at peer institutions through the data and insights. Due to the diverse group of member organizations, USCIPP’s survey is also able to distinguish pediatric versus adult services, which permits even stronger benchmarking capabilities.
The annual USCIPP member survey collects information about international market dynamics and inbound international patient volumes, cross-border healthcare collaborations, international telemedicine and remote second opinion services, US hospitals’ international operations, and more. The USCIPP program then anonymously aggregates and reports the information back to the membership via a series of static reports and through visualizations in a custom-built Qlik Sense data dashboard environment. The survey results are the only reliable source for industry information about international patient volumes and revenues at US healthcare institutions, as the data are submitted directly to USCIPP from the hospitals themselves.
Click here to view USCIPP’s high-level market update for the period between July 2019 and June 2020.
The USCIPP program is uniquely positioned to combine its annual benchmarking data with up-to-date economic, healthcare, and political information to provide comprehensive analyses on a range of topics. The portfolio and direction of USCIPP’s business intelligence work constantly evolve as Premium members strategically look to the future and make critical decisions for their programs. Premium members have expressed that USCIPP’s business intelligence work products have been used to inform specific business plans and international marketing, staffing, and business development decisions.
Long-Form International Market Reports
To date, USCIPP has released long-form market reports for Brazil, Canada, China, Colombia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, India, Kuwait, Mexico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, and Vietnam. The market reports provide a comprehensive and deep analysis of each country’s economic, political, and healthcare environment through the lens of opportunities for international healthcare collaborations and outbound medical travel.
USCIPP Monthly International Healthcare Digest
The goal of the USCIPP Monthly International Healthcare Digest is to provide a broad understanding of the current international healthcare market. Each newsletter provides recent updates on shifting international market dynamics, with a focus on new global collaborations, international travel trends, political and economic developments in key countries, international insurance news, developments in cross-border telemedicine and remote second opinions, and more.
USCIPP International Healthcare Collaborations Map
Updated on a monthly basis, the USCIPP International Healthcare Collaborations Map is an interactive representation of all known international healthcare collaborations. It uses a project classification typology that was developed by the USCIPP team with input from our member organizations. This unique tool enables users to better understand the current players and projects in international markets of interest. (Note that the map is available to all Premium USCIPP members and USCIPP organizational affiliates as a standalone app outside of the Qlik Sense dashboard environment. Corporate members may access the map if they choose the Premium International Market Insights Dashboard as part of the “personalized experience” portion of their benefits, as the map is embedded in this dashboard.)
Premium International Market Insights Dashboard
This Qlik Sense dashboard contains all of the latest news compiled from our monthly digests, country-specific economic information, and healthcare data. The USCIPP International Healthcare Collaborations Map is embedded within and included as part of this dashboard. (Note that all Premium USCIPP members and USCIPP organizational affiliates are entitled to a Qlik Sense license as part of their membership, but members must proactively request access. Corporate members may access the Premium International Market Insights Dashboard if they choose it as part of the “personalized experience” portion of their benefits.)
In 2016, USCIPP members identified the development of standardized metrics to measure international patient experience and satisfaction that can be benchmarked across organizations as a high-priority need for the consortium. USCIPP partnered with Rush University’s Center for the Advancement of Healthcare Value (CAHV) to develop the survey instrument, methodology, administration platform, and database necessary to launch this initiative. USCIPP formally launched the initiative in April 2019. Since the official launch, participating USCIPP members have collectively surveyed thousands of international patients. The benefits that USCIPP members gain through their participation in this initiative include operational insights based on feedback gathered from international patients and their families results that may be benchmarked against trends at other participating organizations, peer discussions via monthly committee meetings, and methodologies specifically designed for international patients.
Click here to learn more about the USCIPP International Patient Experience Initiative and our other research in the international healthcare field.
In 2019, USCIPP launched an initiative focused on conducting legal due diligence related to the cross-border delivery of international telemedicine and remote second opinions (RSOs). The cost of having local counsel evaluate legal issues related to the delivery of telemedicine and RSOs in a new country/jurisdiction can be very high – sometimes $20,000 or more for a single market. Given the significant fees required to commission this kind of work, USCIPP’s members have encouraged the development of a mechanism that would allow for hospitals to share in the costs of conducting legal assessments regarding the delivery of telemedicine and RSOs in countries/jurisdictions of high interest to the general membership. The goal of collaborating in this fashion is, of course, to enable USCIPP members to complete a large amount of their legal due diligence process for numerous countries/jurisdictions at a substantial discount vs. what it would cost for a single institution to do the work alone.
After polling the broader membership and consulting with experts in law, telemedicine, and international business at several prominent member organizations, USCIPP developed a request for proposal (RFP) to contract for legal services to evaluate cross-border telemedicine and RSO services in a number of different markets chosen by USCIPP members. The RFP was sent to multiple international law firms, and USCIPP’s members were given an opportunity to evaluate the responding firms’ proposals. Hogan Lovells—a large, global law firm with deep experience in this area—was ultimately selected as the organization that submitted the strongest proposal.
USCIPP and its member hospitals developed a standardized matrix that is used to analyze each market’s cross-border telemedicine and RSO legal/regulatory landscape. The final deliverables address legal issues related to the provision of telemedicine and RSOs in these markets. The resultant documents are meant to inform and empower individual institutions’ business and legal teams to develop tailored models of care with appropriate legal documentation.
Click here to learn more about the legal due diligence country reports that are currently available.
USCIPP is committed to operating as a member-driven consortium with a shared and participatory advisory and oversight structure. Benefits of membership include opportunities for members to participate in guiding the strategic direction of the consortium by serving on one of the USCIPP Councils. Individuals regarded as industry experts and thought leaders are highly encouraged to serve on the Advisory Council, Benchmarking & Research Council, or Education & Conference Subcommittee. Appointments are limited and subject to a nomination process with term limits. Click here to view the full descriptions and responsibilities.
2025 Advisory Council Members
• Barbara Ralston, Senior Strategy Consultant, Dignity Health International (NCHL Board Member)
• Diala Atassi, Chief Global and National Programs Officer, International Programs, UChicago Medicine
• Sarah Berger, Associate Vice President, Cancer Network, US & Global Business Development, MD Anderson Cancer Center
• Summer Dajani, Vice President, Global & Platinum Patient Services, Houston Methodist
• Cynthia Gonzalez, Director, Global Health Services Americas – International, Cook Children’s Health Care System
• Duaa Hammoda, PhD, Director, Service Excellence, Global Patient Services, Cleveland Clinic
• Kerin Howard, Executive Director, International Patient Center, Mass General Brigham
• Usamah Mossallam, MD, Vice President & Medical Director, HFHS International, Henry Ford Health
• Lindsay Rothstein, Senior Director, Marketing and Communications, Johns Hopkins Medicine International
• Iman Shebaro, Assistant Director, International Services, Texas Children’s Hospital
• Lisa Tham, Senior Director, Business Development, Center for International Medicine, City of Hope
• Milly Valverde, Director, Destination Medicine Global Health Care, James Cancer Hospital at the OSU Medical Center
• Vacant
• Vacant
• Vacant
2025 Meeting Schedule
• Friday, February 21: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, April 25: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, June 20: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, October 17: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, December 14: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
*Please note: The above calendar dates may be adjusted throughout the year by NCHL if needed due to unforeseen matters.
2025 Benchmarking & Research Council Members
• Ziad Abdulhak, MD, Director, Business Development, UChicago Medicine
• Norhan Gomaa, International Program Manager, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
• Mariel Garcia, Senior Director, International Business & Director, Telemedicine, UPMC
• Ashraf Kabil, Executive Director, Cedars Sinai International
• Sofia Kelly, Director, International Business Planning & Analysis, Baptist Health South Florida
• Teresita (Tere) Lopez, Director, Global Health, Nicklaus Children’s Hospital
• Erin Mulpur, Executive System Director, Houston Methodist
• Françoise Perez, International Strategy Analyst, Shriners Hospitals for Children
• Nicole Skelly, Senior Program Manager, Global Services Division & Remote Second Opinion Program, Children’s National Hospital
• Jamie Vollenweider, International Patient Services RN, Henry Ford Health
• Di Wu, Director, International Health, Keck Medicine of USC
• Vacant
• Vacant
• Vacant
• Vacant
2025 Meeting Schedule
• Friday, January 10: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
•Friday, March 7: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, May 9: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, August 1: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, December 5: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
*Please note: The above calendar dates may be adjusted throughout the year by NCHL if needed due to unforeseen matters.
2025 Education & Conference Subcommittee Members
• 15 vacant spots
2025 Meeting Schedule
• Friday, March 14: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, April 11: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, May 16: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, July 18: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
• Friday, October 31: 11:00 AM–Noon CT
*Please note: The above calendar dates may be adjusted throughout the year by NCHL if needed due to unforeseen matters.
USCIPP operates on a member-driven agenda of peer benchmarking and international market research, member-to-member education and collaboration, the creation of international business development opportunities for members, the development of industry standards, and more. Join us today!