In the latest example of how South Florida is becoming an international destination for healthcare, the Bank of the Bahamas announced Monday a new Visa card that allows Bahamians 30 to 60 percent discounts at seven South Florida hospitals.

The card, which was in development for two years, is "designed to provide as many persons as possible with access to affordable healthcare,'' said bank executive Vaughn Delaney in a telephone interview.

South Florida facilities accepting the card are Mercy Hospital, Baptist Hospital, Cleveland Clinic Florida, Jackson Memorial, Broward General, Miami Children's and UM Health Systems.

Two Bahamian healthcare providers in Nassau, Centreville Medical Pavilion and Doctors Hospital, also accept the card.

More business...

Many South Florida healthcare facilities have been pushing medical tourism as a way of increasing business, particularly during the recession.

"We're going to be the world's No. 1 international gateway for healthcare,'' Rolando D. Rodriguez told The Miami Herald last month about his efforts spearheading the medical tourism program for the Greater Miami Chamber of Commerce.

Many hospitals offer international patients discounts off the gross charges, but foreigners generally still pay more than Americans with private insurance, which generally negotiates rates of discounts of 50 to 70 percent off gross rates.

Four Miami-Dade hospitals have enlisted in a joint-marketing program through the Greater Miami Convention and Visitors Bureau to market the region, but all facilities are competing fiercely for patients.

In some cases, the issue is whether providers are getting paid for international patients. Southern Health Network, a Doral company, has accused the Turks and Caicos Islands of owing $20 million to South Florida providers.

Delaney, the banker, said the bank's goal was not to lure Bahamian residents to healthcare in Florida but to help persons afford treatment. The card not only provides discounts, but automatically allows a patient to pay off care over a period of time.

The card carries an annual fee of $150 and a 3.5-percent surcharge on transactions from participating facilities. If customers secure the card with the possibility of converting the debt to a home mortgage, they can get a lower rate of interest.

Would have saved...

Diane Phillips, a Nassau publicist who helped promote the new bank card, said she herself could have saved a lot if the card had been available when she had a $10,000 elective surgery in Florida.

"If I had it done at Jackson with the card, the $10,000 procedure might have cost only $4,000,'' Phillips said. "So it will definitely get used.''