As medical tourism becomes the buzz word in the nation’s number one industry, one innovative attorney is taking steps to stay ahead of the curve.

Founding president of the Bahamas Association of Compliance Officers, Senator Cheryl Bazard has taken a proactive approach towards compliance in the challenging and, at times, high-risk healthcare world.

Last month, the principal of the boutique, inner-city law firm of Bazard & Co. completed a certification in Health Care Compliance with emphasis on Latin America from the School of Business Administration, Executive Education programme at the University of Miami.

“One has to be proactive and qualify oneself so that when the expertise is needed, you are ready to act,” said Mrs. Bazard.

“We should never wait to catch up with the market, rather we should anticipate it. We should be progressive thinkers.”

Mrs. Bazard was the Caribbean’s only representative at the intensive, three-day educational and training programme which provided strategies and instruction on building a robust, healthcare, due diligence environment.

According to organisers, the course provides participants with the “knowledge and experience they need to successfully navigate the increasingly complex pharmaceutical, biotech and medical device regulatory environment.”

Mrs. Bazard’s participation in the course comes as The Bahamas seeks to add surgery to its internationally acclaimed features, which up to now, was limited to sun, sand and sea.

In recent times, Doctors Hospital – the country’s leading private healthcare provider – has moved aggressively to attract more international patients particularly to its Bahamas Medical Centre on Blake Road, a stone’s throw away from the Lynden Pindling International Airport (LPIA).

With healthcare providers seeking to get their piece of the global medical tourism pie, it was only a matter of time before innovative compliance professionals followed suit.

Mrs. Bazard’s course ran from October 23 – 25.

Compliance professionals in the healthcare industry came from Argentina, Brazil, Panama and the United States to learn how to meet the industry’s challenges through “highly interactive” training modules.

Moreover, the course covered aspects of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, the UK Bribery Act, Anti-Kickback Statute and the Williams Act (USA), which is concerned with bid rigging.

The course also focused on the ethics, reputation and sustainability of the health care industry.

Additionally, participants conducted a review of the Industry Health Professional Codes and Standards of Latin American countries.

The course was facilitated by distinguished professors from the University of Miami and industry practitioners including Professors Anita Cava, Clivetty Martinez, Michael Scher and Antonio Caram.