Bermuda could bring down the cost of health care by employing more experts on Island, an overseas specialist said.Jose Quesada, who is a director at the University of Miami Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine, was invited by BF&M to speak to local doctors about the economics of off-Island health care.Dr Quesada told The Royal Gazette one way to bring costs down was to examine what procedures are in high demand and ensure the right experts are in Bermuda to do them. “It is about the volume of patients,” he said. “If you have a high number of critical cases then Bermuda should have the experts to do them. Patients should only be referred overseas when you don’t have the expertise here.“In areas where the volume is great, but there aren’t the experts here, that is where relationships should be formed.“Local physicians should be trained to deal with these cases. “Bermuda needs to assess what the areas are, and build up experts in those areas.”He said the University of Miami reserves spots for Caribbean doctors in internal medicine, and Bermudians could avail of these positions as well.He added that currently Bermudian doctors refer the majority of patients to New York and Boston. He said these cities have higher costs of health care than elsewhere. He said: “Physicians should be looking to other areas of the US as well.”Dr Quesada said physicians and insurance companies should also only send patients abroad when they absolutely need to.“Sometimes patients abuse the system,” he said. “They don’t always need to come to the US, but they like to do some shopping as well.”A spokeswoman for BF&M said the company organized the symposium, which also had a presentation from Alex Sanchez of Health Care Concierge Inc, to help physicians facilitate “seamless high-quality” access to overseas healthcare for their patients.The 2011 National Health Plan released earlier this year said money spent on overseas care has risen by 106 percent in the past seven years, and is not sustainable. Overseas care is contributing to the soaring cost of health care, which was $8,661 per capita, approximately 9.2 percent of the Island’s wealth, in 2008/2009.Jennifer Attride-Stirling, CEO of Bermuda Health Council, said Bermuda needed to ensure people were making smarter decisions and seeking value for money.She told The Royal Gazette: “There is no medical need in some circumstances for a party to be in a very high cost facility, but in some cases it is necessary because that facility may be the only one that has that level of service needed.”“We will have to be very measured to match the facility with the clinical need in order to get value for money. “There will be a difference in terms of what the minimum package will cover and mandated coverage, but if people want further coverage individuals may buy from a major medical policy.”The full National Health Plan can be read at www.bhec.bm.The public is being encouraged to provide feedback on the plan through the hotline, 278 4960, or to the BHEC by April 30.