My Thai guide, Nancy, wants to show me everything she can about Thailand. She bursts into songs from “The King and I.” She explains how to politely greet a Thai person. She tells me about the floating market and temples I will see. And she talks about hospitals.
Hospitals? “Oh, yes," she says. “You came here to see the temples and the elephants, but many other visitors come for the hospitals, for surgeries. Make themselves look younger, better. Or even change from man to woman.”
Why travel? To experience new cultures, to taste new food, to see the Eiffel Tower, the Chinese Wall, the Masai Mara. But to get cosmetic surgery? A knee replacement? Fertility treatments?
There’s nothing new about “traveling for one’s health,” but with the exploding costs of medical care in the developed world, the phrase has taken on new meaning, as patients cross international borders to get care that is either unavailable at home – or unaffordable.
Growth of Medical Tourism
David G. Vequist IV, PhD., Director of the Center for Medical Tourism Research, says that medical tourism has seen double-digit growth in recent years. As the recession drags on, as medical costs skyrocket, and as insurance companies tighten their coverage, patients are traveling for procedures they might not otherwise be able to afford, including dental care, surgery, cosmetic procedures, pharmaceuticals, medical devices, implantables, executive checkups, and some types of health and wellness or spa procedures. Medical tourism, Vequist says, falls into several categories:
- Patients from developed countries who can’t afford treatment at home because of cost or insurance limitations. According to the Medical Tourism Association, a group that includes health care providers, international hospitals, insurance companies, and medical travel facilitators, costs for such procedures as knee surgery, heart valve replacement, and liposuction in India are often less -- sometimes much less -- than one-fourth the cost of similar procedures in the united States.
- Developed-world patients who are seeking experimental treatments not yet approved in their home countries.
- Patients who may be covered by the national health care systems of such countries as the United Kingdom and Canada, but who face long waits for elective procedures.
- Patients from the developing world who are wealthy, who come to luxury hospital facilities such as John Hopkins’s ultra-high end Marburg Pavillion, where rooms look more like those in a deluxe hotel than a hospital.
- Patients traveling for programs that have superlative results in treating a particular illness. This can include both international and domestic hospitals; for example, the Myeloma Institute for Research and Therapy in Little Rock Arkansas, has treated patients from more than 50 countries and every U.S. state.
- Intraregional patients, who may travel from one state to another to take advantage of renowned programs. In some cases, employer insurance programs may use a particular facility for particular treatments; for example, Lowes, the home improvement retailer, sends employees with heart problems to the Cleveland Clinic, which is renowned for its cardiac program.
Vequist points out that less expensive care does not necessarily mean inferior care; quite the contrary. The quality of medical education around the world is rapidly rising, and the journal Health Affairs rated foreign-trained doctors who practice in America as superior to their American-trained counterparts.
Care quality in international-standard hospitals in developing countries has increased, as well. Medical tourism is found around the globe. According to the Open Medical Informatics Journal, countries that are particularly active include:
- In Asia: Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
- In Eastern Europe and the Mediterranean: Hungary, Poland, Romania, Malta, and Cyprus.
- In South and Central America: Costa Rica, Mexico, Brazil, and Cuba.
- In Africa and the Middle East: South Africa, Dubai, and Jordan.
A side benefit of traveling for medical procedures? The cost savings can finance recuperation at a hotel or resort in an exotic location -- although patients should be aware that they’ll be spending their time resting, not engaging in holiday adventures like parasailing or scuba diving.
Risks of Medical Tourism
So what’s the downside? In a word, risk. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons, cautions patients that there are issues associated with seeking medical treatment abroad. These risks can include:
- Physician qualifications.
- Safety and accreditation of the medical facility.
- Potential risks and side effects for the procedure.
- The time and expense of in-country post-operative care.
- Insurance issues and the common exclusion of international medical treatments.
- Travel-related risks, such as long flights, which increase risks for pulmonary embolisms and blood clots.
- Cultural and language differences between patient and caregiver, which can cause tension, frustration, and even medical mistakes.
Ultimately, Vequist says that good information is the key to making good healthcare choices. That information should include not only appealing Internet brochures, but discussing procedures with your doctor, checking resources such as associations of medical specialists, reading on-line evaluations and descriptions of patient experiences, and if possible, getting personal recommendations.
Karen Berger - Karen Berger is the author of 15 books. Please click on her name to read her full bio.
