In the past few years, the most notable emergent sector in the healthcare industry is medical tourism. Each year an abundance of people partake in medical tourism. You might be asking yourself why they would consider doing this. There are several reasons.
- State of the art healthcare
- Better accessibility
- Significant cost savings
The Medical Tourism Association defines medical tourism as such: "Medical tourism occurs when people who live in one country, state, region, or city travel to another country, state, region, or city to receive medical, dental, or surgical care for either better quality, better availability, better access, or better pricing."
State of the Art Healthcare
Many people travel for better quality healthcare. Did you know that you can receive excellent medical care in countries like Costa Rica, Jordan, South Korea, and Thailand? These (and many other) countries have state of the art technology and highly experienced medical personnel.
Better Accessibility
In some countries certain medical procedures are unavailable, like stem cell treatments, the newest cancer therapies, noninvasive spine surgeries, organ transplants, medications, and much more. Due to this, patients often seek out the most reputable and experienced physicians and treatment centers outside of their country. For some, the wait for a new organ in their country would be a death sentence, so they go to countries like India or Thailand to get a very prompt organ transplant.
Significant Cost Savings
The cost of many procedures in other countries can make a savings of up to 90%. For example, heart bypass surgery costs around $144,400 in the United States, but it only costs about $25,000 in Costa Rica. This is for the same procedure and for the same (if not better) quality of medical care.
For more information about Medical Tourism, please contact us!