Medical tourism
From Free net encyclopedia
Medical tourism is the act of traveling to other countries to obtain medical, dental, and surgical care. A combination of many factors has lead to the recent increase in popularity of medical tourism: exorbitant costs of healthcare in industrialized nations, ease and affordability of international travel, favorable currency exchange rates in the global economy, rapidly improving technology and standards of care in many countries of the world.
Medical tourists are generally residents of the industrialized nations of the world, the countries they travel are typically the less developed ones with favourable currency exchange ratios.
There are also many companies that can help arrange patients' surgeries, travel arrangements and tours. Many of these companies partner with specific hospitals, thereby arranging a cheaper price for their patients than one could arrange on their own through the hospital directly.
More and more people from all over the world are traveling to other countries not only as tourists who come for sightseeing and shopping but also to get medical, dental, and surgical services from hospitals and other health destinations. Medical tourism is a rapidly growing industry with countries like Cuba, Costa Rica, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand and the Philippines actively promoting it.
The cost savings are significant. For example, if the average surgeon's fee for eyelid surgery in the U.S. is $2,500, in the Philippines, a qualified surgeon will charge only $600 to $1,500. For liposuction, surgeon's fees in the U.S. average $2,000 per area. In the Philippines, it is around $800 for the first area and $500 for succeeding areas. Anesthesiologist's fees and facility costs are also much lower.