Medical tourism is a multibillion-dollar industry. This procedure, where patients travel to a different country other than their own for both urgent and/or elective medical procedures is often a last choice for many, but is quickly becoming a first option for some.
But just what are the advantages of medical tourism and traveling to another country for needed medical procedures versus seeking out those same procedures back in your home country?
Well, the reasons are many.
One primary reason medical tourism is breaking into the mainstream is that more and more people are discovering that healthcare in their country has some sort of restriction which prevents one from getting the medical procedure they desire or desperately need. Sometimes these restrictions are financial or just over legal reasons, but more often than not it is the availability of donors or doctors ready to provide the needed procedure.
This is not the case with medical tourism. In fact the demand for these procedures though high is still far below the capacity of the places offering the procedures.
Another reason medical tourism is becoming more popular is that the patient has direct contact with the doctor or hospital they are getting the procedure done before they travel to another country as the procedure is scheduled before they even arrive.
This means no waiting lines or worries on being passed over. The procedure is based on your schedule and not the other way around. This is a huge comfort to many who have been placed on waiting lists in their own countries due to lack of practicing doctors or even the lack of a donor.
Another reason many are choose medical tourism over home country care is the economic advantage to having a procedure overseas and not pay the high cost elsewhere. This is especially true with many common procedures such as hip replacement.
For example, if a patient needed full hip replacement in the United States one would have to pay an average of 39,000 dollars. Compare that high cost to what a medical tourist would pay in a place like India which would set back the patient only 3,000 dollars.
One can quickly see that even with the cost of travel included, medical tourism is quite the bargain for needed surgery.
However those are the primary reasons people from developed countries make medical tourism a part of their lives. There has to be more as even people from poorer countries have started making medical tourism an option for their health care. People from these lower economic countries are finding themselves traveling to other countries as the needed procedure may not be available in their own country and medical tourism is their only option.
Bottom line is that medical tourism is here to stay and an option you should look into for that next procedure you might need.
