Care Tourism

What is medical tourism?

Healthcare costs seem to increase every single year. Most people have health insurance that does not cover all their needs. When coverage is not present, the financial impact can be devastating. A single operation that is not covered properly can result in a lifetime of debt. Worse, many procedures, including most types of cosmetic surgery, are not covered by insurance.

Many people are turning to medical tourism. Medical tourism is when a person travels to another location, generally to another country, to receive healthcare. For many reasons, healthcare costs vary widely across different countries. If the quality of care is the same, it only makes sense to go where the best value is. After all, most people shop around when buying a car or television. Why should a surgical operation be different than other major purchases?

Cosmetic surgery is one of the most common reasons people engage in medical tourism. There are several reasons for this. First of all, most insurance companies will not cover the costs of cosmetic surgery, as it is usually an elective procedure. Secondly, because cosmetic surgery is elective and is normally not urgent, people have time to consider various locations, select an appropriate provider and board a plane for their desired destinations. These steps are not feasible for someone who is having a heart attack, but for people desiring cosmetic surgery, medical tourism is a great way to receive excellent service and save money.

People considering breast surgery abroad, or other types of cosmetic surgery, should be aware of the following risks and insurance coverage:

- While many hospitals in other countries are internationally certified and meet the highest safety standards, some hospitals do not. These hospitals can be risky. However, many hospitals have high reputations are are as safe as any in the world.
- Similarly, some hospitals may charge patients for procedures they do not truly need. It is doubly important to be aware of what your own needs are, and to be on the lookout for possible scams.
- In some countries, various criminals will attempt to swindle foreigners outside of the hospital as well. Some countries may also have different laws and customs. It is critical to be aware of the new environment a different country brings.
- Traveling after receiving cosmetic surgery may be inadvisable. A patient may need to stay in the country for a few additional days before boarding an airplane, as long flights can hamper recovery.
- People with a criminal record may have difficulty traveling to some other countries.
Are you insured for medical and cosmetic procedures abroad? Take note that insurance may cover cosmetic surgery as a pre-existing condition, but find out if the big 5 health insurance companies can offer better.

At the end of the day, what are the pros and cons of going abroad for cosmetic surgery? If you answer ‘yes’ to most of these questions, you are an excellent candidate:
1) Do you want to save money on cosmetic surgery?
2) Are you comfortable adapting to the environment in a foreign country?
3) Do you have a passport?
4) Does your current health insurance policy lack coverage for cosmetic surgery?
5) Can you obtain a sufficient amount of time away from work to allow for a plane flight, an operation, recovery and a return flight?

What is the cost of going abroad for a tummy tuck or other cosmetic procedure? Obviously, the exact price varies from country to country and hospital to hospital, but it is not difficult to find high-quality, modern doctors offering procedures for a fraction of the price you would pay at home. The operation can be done quickly and conveniently. While you are abroad, you can enjoy more traditional types of tourism as well. It is really not a hassle at all. In fact, medical tourism can be quite a rewarding experience, as well as an excellent way to save money.

source: http://www.breakingtravelnews.com / Home> Focus / May 18th, 2012

Photo courtesy of healthpicture.org

From liposuction in Athens to an eye operation in Dubai, the lucrative market in medical tourism is on the up, tempting ever more countries to look for ways to profit from foreign patient care,  AFP  reports.

“Everyone wants their share of the pie,” Sanjiv Malik, director of DM Healthcare, a Dubai-based network of hospitals, said at a recent conference on medical tourism attended by more than 300 professionals here.

The “pie” is getting bigger. Nearly three million patients go abroad for medical treatment every year.

Turnover is expected to total 100 billion dollars in 2012, compared with 79 billion in 2010, and increase to 130 billion by 2015, according to global consultancy firm, KPMG.

The flows of medical tourists looking for cheaper and often quicker treatment than they can receive at home are traditionally well defined.

Mexico draws US patients, while Thailand, India or Malaysia are the key destinations for Asians, and Hungarian dental care tends to be highly sought-after generally.

Germany draws wealthy Russians as well as nationals from the Gulf; well-off Africans go to France for medical care while residents of Latin America go to the US city of Miami.

Keith Pollard, of the specialist internet site Treatment Abroad, said that, generally speaking, “medical tourism is not global, it’s regional”.

However a growing number of countries and hospitals are aiming to turn it global.

Shopping trip or museum visit included

In Turkey “the government has taken the initiative to be one of the players” in a market which until now was dominated by the private sector, said Emin Cakmak, head of the Turkish medical tourism committee.

It has launched a demolition programme of old hospitals replacing them with facilities mostly destined for foreigners, likely to be patients from Arab and Gulf states.

Dubai, keen to attract custom from neighbouring countries, has its own “medical zone”.

“Dubai was traditionally a country which sent patients (abroad), now it wants to host them,” Enric Mayolas, who manages the Barcelona Centro Medico which seeks to draw in foreign patients for about 20 hospitals in the Spanish city, said.

But Pollard warned that Dubai’s chances of success could be limited, identifying a problem that was common to other small countries wanting to become medical tourism destinations.

“Lots of Arab patients travel to Germany or the UK. Why? Because Germany has an 80 million population, doctors can practice, do research and get grants,” he said.

Christian Ott-Sessay, of the German hospital group, Vivantes, acknowledges that competition is stiff.

“But the market is so big that it’s not competition at the expense of each other,” he said.

Vivantes is in the throes of equipping some of its Berlin clinics with “comfort rooms” for foreign patients with hotel staff to take care of their non-medical needs.

Berlin has also set up a hotline for visiting patients and especially their families to help them quickly organise non-medical tourism activities such as a shopping trip or visit to a museum.

Meanwhile, the Athens-based private hospital centre, Hygeia Group, focuses on tourism as a selling point.

“Many people will come from Asia because they also want to see the Acropolis,” George Soras, of Hygeia’s marketing service, said.

He also said that prices were 70 percent lower than the rest of the EU or US for cosmetic surgery or artificial limbs.

However, the sector faces a raft of potential problems and risks.

Complications, ethical questions and the confidentiality of data all have to be taken into consideration, Malik said.

Pollard also acknowledged that “the aftercare is lacking”.

“We have to fix that if we want medical travel to grow,” he warned.

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