Care Tourism

SOUTH AMERICA – AN OPTION TO BEAT MEDICAL COSTS IN THE UNITED STATES?

Central and South America are the top destinations for American medical tourists. Many US healthcare providers have recognized this and are expanding their operations to include branches in other countries. This has the added benefit of giving the expats living in these countries access to high-quality facilities at affordable prices

Since the recession hit more people in the United States of America are looking abroad for healthcare options. There are many popular destinations for medical tourism that provide very affordable care at a quality to equal the USA.

So where offers the best standard of care at the best prices?

ECUADOR

Ecuador is very popular among expat retirees and is steadily building a reputation as a medical tourism destination. Cuenca in particular is catching the attention of medical tourism representatives.

According to expats can expect to pay 7-10% of what they would pay in the US for medical treatments. A heart bypass that would cost US$130,000 in the U.S., will cost closer to US$10,000 in Cuenca and a hip replacement priced at anywhere from US$43,000 to US$51,000, only US$8,000.

It’s not only expats and medical tourists from the US who are taking advantage of the medical system, Ecuadorians living in America often travel home to make use of the affordable healthcare.

COSTA RICA

Often mentioned as the top destination for US expats, the standard of healthcare in Costa Rica is one of the many perks. Expats and medical tourists can choose from one of the private, accredited hospitals again at a cost much lower than they would pay at home.

Waiting times for surgery and treatment are practically non-existent and many doctors are trained in the U.S. meaning most speak good English.

Other countries popular with both expats and medical tourists are Mexico and Panama where outposts of U.S. health care providers offer high quality, affordable treatment options.

source: http://www.eturbonews.com / eTN Global Travel & Industry News / by Juergen Stein / July 27th, 2013

Tampere , Finland  :

Sitting on a hospital bed with a slight smile on her face, Valentina Micheeva looks a decade younger than her 80 years as she explains how four days earlier she had her hip replaced — not in her native Russia but at a clinic in Finland.

A sports-loving woman, she had to stop jogging because her hip ached and, despite the pain, she was unable to get an operation performed at home in Moscow.

“I was too old to get a prosthesis. They only gave me painkillers,” she said. “There are good doctors in Russia. But too many people want to visit them! If you don’t have connections, it’s very complicated.”

The only solution that remained was surgery abroad. “My daughter lives in Finland. She heard about the Coxa (Clinic) on television and told me to come here,” she said.

Each year, the Coxa Clinic in Tampere in southern Finland, which is majority public-owned, welcomes about 20 Russians among its 3,000 patients.

“It’s not a lot yet, but we haven’t been looking for foreign patients for a long time,” said Tarmo Martikainen, the clinic’s CEO.

“We would like to have a hundred foreign patients per year,” he added.

Coxa HealthCareFinland, together with other Finnish hospitals, has formed a group to attract Russian patients, seeking to benefit from the Finnish health sector’s competitive advantages.

Although they’re out of reach for most Russians, Finnish healthcare providers say their services are competitively priced compared with other countries targeting Russia’s wealthy.

“Our prices are lower than in Germany for instance, and we’re much closer. You only need six hours to go by train from Saint Petersburg to Tampere,” said Jorma Pajamaaki, one of the clinic’s surgeons.

Treating foreign patients however poses some problems. “Language is probably the biggest obstacle,” said Pajamaaki.

To tackle the language barrier, Coxa has recruited Russian staff such as Irina Ivanova, a medical doctor who is in charge of receiving new patients and translating for them.

Next to her hospital bed, Valentina Micheeva proudly displays a stack of laminated vocabulary cards showing the same words in Russian and in Finnish.

But special care comes at a price.

“Coming to Finland for surgery is very expensive for the Russian patients. I think it’s about the price of a (luxury) car,” Ivanova said.

source: http://www.chinapost.com.tw / The China Post / Home> Arts & Leisure / by Pauline Curtet, AFP / July 28th, 2013