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Yesterday we described the reasons that medical tourism is becoming popular, particularly in Europe and the United States, the kinds of treatment available (almost every type) and who is involved. Today we’ll talk about the advantages and disadvantages of choosing this optional form of health care.
Remember that we’re not advocating medical tourism as it is still largely unregulated and there are far too many scams and downright illegal schemes out there. However, as health insurers and some employers have started to use medical tourism as a way to reduce health care costs (a novel form of outsourcing), it’s important to understand the issues. A reader of yesterday’s article commented that he’d had medical treatment done in India in 2009 and saved $1200. That’s at the low end of the savings that can be made by obtaining treatment overseas. Given the high costs of health care in this country (twice what people in other developed countries pay), it’s well worth looking at this option.
Pros
The prime reasons that people are considering medical tourism are lower prices and reducing wait times. The latter really only applies in countries with socialized medicine, so we’ll look at some other advantages.
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Significantly lower prices Wikipedia1 and Medicaltourism.com cite these examples:
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Better Accreditation Standards are obviously critical in any legitimate health care environment, so medical tourism has increased the importance of international health care accreditation. Some of the most significant organizations in this area include:
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It’s worth noting that – “The different international healthcare accreditation schemes vary in quality, size, cost, intent and the skill and intensity of their marketing. They also vary in terms of cost to hospitals and healthcare institutions making use of them. An August 2008 forecast by Deloitte Consulting regarding medical tourism noted the value of accreditation in ensuring quality of healthcare. It specifically mentioned JCI, ISQuA and Trent. As a result of competition between clinics for American medical tourists, there have been initiatives to rank hospitals based on patient-reported metrics.” – Wikipedia.
Differences in healthcare provider standards around the world have been recognised by the World Health Organization, and in 2004 it launched the World Alliance for Patient Safety. This body assists hospitals and government around the world in setting patient safety policy and practices that can become particularly relevant when providing medical tourism services.
Cons
Obviously, patients should only consider facilities with excellent accreditation and deal with a well established medical tour provider. Internet sites can’t be relied upon unless their independence can be very clearly established. Many scams rely on fake sites to plant glowing references and lure victims in. Word of mouth references from friends are probably the most reliable right now. Packages arranged by your regular health insurer or a large employer should be even better.
Even when dealing with experienced organizers and accredited providers, medical tourism still carries some risks that locally-provided medical care does not, such as:
Additional Risks
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Legal issues As regular tourists may have discovered for themselves, receiving medical care abroad may subject medical tourists to unfamiliar legal issues. It’s worth noting that the limited nature of litigation in various countries is one reason for the lower cost of care overseas. Medical tourists should be aware that:
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Ethical issues There can be major ethical issues around medical tourism. Patients should carefully research the issues connected with some procedures and let their conscience help them come to a decision. For example:
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Scams All boom industries breed scams and medical tourism is no exception. Patients considering this option should be very alert for scams. Remember our Golden Rule – “Never respond to an unsolicited offer.” Unfortunately, the “looks too good to be true” rule is harder to apply in this area, because, as we’ve seen above, many of the medical tourism discounts are legitimately huge. However, you can cross-check at least some of the components of a package. For instance, what proportion is for travel costs? If the cost of your treatment plus vacation is less than a tour operator would charge for the same destination, dates and accommodation, there’s obviously something wrong. So, you should be on the lookout for:
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Conclusions
Medical tourism is here to stay, certainly as long as health costs are outrageously high in the United States and impatient people exist in countries with socialized medicine. It has to be considered as a serious option, but patients should be very careful to work with their regular physicians, reputable intermediaries and accredited overseas facilities. We’ve added some resources that will provide you with further information on the issues and choices to our Useful Sites page.
Sources:
1 “Medical tourism growing worldwide” by Becca Hutchinson – UDaily – July 25, 2005.
Related Articles: Part 1 – Who, Why and Where?
This article discusses accreditation, legal, ethical issies, it is so true that all the accreditations differ in standards. All of these issues are very important. While Medical Tourism is an attractive option for health care needs, one must read articles like these to make an informed decision.
Dha Kur
http://www.TourNCare.com
On line Medical Tourist Community
I agree entirely with the article and the points made.
None more important than the advice to beware of scammers.
Use a reputable company to help you with all the arrangements.
I needed to operate my ACL and had no insurance here in the US. My out of pocket cost would have been insurmountable.
So , I decided to check oversees options. Tried to do it myself and was quickly overwhelmed with the abundance of information out there.
Three months later I was no closer to fixing my problem than when I started.
At this time I decided I need help and started looking around for a reputable and diverse company to help me with my arrangements.
Came across a lot of “wanna be’s” pushy and incompetent when it comes to healthcare and medicine in general.
Finally ran into Worldwide Medical Partners and Dr. Ves Gitchev in Miami, Florida.
The only company I found, ran and operated by team of doctors. Their only focus was my safety and on the positive outcome of my surgery.
Moreover, they had been in business for over 7 years.
The rest was handled by their own travel agency.
Dr. Ves personally walked me through the process and the surgery, discussed all my options from India and Norway to Panama and Colombia.
He and his team had visited and inspected all places, so he was able to really point the pros and cons of each destination.
On his recommendation I picked Panama and two weeks later I was ready to go. As their patient I got preferential scheduling and reduced price.
I saved over $6000 including all travel and hotel expenses, enjoyed VIP-like treatment from the moment I set foot at the airport, and could not be happier with the outcome of the surgery.
Because some of these comments mention a specific company, Worldwide Medical Partners LLC, we checked the local and national Better Business Bureau online database. There are no complaints on file.
Enjoyed the practical information, both pro and con, on healthcare tourism.
Thanks. We’re looking forward to your new site.