Medical tourism rewards those who choose to travel by providing excellent medical treatment and care at a price they can afford.
But with the rewards come more and greater risks of getting the desired results.
Medical tourism is more than finding a good hospital that offers extras like hotel bookings, transportation services and special foods.
Medical tourists have come to expect these extras, and many treatment centers are more than happy to provide these extra comforts.
Just as traveling for medical treatment to a foreign land cannot be treated like a vacation, neither can it be treated like a visit to your local hospital or clinic.
Medical travel creates risks for patients that are different from those had they been treated at home.
This is not a reason to stay home. This is a reason for those who treat and those who are treated to become smarter and better about understanding the problems, lowering the risks and getting better outcomes.
Five medical travel destinations present unreasonable and unwarranted harm to medical travelers and health tourists.
Would You Let Your Travel Agent Choose Your Surgeon?
Or a retired high school teacher choose your fertility specialist? Critical decisions about the safety of hospitals, surgeons and treatment are made daily by people with no expertise or specialized training. Few are medical professionals. Read more …
Do Cultural Differences Affect International Hospital Quality?
The distribution of illnesses may be a little different from country to country but the application of healthcare quality standards should have the same core principles. Still, one should beware of applying one country’s values on another. Read more …
How Does Care Management Improve Quality Outcomes?
Aside from the obvious differences between having care at home and traveling abroad for care, medical treatment everywhere is increasingly complex and choices for care now require greater knowledge and more care givers than ever. Read more …
How Much Does It Cost?
The value of having medical treatment abroad has changed. The New Economics of Medical Tourism shows what has changed, why it has changed, and where to find the best values. Read more …
