Comparing costs among countries, and even within the same country, can be like trying to swim through a pool of Red Sea mud – you get nowhere. Popular medical tourism surgery packages can often be misleading and not provide the direct comparisons that are necessary.
True value of medical treatment costs abroad
In popular medical destinations like Thailand and India, the value of medical treatment is changing to reflect domestic and global economic and political pressures.
As competition in medical tourism from lesser known medical destinations and medical providers increases, there is a new economics of medical tourism.
Today’s medical tourists need to know, first, how much savings they can expect in a medical tourism package compared to having medical treatment at home, and second, what will they pay for the package in different medical destinations. See the full-size infographic.
Surgeon’s fees
The greater portion of a medical tourism package cost is usually the surgeon’s fee. This depends on the surgeon chosen, and the extent and complexity of the procedure. It also depends on the medical discipline. Plastic surgeons and heart surgeons, not only in New York or Toronto, but also in in Singapore, Seoul or Sao Paolo, like to drive Mercedes and Porsches.
Comparing costs
The knowledgeable medical traveler is the wise medical traveler. Just as we want you to seek as much information about your procedures as you can, we encourage you to compare costs.
Beware of comparing apples to oranges when comparing costs of surgery packages.
Often, lists published by professional associations reflect only surgeon’s fees and do not cover the additional costs for anesthesiologist, operating room, hospital stay, and post-surgery recovery facility.
Plastic surgery
Plastic surgery may be the most misundertood and abused cost. A medical traveler’s best comparison for a procedure is to visit a plastic surgeon at home for a consultation. The cost estimate produced at the visit should be used to get similar costs for comparable procedures.
More than costs
If you are considering a medical vacation in a foreign country and making your decision based primarily on cost, be sure to consider and review carefully the level of medical service you will be receiving and the ability of your medical provider to respond to any and all emergencies both during surgery and after your treatment.
