medical tourists

7 Medical Tourism Trends To Watch In 2016

2016 is shaping up to be an exciting year for providers of medical travel (or is it medical tourism?).

Medical Travel Quality Alliance expects that these will be the trends and issues of 2016 for the medical tourism industry, and will affect nearly all segments of the industry in nearly all countries around the globe.

1. Medical tourism gives birth to a baby boom.

The demand by medical tourists for in vitro fertilization IVF, gender selection, commercial surrogacy, and birthing places keeps growing.

Chinese baby

After Thailand and India restricted commercial surrogacy, some surrogacy agencies moved operations to Cambodia and Nepal. In late 2015, Nepal and Mexico – which had allowed commercial surrogacy in the state of Tabasco – made surrogacy illegal.

But this doesn’t stop demand.

Surrogacy tourism to Russia, Ukraine and Georgia Read more…

Reviewing Standard Pre-Op Tests For Medical Tourists

over treatment in medical tourismI wonder how many of the 45 medical tests and treatments recently named by U.S. physician groups as possibly wasteful, harmful or simply too expensive are routinely done in medical tourism?

The “List of 45” comprising five tests physicians and patients should Read more…

How to fake a medical tourism “most popular” list

Medical tourism information sometimes stinksHold your nose, because information about medical tourism sometimes stinks.

But this is no surprise to most medical travel professionals.

From Forbes to Treatment Abroad and the Medical Tourism Association, it seems no one can resist listing the best, the most popular, the trendiest medical destinations. Oh, wait, there is no “trendiest” list of medical tourism “hotspots” … yet. Read more…

Heads of state as medical tourists – what are the hot spots of medical tourism?

Hugo Chavez, Venezuela Medical Tourist No. 1We have become used to reading about government leaders heading abroad for major medical treatment. A president or prime minister is often a country’s Medical Tourist No. 1, heading off to top medical tourism centers in leading medical destinations.

Cost of medical treatment is seldom the main concern for these Read more…

New business strategies for changing times in medical tourism

Hearing colleagues protest about the lack of medical tourists and patients or the poor service given by providers or agencies is not a new phenomenon.

In the first wave of enthusiasm almost a decade ago for the business of medical tourism, despite millions of dollars being invested by businesses and hospitals, only a few medical tourism companies actually delivered patients, and just a few long term business relationships were realized. These companies, and these relationships, continue to be strong today. The others? They complained about the lack of patients and the poor service from providers or agencies.

Just like today. Read more…