Medical Tourism Information and Where to go

Looking for medical tourism information and where to go? Medical tourism is a term to describe people who travel to a country other than their own in order to obtain medical treatment. Traditionally, this usually referred to those who traveled from less-developed countries to major medical centers in various highly developed countries for treatment unavailable at their home. Yet, in recent years, it has become more commonly occurring by those who travel to developing countries for lower-priced medical treatments. The motivation may also be as a result of the demand from those seeking medical tourism information or medical services unavailable or illegal in the their home country.

Medical Tourism Common Treatments
Medical tourism is most common for  cosmetic or similar surgeries, though people also travel for dental tourism or fertility tourism. Often, people with rare conditions travel to countries where the treatment is better understood. However, virtually all types of health care are available, including psychiatry, alternative medicine, convalescent care, and even burial services.

Health Tourism
Health tourism, on the other hand, is a more general term for travel that focus on medical treatments more specifically for the use of healthcare services. It covers a wide field of health-oriented, tourism ranging from preventive and health-conductive treatment to rehabilitation and curative forms. Statistically, millions of people travel abroad for the purpose of medical treatment, whether from dental work to major heart surgery all done at a fraction of the cost back home.

Medical Tourism as an industry
The industry of medical tourism brings in billions of dollars a year worldwide, an industry that formed as a result of the ever increasing  health care costs, especially in the United States. One of the main theories for this is on the closed system of procedure and drug pricing which does not allow for free market competition, so when prices rise they don't go back down. This can be due to other factors like exaggerated insurance billing malpractice lawsuits and infrequent but serious doctor visits.

Medical Tourism cost savings
In terms of savings, according to a heart bypass in the USA can cost more than $100,000, however, that same heart bypass procedure could run less than $5,000 in Mexico. As a result, a this becomes a viable and beneficial alternative for Americans those individuals without health insurance or who have high deductibles. 

Medical Tourism destinations
The most common medical tourism destinations include Thailand, Mexico,  India and Cuba. In many of these developing countries, medical tourism represents a very lucrative and growing source of economic revenue.

If you are interested in finding out more about medical tourism information, or where to go, simply click on the questions tab below.