Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is the process of traveling abroad in order to receive medical care, be it cosmetic surgery, heart surgery, breast implants, a hip replacement, or dental work.
Rising health care costs and longer waiting times in the western countries like United States, Canada, and UK etc. are inducing patients to seek treatment overseas. While U.S. consumers are concerned mainly with the exorbitant cost of health care, Canadians are more troubled by wait-times for certain treatments. Indeed, approximately 1 million Canadians claim to be experiencing difficulties in access to care. As for UK, it is believed that more than 50,000 people from the UK travel for treatment abroad because of high medical care costs in UK.
Benefits of Medical Tourism
Health care costs are constantly on the rise in countless Western countries. In the US alone, it is already a multi-billion dollar industry that shows no sign of stopping (worldwide it is over $3 trillion US). But why pay exorbitant prices at home when you can travel abroad and receive the same treatment (if not better) from a fully certified medical facility for a fraction of the price?
The following are some of the benefits of medical tourism:
• Affordable
For many procedures, it\\\'s often more expensive to receive treatment at home than it is to purchase a plane ticket, book a hotel, and pay for all medical expenses out of pocket in a foreign country. This is especially true in popular medical tourism destinations such as India, Thailand, Singapore and South Korea.
• No wait times
Because popular medical destinations actively recruit patients from abroad, they do everything they can to eliminate wait times, provide patients with options, and ensure optimal care.
• Many Options are Available
Some countries heavily regulate (or even ban) certain elective procedures or complicated surgeries. Hip resurfacing, for example, was only recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, despite its widespread use and success rate at many popular medical tourism destinations around the world. With medical tourism, you can travel to parts of the world where hospitals specialize in the aforementioned procedures.
• More personalized care
Many providers offer more personalized care--i.e., a higher physician-to-patient ratio--than is commonly available in the United States or Canada.
• Enjoy the Medical Vacations
The fact of the matter is, most of us need medical treatment from time to time, and most of us plan vacations every year or so. Combine the two into an all-out medical vacation and enjoy! Recuperating after surgery on a white sand beach while sipping island drinks and receiving full-body massages.
Important Tips
Besides doing a thorough research on the procedure, hospital, surgeon and the destination country, keep the following contact information handy when you go abroad for any medical treatment:
• Emergency contacts like relatives and friends
• Destination embassy
• Hospital
• Hotel
• Local surgeon / doctor
• Employer
Conclusion
Depending on the location and procedure, a medical vacation can cost 50%, 30%, or even 10% of what you would pay at home. The appeal of this phenomenon is driven by cost savings as high as 90%, depending on the procedure and the country in which it is performed, and virtually no wait times. Even when you factor in air fare, hotels, travel insurance, car rentals, shopping, and dining, many medical vacations are substantially more affordable than domestic health care is. This means that those who choose medical tourism are able to utilize the services of some of the top surgeons in the world, all while enjoying exotic locales and accommodations. Patients can put the money they are saving on the procedure into turning their journey into a magnificent, world-class retreat. For millions of patients, it is the only way to get the needed or desired medical treatment, without wiping out their entire life-savings.
For More Information On Medical Tourism:
Visit: http://www.koreahealthtour.co.kr/eng/medical-tourism.jsp

About the Author:
Macie is creative Writer and enjoys writing about her travel, theater and concert experiences. She also write on various other topics.