Medical Tourism: A Call for a Change

The phenomenon of medical tourism is growing rapidly as the interest of everyone including patients, health care providers, employers, and legislators increases. Many people believe that this phenomenon can solve the problem of increased cost and demand in the US healthcare system. However, in many other countries, I feel that it is harmful because it competes with regional medical systems outside the regional health policy and legislative limitations. In this article, medical service providers (academic and non-academic) will better negotiate the price and explain the steps to take in preparation for this new competition era.

2. Description of the Prior Art Recently, many Americans have been flying to India for medical treatment. The practice of going abroad for selective and nonselective medical procedures is called medical tourism (Steklof 722). The number of Americans going abroad for treatment has increased from 500,000 in 2005 to 750,000 in 2007 (Steklof 724). Many of these medical tourists choose overseas travel because of the rise in medical expenses and difficulty of returning home.

Medical expenses in the US continue to soar, especially for selective surgery. Medical tourism is a rapidly growing industry that combines existing medical and tourism infrastructure with new labor and organizational structures. According to a survey in 2014, selective plastic surgery accounts for about half of the medical tourism industry. These numbers are much higher when it comes to cosmetic dentistry and obesity related surgery. Your experience includes pre-travel consultation with our staff, video conferences with your chosen doctor team, travel visas and travel aid. On arrival, if elected, you have a private domestic escort and interpreter that will guide you not only on your medical visit but also on your local culture, cuisine and activities.

Medical tourism is a cross-border patient. In the past, many patients who engaged in medical tourism and traveled to a specific destination received surgery that could not be used in that country. Now, however, people have become aware that medical systems are empty and meaningless, as prices have risen and waiting times have been lengthened and impatient. As medical costs were greatly discounted, wait times, food and accommodation were zero, so they started to prefer medical tourism.