MEDICAL TOURISMBy Rudy Rupak

WHAT IS MEDICAL TOURISM?

Medical Tourism is the process of traveling abroad for medical treatment. This growing field of health care enables patients to seek medical care from highly qualified medical personnel in a number of different areas around the world including India, Thailand, Singapore, Latin America and Mexico. Patients are able to receive quality care for only a fraction of the time and cost it would require for the same treatment in the United States. Medical tourism is classified into three groups[i]:

Inbound - Foreign patients traveling to the United States for medical treatment.

Intrabound - U.S. patients traveling domestically for medical treatment.

Outbound - U.S. patients traveling abroad for medical treatment.

[i] Deloitte. “Medical Tourism: Update and Implications- 2009 Report.” http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/us_chs_MedicalTourism_111209_web.pdf

WHO ARE MEDICAL TOURISTS?

Medical tourists are patients from the United States and other countries who seek quality medical care outside of their own domestic area and/or country. Patients include those traveling inbound, intrabound and most commonly, outbound.

WHY DO PEOPLE GO ABROAD FOR CARE?

Cost

Procedure unavailable

Quality

Going home for health

COST:

Cost is one of the major reasons patients travel abroad for medical care. Paying for medical care in the US has become more difficult especially with the current state of the economy. With insurance companies increasing their monthly premiums fewer people are able to meet the demands of maintaining their health insurance benefits, not to mention low deductibles. The patients, therefore, are left paying for very expensive medical procedures out of pocket. By considering going abroad for care the patient is given another option where they will receive the same care at only a fraction of the cost they would pay for the same procedure in the United States.

PROCEDURE UNAVAILABLE:

Another major reason to seek medical treatment abroad is availability. Many advanced medical procedures are not yet available in the United States, usually due to the long supervisory approval process. This means procedures such as hip resurfacing, stem cell injections, semi-implantable hearing devices, and stents, that in many cases are viable options for a patient are only available abroad.[i]

[i] Perry, James O. “Leading Edge Medical Procedures Not Available in the United States.” http://www.medicaltourisminsight.com/articles/0703-leading-edge.htm

QUALITY:

When it comes to medical procedures quality is a must. Often times the option of going abroad for a medical procedure coincides with the question of whether quality care will be jeopardized. This is not the case, in fact many health plan administrators agree that their patients actually received better quality treatment abroad than they would have in the United States. The doctors are highly qualified, trained in some of the most innovative health care procedures and their staff has a solid foundation. Instead of CNAs and other assistant type staff working with patients in the hospital most are RNs increasing not only the staff to patient ratio, but also the RN to patient ratio[i], therefore, allowing for a better overall experience than would be experienced in most US hospitals where staff are often strained.

[i] Higgins, Lisa A. “Medical Tourism Takes Off, But Not Without Debate.” Managed Care Magazine. http://www.managedcaremag.com/archives/0704/0704.travel.html

GOING HOME FOR HEALTH:

Many U.S. citizens of foreign decent seek medical care abroad by doctors and clinicians who are more accepting of their cultural beliefs and choices. This also allows the convenience of having medical procedures paired with previously planned visits home.[i]

[i] Deloitte. “Medical Tourism: Update and Implications- 2009 Report.” http://www.deloitte.com/assets/Dcom-UnitedStates/Local%20Assets/Documents/us_chs_MedicalTourism_111209_web.pdf

COSMETIC VS. ELECTIVE

Cosmetic Surgery and Elective Surgery differ in their intent for a patient's outcome. Whereas cosmetic surgery refers to operations performed to repair or restore body parts to align with society’s views on what “normal” is or in many cases to simply look better, elective surgery, for the most part refers to operations that may not always be required but will generally improve a patient’s quality of life. Both surgeries are non-emergency and can instead be scheduled to accommodate the preferences of both the patient and surgeon. While cosmetic and elective surgery may overlap in their intents, such as a burn victim receiving skin grafts to improve one’s state of mind and self esteem, cosmetic surgeries for the most part focus on improving the appearance of the patient whereas elective surgeries usually focus on improving the functional quality of life of a patient.

TERTIARY SURGERY

Tertiary surgery refers to surgeries requiring specific care by a specialist. The patient is referred to a tertiary care center by a primary care or secondary physician to receive specialized treatment.

THANK YOU

We just provided a great deal of information regarding medical tourism.

Next month we’ll look at procedure pricing, statistics and trends.

To read more from Rudy, visit http://RudyRupak.com