“Medical tourism” means to travel abroad to another country for medical services. Procedures tend to be less expensive outside of the United States, most often for cosmetic surgery, dentistry or heart surgery. Medical tourism may give infertile couples hope because some fertility treatments that are legal in other countries are not legal in the U.S. Some with rare genetic disorders may travel to a country where the disease is better understood.
It is estimated that 1.5 million people sought medical advice outside of the U.S. in 2008. It is estimated that 750,000 people had medical procedures done outside the U.S. annually, accrording to the CDC. It is a $24 to $40 billion enterprise a year worldwide.
Common procedures often include complete hip and knee replacement surgeries, transplant surgeries, cardiac bypass surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. This "vacation" time is ideal for those who want to recover from cosmetic surgeries in secret.
For instance, Mexico has many weight-loss clinics and centers. The cost of having a procedure done is 40 to 70 percent the cost of the operation done in the states. Of course, many would argue that the U.S. has a higher standard of care and aftercare, but often, this isn’t a big concern. Two weeks of recovery in Mexico is a lot less expensive than recovering in a hospital room in the States.
There is usually an intermediary called a medical tourism provider. A patient usually provides all relevant medical records, then is advised on treatment. The provider typically is familiar with treatment centers and will recommend one or two for the patient. The provider then finds a case executive, who will take care of the patient in that country until resolution of medical care and the case.
Risks
It is a well-known risk that if you have not traveled to various countries, you may not have been exposed to their most basic diseases, which may mean that you are vulnerable to infections and unfamiliar diseases that could put a halt to your healing.
There is always the danger of hospital-acquired infections, virulent strains that can cause plenty of trouble, even for those in good health initially.
Risks are travel-related tuberculosis, deep-vein thrombosis, dysentery, infections and poor post-operative care. There is no guarantee that the procedure will be without complications.
Communication may be a problem if a patient advocate doesn’t speak the native language fluently. Because medical care can be so specific, a good translator is imperative.
Antibiotic-resistant bacteria may be present in a country, and you may not be familiar with it. This is when it gets dangerous. With the proliferation of germs and viruses, one can inadvertently acquire a nasty infection.
Another related problem is that medications may be imposters with lowered or no prescription strength. Make sure your medical provider ensures the integrity of prescription medications.
The blood supply of one country may not be screened for the same things the U.S. screens for in its supply. Do some investigative work on your own to verify information you consider to be important. This is one of them. Some countries pay blood donors and don’t screen for some diseases.
Make sure the doctors change needles after every use. In some countries, this is not a given. Hopefully, in your medical tourism search, you will discover and avoid these countries.
Over the past 20 years, there has been a rise in transplant tourism. This has led to an increase in organ rejection rates abroad compared with U.S. organ transplant patients. This has to be concerning to those patients.
Ethical Issues
Ethical issues come into play where there is the potential for abuse of organ procurement procedures. And in India, there is a noticeable trend in which medical tourists seem to get all the appointment times for “good” doctors, while resident patients have to wait for long periods of time for doctors who may provide less exemplary care. This, they say, exacerbates the class-based problems that already exist in that society.
Legal Issues
Legally, there are many gray areas concerning medical tourism. Should something go wrong, what is the patient’s recourse? Depending on the country, the rules are vastly different. If the wronged patient did not have enough insurance to cover this glitch in treatment, who will pay? Hospitals and doctors overseas may lack the appropriate insurance to cover any judgments against them. The medical tourist may be out of luck without recourse or recompense.
Those who choose elective surgery outside of the U.S. could have a difficult time getting justice for a botched surgery.
In his book on medical tourism, Beauty From Afar: A Medical Tourist’s Guide to Affordable and Quality Cosmetic Care Outside the U.S. Jeff Schult states, “My sort of blunt advice is that if your primary concern in going to a doctor, surgeon or dentist is whether or not you’re going to have legal recourse if you don’t like the work you get, you shouldn’t go overseas.”
There is a newly devised mechanism that can offer protection if you go overseas to procure elective surgery. It is the “Patient Medical Malpractice Insurance” and is first-person insurance because the purchaser buys it before traveling. Claims are handled without attorneys and in accord with U.S. laws and customs. Claims are paid in U.S. dollars.
Some Revision Surgeries May be Required
Surgeons are sometimes faced with fixing botched surgeries from overseas operations, at times having to improvise surgical skills for healing reasons. Foreign pathogens may be difficult for American doctors to treat if they are unfamiliar with them. Also, unfamiliar surgical techniques or unconventional use of connecting devices may make it difficult for surgeons to remove hardware installed in the patient outside of the country. And insurance companies may be reluctant to pay for these revisionist surgeries because the initial out-of-country surgery was more than likely not paid by the insurance company but out of pocket.
Regardless of what you decide to do for your medical treatment, keep your eyes and brain wide open to the consequences of whatever choice you make. There are pros and cons of every situation, and not everyone’s circumstances are the same. Do your research before coming to a very important health care decision.