Tourism is one of the largest industries in the world contributing to the exchange of trillions of dollars each year. This industry has become more than just about visiting new places and experiencing different cultures. Today, there are different kinds of tourism activities with medical tourism ranking as one of the sectors seeing the highest growth.
Healthcare is immensely expensive in the United States, and Americans have started going to different parts of the world in order to seek a cure to their ailments.
The Advantages of Medical Tourism
We are living in an era when almost everything has become a global scale, and this appears to be true of the healthcare sector.
One of the greatest advantages possessed by developed nations used to be the medical advancements, but the global growth has enabled developing nations to catch up in this regard. This has presented with a rising trend of medical tourism which gave us, the citizens of economically developed countries, a number of vivid benefits, ability to lower the cost of healthcare being the most important one.
Hence, these can be summed up as the two major advantages of medical tourism:
- Lower costs;
- On-par medical treatment;
- Shorter waiting period.
The Disadvantages of Medical Tourism
There are disadvantage that comes up with travelling to a new destination purely for the sake of saving money on medical costs. The patient is being placed at the risk of receiving subpar treatment, while being promised world-class treatment. Medical technology has seen plenty of growth in the developed parts of the world, but they are still behind the developed world in certain regards.
On the contrary, people from the developing countries also traveled to the developed world in the hope of receiving better medical facilities. Only later do they find that the same medical facilities can be accessed at a much lower cost back home, while it is also not guaranteed that they receive the best treatment for the exorbitant prices that they pay.
Lately, the developed nations have contributed more to the growth of medical tourism as an industry. In summary, these are the major disadvantages with regard to medical tourism:
- Huge medical risk;
- Lack of safety;
- Poor post-operative care.
The Risks of Medical Tourism
Traveling to a new country in order to get medical treatment may seem like a great way to save money, but it could actually prove to be an expensive affair – not to mention the huge risks that are associated. There is the greater risk of contracting infections on a foreign soil where safety standards are not so stringent. Furthermore, the scale of compensation provided by medical authorities for negligent care are much lower than in the case of developed nations. This is due to the relaxed norms with which they operate.
There are also several cases of people actually filling out more for getting treated in a foreign country, as they might have returned back in order to make corrections. This situation is especially profound in the case of dental health care, where patients are often subjected to several revisits that end up jacking the overall cost. In many cases, the patient suffers from the lack of post-treatment care.
Money Saving Pros of Medical Tourism
The growing demand for medical tourism avenues is due to the significant cost savings compared with health care in a developed nation. For example, an MRI scan in the United States costs over $1,100 but it is only around $180 in Spain. Complex surgeries are even more expensive, as a patient may have to shell out close to $30,000 in order to receive a replacement. However, the same procedure would cost around $6,000 in India.
The common myth is that the massive savings are due to lower standard of facilities, but it is certainly not the case. For example, the Indian healthcare industry has grown in leaps and bounds over the last two decades. The reason for the substantial savings is primarily due to the lower labour costs. Many hospitals in the developing nations have state-of-the-art facilities that make them hard to resist, while the lower costs come as an added bonus.
Countries Famous for Medical Tourism
A selection of few countries are extremely famous when it comes to medical tourism. Here, medical facilities are not just cheap but they are also of a high standard. They are:
India – Medical tourism is popular in India primarily for the advanced areas of healthcare sector like knee or hip replacement. Heart surgery is also immensely popular, as it is done at a fraction of the cost compared to developed regions like the United States.
Malaysia – The popular healthcare services being availed in Malaysia include dentistry and cosmetics. Medical tourism industry has witnessed tremendous growth in Malaysia thanks to the assistance of the government. Located extremely close to Singapore, Malaysia provides easy and cheap access to some of the best health care in the world.
South Africa – Medical tourism has been growing in South Africa – even with the rand strengthening over the US dollar – in recent years. The cosmetic surgery is the most popular option among those who visit South Africa for medical tourism.
Final Thoughts
A few years ago, medical tourism was looked down upon. Now, the advancements in medical technology even in the developed regions of the world have made medical tourism incredibly popular and a viable alternative. At the same time, those who visit foreign destinations for medical purposes should also be aware of the pitfalls.