Medical tourism is a term that has risen from the rapid growth of international healthcare where people from all around the world are traveling to other countries to obtain general medical surgery, cosmetic plastic surgery and dental surgery at a fraction of the cost of healthcare in the USA. At the same time as receiving surgery abroad, patients can experience the excitement and adventure of the cultural attractions their destination country offers. Overseas surgery is quickly becoming a safe and viable option to healthcare in the United States and Canada.
There are many reasons for the increased popularity of medical travel services:
- Exorbitant healthcare costs in industrialized nations
- Long waiting lists for surgery in countries offering socialized healthcare
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Ease and affordability of international travel
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Favorable currency exchange rates in foreign countries resulting in low cost surgery
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Rapidly improving technology and standards of care in many countries
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Proven safety of healthcare in select foreign nations
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International accreditation of foreign hospitals
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U.S., U.K. and Australian board certified surgeons operating in select foreign countries
More and more people are traveling abroad as an affordable, enjoyable, and safe alternative to having medical, dental, and cosmetic surgical procedures done in their home countries.
Currently medical tourism patients are traveling in large numbers to Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, El Salvador, India, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey - places where the quality of affordable healthcare is equal to anywhere else in the world and yet the cost is significantly lower. These regions also offer numerous options for touring, sight-seeing, shopping, exploring, and relaxing.
Here are the most common terms used to describe this relatively new industry:
Medical Tourism Medical Outsourcing Medical Travel Health Tourism
It has been mentioned that overseas healthcare, sometimes referred to as medical tourism, medical travel, health tourism, or medical outsourcing is expected to become a multi-billion dollar industry by 2012. Whether you call it medical tourism, medical travel, health tourism, or medical outsourcing, the concept is the same. It appears as though this concept of traveling abroad to receive health care is going to become a viable option for many years to come.
Medical Tourism Medical Outsourcing Medical Travel Health Tourism
Although "medical tourism" has been the descriptor for this new emerging industry, it is important to know that MedRetreat has a different philosophy on the concept of traveling abroad to receive your surgery. We understand the seriousness of receiving high quality medical care and then allowing your body to recuperate from the surgery. No gimmicks...no marketing hype. The tourism part of the process is viewed as the least important factor and should only be considered once you are fully recuperated.
Medical Tourism Medical Outsourcing Medical Travel Health Tourism
Many companies are using the term "medical tourism" as a motivator to attract clients into this new emerging concept of overseas medical care, we do not. To effectively become the leader in providing healthcare abroad, our emphasis is placed on the efficacy of our hospital partners regardless of the physical location of their facility. In this respect, we will remain the leader of facilitating global healthcare in a safe and affordable manner.
Medical Tourism Medical Outsourcing Medical Travel Health Tourism
A word of caution: Be very careful if attempting to plan your own medical travel program. There are many issues that are not apparent to the first time medical tourist. One small oversight can be the difference between a successful and unsuccessful surgery abroad. By working with a full service medical tourism company that offers a guarantee, you will greatly reduce the possibilities of something going wrong. Take this process of health tourism very seriously. After all, it's your health and welfare.
Helpful Tip: When choosing a medical tourism service agency, be sure to inquire about a guarantee. Since you will be taking a leap of faith when seeking medical procedures abroad, you should be offered protection in case you do not proceed with your plans. Please refer to our guarantee as an example. MedRetreat Guarantee
To receive a complimentary quotation for your individualized medical tourism package, simply complete the Membership Form (step 3 above) to have access to one of our U.S Program Managers who will guide you through the entire process.
Who should consider becoming a medical tourist?
Everyone qualifies. Whether you're insured or uninsured, you can realize the savings of overseas healthcare. As we move into the future, we'll need to be more financially responsible for our healthcare expenditures, even if we are fully insured. Soon, many corporations will not be able to afford the option of offering healthcare benefits to their employees. We need to begin now to reduce the costs of healthcare to better ensure the availability of major medical coverage to working Americans.
Many options exist for the medical tourism patient - from purely elective procedures such as face lift, rhinoplasty, blepharoplasty, liposuction, tummy tuck, breast augmentation, dental and LASIK, to more serious procedures such as knee replacement, hip replacement, spinal disc replacement, hysterectomy and cardiac bypass surgery.
The $6000 Rule
Medical tourists can now obtain essentially any type of medical or surgical procedure within reason. However, there is a simple rule we follow to determine if it makes financial sense to travel abroad. We call it the "$6000 Rule." If your procedure would cost $6000 in the U.S., you may not realize any financial savings. Although the surgery would only cost about $1500 abroad, by the time you add the airfare, post-op hotel accommodations, ground transportation, and the other essentials of overseas travel, you may only realize a break-even scenario. This being said, many people still choose to travel abroad to achieve complete privacy and anonymity, peaceful recuperation, and the avoidance of daily hometown distractions.
Is medical tourism right for you?
Although thousands have done this successfully before you, it doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Quite frankly, over 30% of the inquiries we receive ultimately determine that overseas healthcare is not cut out for them. In reality that’s a good sign. That means we’ve done our job objectively by considering their needs before our financial gain. Now the encouraging news; about 70% of our members elect to move forward, receive their surgery and return back home with complete satisfaction.
At this juncture you’re probably already aware of the successes people have had while traveling outside of North America to receive their surgery. And you already know about the huge cost savings. And not to mention the high quality of healthcare available at world-class medical facilities, with board certified surgeons, using the same state-of-the-art equipment and technology as here in the United States. But, because there’s so much information about medical travel on the internet, this can all be very confusing and overwhelming. This is where we can be of assistance. And here’s how.
We’d like to help you to determine the feasibility of traveling abroad for healthcare based on your specific needs. We’ve always known that medical tourism is a safe and affordable alternative to U.S. healthcare, but we also realize that it’s not for everyone.
So, it’s evident that our first responsibility is to you…to make sure that you fit the model of a medical tourist. We’ve found that it really does take a certain type of person to carry this through. It’s not for everyone. We can save you a lot of time and energy by determining your chances of becoming a satisfied medical tourist right from the get-go.
One last piece of advise: Never choose your surgeon based solely on price. You must understand all aspects of medical travel to find the very best value...not the lowest price.
Click here to learn how to identify the best “value” when researching your medical tourism options.
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MedRetreat would like to thank you for visiting our medical tourism website.
We hope you have found our medical travel services useful in exploring the possibilities of your personal health tourism needs.
