Why Medical Tourism is so Popular options

Medical tourism is not a new concept by any means. People have been traveling to get treatment from healers and doctors for thousands of years. Yet this kind of travel has become increasingly popular in recent years, largely because for many it has become difficult to get quality treatment at affordable prices at home.

It is estimated that 500,000 Americans traveled out of the country to get medical treatment and dental work in 2005 and the numbers continue to rise. Medical tourism is a burgeoning industry, as destination countries offer quality treatment and accommodations at a fraction of the cost back home with the added benefit of a luxury vacation tacked on.

So why travel thousands of miles to get treatment you could just as easily get at your local hospital? While the reasons vary for each person, here are some of the major reasons medical tourism is so popular with patients all over the world.

1. Potential Savings — The driving force behind the medical tourism market is the potential for savings. For those without insurance or those needing operations that insurance won't cover, medical tourism can be an affordable alternative to the skyrocketing costs of health care. Costs for major surgeries in the United States can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars while the same surgery in a country like India or Thailand can be as little as a tenth of that. The cost differential isn't caused by a lack of quality, but because a good portion of health care costs in the U.S. are tied up in administrative and insurance costs. While there is a risk involved with not having a firm legal recourse if something goes wrong, you can at least know that your money is going towards your actual care rather than to shuffle some papers around.
2. Shorter Waits — Even people who live in countries with public health care coverage often choose to take their treatment abroad because overburdened hospitals and doctors can have long wait periods for surgeries on conditions that are not life-threatening. While a bum knee might not be life threatening, it sure can make your life difficult and uncomfortable, and for some waiting months to get surgery simply isn't an option. In most countries where medical tourism is popular, wait times are almost non-existent. Patients can usually be scheduled for a surgery within a few days or weeks allowing patients convenience not available at home.
3. Quality — If most people are honest, they will admit that the first place that comes to mind when they think of world class health care isn't India or the Philippines. Yet this is a bit of an unfair stereotype. Many of the countries where medical tourism has become popular have made significant investments in the industry to ensure that patients are happy and healthy. Many doctors have been trained abroad, and some are leaders in their fields. With careful research, it's possible to get the same if not better treatment abroad than you could at home.
4. Relaxing Recovery — Traveling for medical treatment gives you the added benefit of helping yourself to a relaxing vacation while you're in recovery. Depending on the location you choose and the type of surgery you have, you could spend a relaxing week on the beach, a mountain resort, or just living it up in a luxury hotel. While it isn't advisable to party too hard after surgery, being away from home can give you a break from the stresses of everyday life and allow you to relax and concentrate on getting better.
5. Insurance Coverage — While it isn't a guarantee, there are some insurance plans that will cover treatment that is performed outside of your home country provided that it isn't an elective procedure. More and more insurance providers are covering treatment abroad, as it saves them in costs as well.
6. You Can Bring Friends and Family — Because of the reduced cost of treatment abroad, if can be completely feasible to bring others along and still spend less than you would have at home. This can help make foreign treatment less scary, and also provide a vacation for the whole family. Some hospitals can even provide accommodation for relatives at less than the cost of a hotel.
7. Same Facilities and Equipment as Home — Because medical tourism is such a big industry, hospitals are making big investments in equipment and technology to help them draw more patients. Some hospitals have even made names for themselves as world class research centers. Essentially, there is little difference between these facilities and those at home. In fact, many top hospitals in medical tourism destination countries are associated with a well-respected hospital in the United States.
8. Package Deals — If you are unsure where to start when getting medical treatment abroad, package deals can be a great time saver. Many companies specialize in providing patients with not only their treatment, but vacations afterwards, travel to and from the airport and all of the accommodations needed. It can make travel much less stressful to let someone else do all the work. The best part about these kinds of deals is that even with all the extras, they can still be cheaper than treatment at home.
9. Surgical Options — While the most popular options with medical tourists are cosmetic and dental surgeries, the reality is that there is a growing market for a wide variety of procedures including heart surgery and orthopedic hip and knee replacements. Chances are good that if you need a particular type of care that there will be a surgeon specialized in it to help you out.
10. Luxury Accommodations — Many hospitals that cater to medical tourists are corporately owned and therefore are in staunch competition with other hospitals to draw you in to their facilities. This can be a real boon to patients, who benefit from private rooms and luxury accommodations that are often much nicer than they would be able to afford at home.
11. Service — Patients can usually expect a high level of personal care and attention from hospitals and clinics that are popular with medical tourists. Many have very low staff to patient ratios and many pride themselves on friendly patient relations.
12. Travel is Affordable — While fuel costs have risen in the past few years, air travel is still an affordable and relatively convenient way to travel. With the wide variety of websites that cater to getting you the lowest rate on flights and hotels, the costs of traveling to a foreign country can be nominal when compared to the savings from not having surgery at home.

While medical tourism isn't the answer for everyone, it's easy to see why it's become such a popular option for people all over the world. Not only can it save you a bundle, but you'll also get the benefit of getting surgery quickly and being able to relax and take in the sights while you're recovering. While it's up to you to decide if it's the right option for your care, with rising health care costs it's definitely something to consider.
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First Class Plastic surgery in Colombia

Plastic surgery in Colombia is another ace for medical tourism. The concept of flying abroad to save money from plastic surgery cost is nothing new to Colombia. Bogota, its capital city is a center of advanced healthcare learning and medical innovation for years. This cosmopolitan city offers one of the most sought after affordable plastic surgery in the world. Several cities throughout Colombia have a considerable number of certified surgeons and medical professionals that practice affordable plastic surgery. These professionals promotes utmost safety and comfort patients are accustomed to at home.

Majority of the patients that visit Colombia are brought in by medical tourism providers from their own country. These agencies prepare travel packages that allows patients to be taken care of by world class medical practitioners in the country. In a way, medical tourism providers acts as negotiators and communicate patients to surgeons or vice versa. As providers they do research for plastic surgery costs, the selection of only the most highly skilled doctors and surgeons that could offer high quality but affordable plastic surgery and lastly, introduce patients to luxurious accommodations and incredible tourism opportunities while staying in Colombia.

These past few years the number of foreign patients choosing to undergo plastic surgery in Colombia is increasing. Like Brazil, ease of travel and relative proximity from the US and Canada is an advantage. Colombia offers cheaper airfares from the US and Canada (and some European countries) than other more-distant destinations, and does not have the visa restrictions of other countries currently in the medical tourism market. In terms of cost, Colombia can perform a knee replacement for around US$5,000, about one-fifth of the cost in the US. Plastic surgery cost are also the same, patients could save up to 50-70 percent of elective procedures from the United States if they choose to undergo plastic surgery in Colombia.

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medical tourism trend and increasing impact on the healthcare landscape

The wealthy citizens of developing countries have frequently traveled to the U.S. and Western Europe to seek the expertise and gain access to advanced technology available at leading medical centers. Recently, a trend categorized as "medical tourism" has emerged, wherein citizens of highly-developed countries choose to bypass care offered in their own communities and travel to developed areas of the world to receive a wide variety of medical services in order to save money. Medical tourism is fundamentally different from the traditional model of international "medical travel," where patients generally journey from less-developed nations to major medical centers in highly-developed countries for medical treatment that is unavailable in their own communities.

This report focuses on the medical tourism trend that will have an increasing impact on the healthcare landscape in industrialized and developing countries around the world. The term "medical tourism" does not accurately reflect the reality of the patient's situation or the advanced medical care provided in these destinations. Nevertheless, it provides an unambiguous way of differentiating the recent phenomenon of medical tourism from the traditional model of international medical travel. This phenomenon is driven by marketplace forces and occurs outside of the purview and control of the organized healthcare system. Medical tourism presents important concerns and challenges as well as potential opportunities. This analysis will examine the international locales that are experiencing a dramatic increase in medical tourism, with particular emphasis on Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
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Is Mexico Have a Better Health Care Alternative

Plastic surgery in Mexico is getting a bit more organized. Due to the demand for lower plastic surgery cost and consumers still demanding savings for medical care, affordable plastic surgery in Mexico is again on the hype.

Two weeks ago, Grupo Angeles, the parent company of Mexico's largest private hospital group, Hospital Angeles, signed a contract with Health Travel Guides (HTG) to provide the technology infrastructure for managing its medical tourism operations. Another leading medical tourism agency, GoSculptura, now provides excellent but affordable plastic surgery packages in Mexico. GoSculptura now includes Mexico in its network of medical vacation destination and now has more than 500 satisfied patients and a 97% satisfaction rate. Other agencies such as Healthbase also chose the country to be part of its health care network and provide U.S. patients satisfactory plastic surgery in Mexico.

The overwhelming plastic surgery cost and the long wait to get medical treatment are two of the top reasons why American patients travel to other countries to receive medical and dental work. Whether a good new hip and a nice new face, you might have to dig deep into your wallet or wait several months before receiving the medical or dental care that you require. In 2006, more than 50,000 Americans go abroad to acquire affordable plastic surgery and dental work. According to the National Coalition on Health Care, year by year millions of patients from all places go to Mexico, Argentina, India, Dominican Republic, Brazil and Costa Rica. The reason - to evade the trauma of plastic surgery cost, to acquire affordable plastic surgery with less time to wait and experience inclusive vacation package and recuperation activities. These countries are top notch medical destination places where health care, medical facilities and surgeons are comparable and may exceed the quality of health care of the U.S.

As of now plastic surgery in Mexico is at the height of fame, thanks to medical tourism agencies. Mexico offers the same medical care quality as the U.S. but goes out with rock-bottom plastic surgery cost. Although the medical care in Mexico may not be as inexpensive as the ones in some Asian nations, the proximity to the U.S. is a big advantage to patients. Some U.S. companies are now sending employees to Mexico for their annual checkups. Some expert also find Mexico as a definite answer to treat the aging and under-insured Americans at a time when the retirement of baby boomers will further tax the U.S. health care system. An estimated 43 million Americans, about 15 percent of the population, are uninsured, according to a Census Bureau study.

The growth of medical tourism in Mexico and how the country will mature in terms of health care will determine the future of most American patients. According to Peter Maddox, Christus Health senior vice president for business, strategy and corporate development, "Our country will go broke unless we find a health care alternative". He sees Mexico as a wonderful alternative with incredible potential.

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Minimizing Cosmetic Surgery Abroad Risk

If you are considering going under the knife, you should be under no illusions about the risks involved. Even the most minor of operations can have complications or have things go wrong. Even in countries with strong regulation, there are cases of incompetent doctors being struck off after botching cosmetic surgery procedures and so if problems happen abroad in a country where English is not widely spoken, your cosmetic surgery experience could rapidly turn into a nightmare.

The biggest complaint of cosmetic surgery is that the end result is not what the patient had envisaged. Many people will also experience scarring, wrinkled or puckered skin, or oddly shaped body parts. In some extreme cases, further surgery may be required to correct defects which happen due to the original surgery. These complications may mean you need to spend more money, and this is something which can be difficult to arrange aboard.

Many people are opting to go abroad for their plastic surgery – not only do they get a holiday, they are away from their friends and family so they cannot see what they have had done, and the costs are often far cheaper than in their home country. However, in many places that are rapidly becoming medical tourist hotspots, the cosmetic surgery industry is not well regulated.

So, if you are planning on becoming a medical tourist, what is the best way to go about it? Generally speaking, countries at the more expensive end of the scale (UK, US, Australia, South Africa, Canada, Spain etc) will be well-regulated and there will be less chance of having a poor surgeon. As you start to go towards the cheaper end of the scale, more caution is needed.

ComseticSurgeryBible.com's top tips are:

1. Rely on word of mouth and make sure the recommendations are impartial. Do not be fooled by sleek advertising – do your research thoroughly. Adverts can be incredibly misleading.
2. Never look for surgery on price alone. If something looks much cheaper than anywhere else, steer well clear. Check what is included in the price – some prices may be for surgery alone and not take post-operative expenses into account. You don’t want to be hit with a surprise bill during your recovery!
3. Check that your prospective surgeon is qualified and certified. Try and establish the credentials of the board that issued his certificates.
4. Ensure your prospective surgeon speaks good English, or has a good translator on hand – you will want to know exactly what will happen to you, and the surgeon should be able to answer all your questions
5. Insist on a face-to-face consultation with the surgeon before agreeing to any procedure. This will help make sure you have full faith in the surgeon before he operates – if you have any doubts, do not go ahead with surgery
6. Check what post-operative care is available. Check how often the surgeon will see you and if you will require any check-ups in the future. Ask what happens if you experience any complications once you get home. Ask if you need to return for further operations whether the surgeon will do them free of charge.
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Cut Prices of Plastic Surgery With Medical Tourism

In those times of economic downturn we all are thinking in reducing our expenses, lowering down our phone, utilities and other bills, even stopping from buying things like clothes or that car accessory we like, and also many people who had programmed or at least though about getting plastic surgery just got to wait until things get better, or don't?.

Medical tourism have been there long enough helping people with low incomes to get breast augmentation or a liposuction in countries like Thailand, Brazil or Colombia and even without needing to book with a plastic surgery financing company due to the extremely low prices that you can get if you decide to go for that procedure out of your country.

But you may be wondering why everybody is talking about medical tourism and exotic locations like those countries? well the answer is simple and I will put it on numbers, while getting breast implants in the USA could cost about $4,000 dollars sometimes even without the hospital fee or anesthesiologist fee, you can take that same amount and travel to Colombia, get the implants and stay the recovery time having a small vacation, YES IT IS TRUE, but don't think that the implants are low quality ones, or the doctor have no expertise at all, they are the same than in the US (the implants) and the doctor is trained in the US and Europe.

You should be thinking that I'm crazy, it is impossible to be that amount with travel expenses, the implants and the vacations, well probably not, it may be about $1,000 more but hey! let's say the true, you think you can have all of that for just $5000 in the USA? the answer is a big NO, $4,000 is only the implants and maybe the surgeon fee then you need to add the anesthesiologist fee the hospital fee, etc. If you go and ask your doctor you may be atonish by the amounts you will get adding up all of the expenses needed to overcome your procedure.

Another thing to be aware of is that many insurance companies today can help with your medical tourism adventure !!, why don't you ask if your insurance company will pay for some of the expenses of getting plastic surgery or any other medical procedure out of your country? you will be surprised that probably they will be willing to pay some of the fees. But what if you are part of the 40 million americans that does not have insurance? well we get to the second paragraph of this article, medical tourism has helped many low income americans for many years and you are not the only one who have ever think about this solution.

You are probably now shocked because of this and again you are not the only one, and even more in those days of recession more and more people are starting to seek for low cost plastic surgeries and medical tourism is starting to emerge again as it did some years ago but the difference is that now there are a lot more people who have been using this trend and there are many more resources out there to help you to get more information about planning some vacations that includes plastic surgery.

If you want to know all the insights of how you can benefit from this trend I suggest you to read my book: "Step by Step guide to Cosmetic Tourism" there you will find all the information you need to plan your medical tourism trip, choose a destination, find the right medical tourism operations, things to do before, during and after the trip, etc. It is a really helpful information guide that will guide you through the process of planning a successful trip to a destination where you can get a sun tan, breast implants and liposuction.
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