Medical Tourism: A Tour and a Tuck?
As health insurance becomes increasingly expensive and difficult to obtain, Americans are following the outsourcing trend and going overseas in growing numbers for medical procedures. For years, America was the destination for royalty and the well-to-do in search of the most advanced technology and the best doctors, but the tide has shifted. According to a 2008 study by Deloitte, some 750,000 patients from the U.S. went elsewhere for medical procedures. While a large part of this was for private-pay cosmetic surgery, the bulk of it was for medically necessary procedures that were not affordable at home. The trend is predicted to continue, with a doubling of medical tourists by 2010 and a dollar value approaching $100 billion. Many U.S. healthcare institutions-including luminaries such as the Cleveland Clinic, Harvard, and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center-are getting in on the game by entering into partnerships with facilities in countries from India to Costa Rica. There are even tour operators who set everything up including the surgery and sightseeing.
It is no surprise that cost is the main consideration for the decision to travel, with total cost savings approaching 50% including travel expenses for some operations. Other drivers of this phenomenon are waiting periods or exclusions from coverage. Sometimes procedures are available elsewhere years before they clear the hurdle of FDA approval in the U.S. But whether you are headed to Rio for a rhinoplasty or Hungary for a hip replacement, there are important considerations. Certainly, there are very well-trained physicians and surgeons throughout the world, but it can be difficult to verify what the doctor's credentials are and how they compare to standards such as certification by a U.S. medical specialty board. There are other criteria for accreditation of the facility where the procedure will be done.
But the doctor and the surgery facility are only part of the package. Will language be a barrier? How will complications be handled? What are the arrangements for ongoing care back home? How will the transfer of medical records be handled? How safe is it to travel long distances soon after surgery? And what are the legal recourses in the event of medical negligence? Responsible tour operators will welcome questions such as these and have good answers.
Some see little choice, others envision a medical experience akin to the last call they made for computer tech support. Either way, it's probably here to stay.