MEDICAL TOURISM: Fast GROWING TREND AGAIN

Obtaining Healthcare Abroad continues to be an excellent choice for thousands of North Americans and for some, the best option they have to recover their health. Professional Medical Tourism companies have established relationships with some of the most respected medical facilities in key destinations offering world class facilities and top surgeons providing procedures at costs savings of up to 80%.

We all are live dreading the time in which we will need to have surgery or to have any medical procedures, specially if you are in the 40 to 70 age bracket. When health problems popping during these years at a faster rate, the need for an alte
ative healthcare option is critical. And for many, the idea of getting the unending bills from hospitals and health institutions, struggling with health insurance companies to get our bills paid and then being faced with a big balance is daunting.

What are the options then? Obtaining medical care at a hospital in some of the best well known destinations seems to be the answer. Exhibiting world class medical facilities and top surgeons, trained in the US and English speaking, the focus has turned to those countries that provide location in close proximity to the US, access to excellent medical information and provide a safe environment to travel to.

According to DiscoverMedWorld, a company supporting patients in their quest for healthcare options, medical tourism is becoming an answer to the prayers of North Americans. From elective cosmetic to joint replacement, life saving heart surgery or bariatric surgeries for weight loss, medical tourism is filling the gap on all levels, affordability, accessibility, and accountability. With complicated surgeries like kidney transplants, neurosurgery and heart surgeries being performed at world class medical centers, a growing number of patients are pleasantly surprised at both the quality and affordability of the surgical and recovery treatment that is available to them in locations like Costa Rica, Colombia, Chile and Panama.

The corporate sector is jumping into this bandwagon, allowing selected medical tourism companies to work with them in offering Healthcare Abroad options to their employees. In doing so, they obtain major savings in health insurance premiums, the Insurance Industry saves thousands by reducing the cost of major surgeries and the employee is able to travel at no cost, with no deductible, all expenses paid, to obtain a much needed surgery in a world class destination. In addition, the patients gain the added benefit of recuperating during what amounts to a vacation. Some patients, depending on the procedure, are able to sightsee and experience local tours designed and scheduled to meet their ability before and after their procedures.

The rise in medical tourism has recently captured media attention. As attested by our studies of the industry at DiscoverMedWorld.com, in 2007, over 750,000 people in the United States and over 40,000 in Canada needing surgical intervention sought treatment at major hospitals in places like India, Colombia, Brazil and Costa Rica. Most of them were meet with hospitals that have partnership agreements with Baylor Medical Hospital, with UCLA Medical or with John Hopkins for the training of even the nursing staff and for the introduction of the latest medical technologies.

Not only are these patients getting the best medical treatments available, but their needs were met at a fraction of the surgical cost associated with the same surgeries in the United States. They were also able to choose their doctor and schedule their surgeries at their own convenience, without any wait time. Gradually, with thousands of people coming back home after surgeries abroad, medical tourism is building a solid reputation and becoming the solution to many people that could not afford to have their much needed procedure performed at home.