Medical Tourism

From SmarterTravel

“Medical tourism” means travel to a foreign country for medical or dental treatments that are less expensive than in the travelers’ home countries. At best, travelers can cover both the treatments and travel arrangements and still pay less than treatment alone would cost in their home countries.

Medical Procedures

Travelers head to foreign countries for three main types of medical treatment:

• Elective procedures that are typically not covered by medical insurance or national health care systems at all, such as cosmetic and weight-loss surgery.

• Big-ticket procedures or extended treatments that are only partially covered by insurance and entail extremely high co-payments, such as artificial joints.

• Experimental procedures and treatments that are not approved by governments as both safe and effective or are not approved for insurance coverage in their home countries.

Travelers from economically advanced countries seem to be more comfortable going abroad for elective rather than life-threatening medical conditions. Some, to be sure, are willing to look anywhere to treat cancer and other terminal conditions for which their regular doctors have said “there's nothing more we can do.” But that’s a field fraught with quackery and false hopes, and many sufferers are leery of such claims.

The most popular destinations for medical tourism seem to be Asia (Thailand, India, Singapore, and the Philippines), Eastern Europe, and Latin America (Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama). Clinics in Israel, New Zealand, and South Africa also promote to Americans and Western Europeans.

Dental Procedures

In general, given the fewer risks involved, travelers are probably less reluctant to seek dental treatment than medical treatment in foreign countries. Also, fewer residents of developed countries have dental insurance or coverage than medical. Accordingly, heading out of the country for dental seems to make sense for three classes of traveler:

• Travelers who suffer from a mouthful of untreated major dental problems – enough root-canal, crown, implant, or denture requirements that the price differential might offset the costs and time of a special trip. A week or two in an interesting destination is an added plus.

• Travelers who can combine treatments with visiting an area they’d planned to visit anyhow.

• Travelers who live near an area where dental services are cheap and can cut costs in even a few minor fixes or a cleaning.

A few years back, the “hottest” trend in medical tourism was bargain-priced dental treatments in Eastern Europe – notably the Czech Republic and Hungary. Americans, especially, found that option attractive when the euro was 80 cents; now that it’s almost doubled, those prices no longer look so good. Even so, however, many Europeans and some Americans still seek dental services in those areas.

For North Americans, the dental focus has shifted to Latin America and Asia where, according to reports, dental practitioners operate modern, well-equipped clinics and centers, many of which are attached to or affiliated with resort and hotel complexes. Current (fall 2008) typical prices for dental services are around $350-$500 for a crown, $700-$1000 for a full denture, and $2000-$3000 for an implant. Those prices are about half of what Americans pay at home.

Risks

Clearly, medical and dental treatments in foreign countries add new risks to the usual uncertainties. Among them:

• Overall health standards in many destination countries in Asia and Latin America are well below those in Canada, Japan, the U.S., or Western Europe.

• Medical tourists really know very little about individual doctors, their histories, and their qualifications, and the doctors know little or nothing about clients’ medical histories.

• Medical tourists who suffer delayed complications could be 4,000 to 10,000 miles away from the doctors who performed the treatments.

• Long flights – especially in economy class – immediately after surgeries or complicated procedures may entail extra risks.

• If something goes wrong, medical tourists would have great difficulty in recovering malpractice damages.

Many travelers are apparently willing to accept those risks. And, certainly, many foreign clinics have a good track record of maintaining the highest standards and providing top-notch services.

Locating Providers

Travelers can locate overseas medical and dental services online or through guidebooks:

• Several online sites post listings for medical, dental, and optical services throughout the world. Among them are Bridge Health International, International Medical Options, Global Medical Services, Med Asia Healthcare, Med Journeys, and RevaHealth. These sites represent – or link to – medical and dental facilities throughout the world.

• Individual countries and clinics also post websites. A quick Google search will return dozens of options.

• The online site Health Travel Guides also provides a wealth of information, and Wikipedia also summarizes the field.

• Patients Beyond Borders, by Josef Woodman, published in 2007, provides a worldwide overview of medical and dental facilities that cater to North Americans. European price citations in euros are probably still reasonably accurate, but conversions to U.S. dollars are obviously obsolete.

Guidelines

Anyone considering medical tourism should check around among friends or co-workers to see if any of them have any experiences. And they should learn as much as possible from online and printed sources. Depending on circumstances, discussing options with regular physicians or dentists might be appropriate.

Even though foreign medical and dental procedures can be less expensive than at home, travel costs can offset lots of the advantages. Two weeks in Thailand or Brazil, for example, can entail expensive travel arrangements and extended periods away from work.

On the other hand, travelers who live near low-cost medical/dental area can easily access facilities across a border for even minor treatments: Northern Mexico for travelers who live in Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, or Southern California, for example; or Hungary for travelers who live in Austria or Germany.