Medical tourism is a growing industry, with its demand changing with the advancement of insurance services and emerging global healthcare challenges. Besides cost and quality considerations, most patients have identified privacy and adventure as one of their key determinants in selecting a destination. Patients seeking private attention are always trying to avoid negative reporting surrounding them and their families, which is important for psychological reasons. Before making a medical trip, one needs to consider factors such as cost, legal implications, and language barriers. Overall, foreign medication has proved beneficial because one gets to receive a different opinion in an enabling environment.
Medical tourism is the movement of people from their native country to a foreign country searching for affordable, specialized, and quality medical care. Besides these, other patients who are immigrants prefer to seek medical attention from their native countries due to social-political and economic beliefs. For instance, politicians and influential people in society prefer seeking medical attention in foreign countries because of their security. The most sought-out treatments abroad are procedures such as heart and cosmetic, dentistry, and cancer treatment. Regarding the common destination for medical tourism, the most common region are in Asia and South America, precisely India, Colombia, Cuba, Thailand, Singapore, and South Korea. Despite the growing demand for medical tourism, there are related risks such as failure to get any meaningful change after medication. Other risks include aggravated medical conditions and communication barriers. Therefore, before deciding on abroad medication, consumers should do a comparative analysis on prices and social constraints which contribute to their wellbeing.
Medical tourism benefits include cost-effective and high-quality healthcare as compared to the ones available in the native country. Firstly, cost-effective medical care is a service that is quality at affordable prices. For instance, according to Sag and Zengul (2019), the cost of hip replacement in countries such as Indian and the Philippines is thirty percent less than the cost in the United States and the United Kingdom. In the same aspect, the cheap services are quality and specialized with other advantages such as family ambiance and added tourism aspects. Ideally, with an affordable air ticket and cheap medication, a patient can afford to travel with their loved ones to a foreign country. Besides receiving medical attention, they will also get the opportunity to tour some of the tourist attractions in the country. Besides, medical tourism hubs have much healthcare provides that can provide one on one services to patients. This is attributed to their high training outputs and less workload, such as appointments in some countries.
Secondly, there is strong growth in insurance-funded foreign tourism, with most companies offering such plans for their clients. In their study to promote tourism in Turkey, Sag & Zengul (2019) note that having a flexible and attractive foreign insurance-funded medical system is key in opening medical tourism. Notably, this has been used by countries such as India that make it easy for healthcare providers to finance their clients when on international visits. The growth and diversification of insurance services have facilitated the expansion of medical tourism, making it one of the biggest niches in the tourism industry (Ile & Tigu, 2017). Further, they note that it is a merging of two industries, medicine, and tourism, which has attracted several investors creating a competitive space for price and packaging purposes. In fact, there are insurance providers that provide travel arrangements for their clients.
The major reason people resort to medical tourism is quality, cost, privacy, and adventure. Quality in the healthcare industry is an important aspect because it determines the healing process of a patient. According to Kim et al. (2017), quality services in any industry are vital in attracting clients and investors, explaining why some countries are considered the best for medical tourism. For example, in the countries considered best to visit, you will find an entire healthcare system working efficiently, with few medical mishaps. A patient will not have to queue for long or a payment delay in the hospital system. Moreover, they have integrated Electronic Health Records (EHR), which make everything seamless and communication with family members is efficient. Notably, according to the Centre for Disease Control (CDC), when looking for a foreign country to visit for tourism purposes, it is important to look at the communication systems of the hospital. This allows for a holistic healing process for the patient.
Privacy and adventure are other reasons why people seek medical help from other countries. Regarding privacy, most of the patients seeking medical help from foreign countries do so to protect their privacy and those of their loved ones. The trend is common with influential people in the community, such as politicians who decide to seek medical help away from their purported enemies. Kim et al. (2017), note that providing privacy should be a key aim for all medical service companies. In the modern social space, medical conditions and struggles have been used in advancing political propaganda and hate speech, which most influential persons try to avoid. Besides privacy, some people view medical tourism as an opportunity of traveling with their loved ones to new places. For instance, one will take along their family members to their target country where they can enjoy different weather while one receives medical attention. According to Sag and Zengul (2019), this is a therapeutic approach in providing healthcare. In essence, the patient receives medication while enjoying the “usual” company around them, which makes the healing process fast and psychologically fulfilling.
Planning for a medical visit before and after is important for a patient to avoid financial and psychological stress. First, a patient needs to plan with their local service providers on the traveling arrangements, which include securing a comfortable means of transport. Secondly, it is vital to ask the insurance provider if their services cover the target country and the amount that one will be needed to top up in case their premium is not sufficient enough (Ile & Tigu, 2017). Thirdly, the patient should take into consideration factors such as language barriers in their destination country. Consequently, this will inform their decision to choose a travel partner or going individually. According to CDC, good communication between the patient and the doctor is important for quality service. Therefore, having a clear insurance and communication organization is crucial.
Fourth, one needs to make the necessary agreements before traveling abroad, which include documentation with relevant authorities and local service providers. These agreements include legal documents that will ensure one is provided with their healthcare records when leaving their destination country. It also includes financial agreements with insurance providers. Finally, according to the CDC, a patient intending to travel has to conduct background research on the doctors that will be providing healthcare services to them, which will ensure they are dealing with accredited persons. Consequently, this will ensure that the patient receives quality and professional healthcare from their providers.
Medical tourism varies because of the price and quality of services in the providing country. For example, patients seeking help from countries in Asia have cited cost and quality as their major attraction (Sag & Zengul, 2019). A close analysis of healthcare structures in purported countries such as Singapore and India show a systematic emphasis on quality. This is achieved through sufficient training to provide both quality and quantity supply to the medical industry (Kim et al., 2019). Compared to countries such as the United States and the United Kingdom, the same service is provided, but cost and quality are not justifiable. For example, Kim et al. (2019) point out that spinal fusion in the United States is $62.000, while in Thailand, it is $7000. The difference is significant, which will play an integral role in the consumers’ decision-making process. Besides price, there are factors such as weather and environment for patients. For some medical conditions, the patient needs certain weather conditions for quick recovery. This is a key determinant in deciding which country to visit for medical attention.
Conclusively, medical tourism is a growing industry characterized by different aspects that one needs to consider before making trips to their destination country. Some of the key factors to consider before travelings are comparative costs and quality of services. Countries that have been noted as a good destination for medical tourism are Singapore, Thailand, India, and Cuba. Besides their quality services, most patients have quoted favorable climatic conditions as the attractive features. However, before traveling, it is important to make the necessary legal and financial agreements. Finally, knowing the qualification of the service providers is key to a successful medical visit.
References
Center for Disease Control. (n.d.). Medical tourism: Getting medical care in another country.
Ile, F. L., & Ţigu, G. (2017). Balneary tourism face to face with medical tourism – A comparative exploratory research. Romanian Economic and Business Review, 12(4), 72-81.
Kim, M., Koo, D., Shin, D., & Lee, S. (2017). From servicescape to loyalty in the medical tourism industry: A medical clinic’s service perspective. The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing; Thousand Oaks, 54(1), 1-16.
Sag, I., & Zengul, F. D. (2019). Why medical tourists choose Turkey as a medical tourism destination? Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Insights, 2(3), 296-306.