Medical tourism, global medicine - Medical Tourism - For Real?

Is medical tourism – sparked by globalization, the Internet, and consumerism – for real? The jury is still out, but it is a trend worth watching.

I was speaking to a medical school classmate. He has been serving as an inspector for the Joint Commission. He tells me Joint Commission International is busy inspecting and accrediting hospitals abroad. These inspections are sparked by active promotion of medical tourism by travel agencies, “medical journey” companies, the mass media, and even by some U.S. employers, health plans, and consumer groups.

What are generally being promoted are package travel deals for elective procedures, joint replacement (hip/knee), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. Favorite destinations include Hongkong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Singapore, and Thailand.

Among most employers, medical tourism is a relatively new benefit, covered by only 11% of organizations. The differences in lowest U.S. prices and off-shore prices in high quality accredited foreign hospitals are more than 50%, but may be as much as 90%.

The uptake of medical tourism is slower than its promoters initially envisioned. It has a long way to go because of cultural differences, “fear of the unknown,” medical legal concerns, and employer PR fears. These hurdles will have to be overcome before medical tourism goes mainstream.