Medical Travel and Global recession.

Struggling economies and medical tourism:
The recent economic down turn and protracted recession have prompted a bigger debate about the health care costs today. There have been several speculations about the effect of tough economic times on medical travel industry. Let's review some interesting arguments here.


Disposable income and the effect on Medical Travel:
The hard economic times have created a sharp decrease in the disposable income for many middle class families. This obviously will create the postponement of optional medical care like cosmetic and bariatric surgeries. Then one might ask about the necessary procedures. There might not be a much a much a discussion about medical necessity of these procedures. The medical travel industry has felt some impact already. The slow pace of recovery did not really help the matters in this segment.


Rising premiums and increasing medical consumerism:
The Americans have seen their health care costs go up each year. The insurance companies have started passing a significant portion of these costs to the patients. With many hospitals abroad with very high standards and international accreditation's, many patients are not hesitating today. The out of the box thinking that is fueling the medical travel industry. Some patients are combining their recreational travel and medical budget to pursue the health acre abroad.


However one should understand and appreciate the fact that undertaking medical tourism is a big decision. The patients are more learned and are willing to take some matters in their own hands. It will be very interesting to watch how this will unfold in the time to come.

What does Medical Travel mean?

Medical Travel:

The term medical travel has been used very loosely in the literature. Although the term medical travel was originally used to describe the pilgrimages for curing recalcitrant diseases, it has been used often used to describe the travel for charity medical work or missionary medical work that was often undertaken in the under privileged areas.

The other terms for Medical Travel:

The medical travel is often used interchangeably with medical tourism, overseas medical, medical abroad, foreign medical treatment, surgery abroad and many more. In today's context, it simply means acquiring health care in a distant land.

The reasons for the medical travel are varied and are constantly evolving. The following might serve as an outline

Availability:

Some procedures and treatments may not be available in the patients home country. In some cases the treatments might not be approved by the medical authorities in the patient's home country. A good example is liberation surgery for multiple sclerosis in Canada. Further the long wait times in the countries like Canada also serves as an important factor.

Quality:

Many times the patients might not be satisfied with the existing quality in their home country. Then they generally seek out for the treatments in other countries. This used to be the trend in most of the developing countries like India in the past. Even today, some of the elite patients go to United States for their medical procedures.

Affordability:

The run away health care costs and increasing premiums have seen a spike in the number of un insured patients in countries like USA. There can not be a bigger motivator for the patients to get a break on the price . This is especially true for the patients when you see the 70-90% savings.
This has kick-started the

Ignored aspects in Medical Travel

The medical travel industry is still in the budding stages. There are no set guide lines and licences to obtain. Many medical tourism operators concentrate on only price. They often think that they are here to just to broker the service. But they should also ensure the safety safety during the process. 

Many medical tourism providers don't get adequate medical information from the patient. Some of the most commonly missed aspects are past surgeries, drug allergies, food allergies and the patient expectations regarding the surgery. There are often inquiries by patients who don't really need a procedure. Still, some companies facilitate such surgeries and some doctors still do them. Thus it is vitally important to enlist the services of a medical tourism company that is managed by healthcare professionals

Perception of Medical Tourism about Mexico

Mexico attracts a lot of medical tourists from United States and Canada. The proximity to the North American economic powers and easier travel has benefited many patients. Despite this Mexico suffers from poor image in medical tourism. Some of the reasons being violent crime, poor quality in the most popular destinations, lack of institutional oversight, concerns about safety and language barriers. We will try to address these problems in detail.



Political instability and the increasing influence of drug mafia has raised serious concerns among Americans. Though these fears are over rated, there is still some element of truth. The news about killings and violence in major cities and around the border would not help its cause.

The proximity to USA and Canada has placed a lot of unrealistic expectations on Mexican medical practice. Although there are some reputed hospitals like those with JCI accreditation s and ISO certifications; for many hospitals, there is still a lot of room for improvement. The medical tourism has placed the the clinics in greed. The medical tourists taking reckless risks regardless of the quality of the hospitals just to save a few hundred dollars share the equal blame. Many so called hospitals are the size of some single family homes in America. In contrast, most other medical tourism destinations in India, Singapore and Thailand have the hospital bed strength in hundreds and have standard procedures in place.



Lack of tighter government control won't safeguard patients against quacks. And similar to many other countries, there is little legal recourse. Tourists are normally warned not to venture out after dark or to board un documented taxis. Having said that, there is still some quality medical tourism in Mexico. Dealing with a quality oriented and best medical tourism company is your best bet. Don't be greedy and stay away from the cheap surgery places. They are that way for a reason. You can still save a lot by dealing with reputed places, without  taking unacceptable risks.