Can more serious surgeries be done in Costa Rica?
Posted August 7th, 2007 by David Williams
Costa Rica is well known for dental and cosmetic surgery. My question is whether the country has the potential for doing more "serious" surgeries --like cardiovascular and orthopedic. I think of Costa Rica as a politcally stable, relatively nearby country with good infrastructure and low costs. It would seem like an ideal destination.
But somehow it seems that medical travelers end up going all the way to Asia for serious stuff like hip replacements.
Price comparison with Asian hospitals?
As Jeff says, Costa Rica appears to also have hospitals that are great for the more serious surgeries, and that prices are low by US standards. I'm wondering how their prices compare with Indian, Thai and Malaysian hospitals.Â
Costa Rica may be much pricier than these Asian destinations, so most medical travelers find it worthwhile taking the longer flights halfway around the world for the more serious procedures. Anyone have more precise pricing information about heart and orthopedic treatments in Costa Rica and/or other Latin American destinations?    Â
Sandip Madan
http://sandipmadan.blogspot.com/
Costa Rica and "serious" surgery
Costa Rican plastic surgeons and dentists have been looking to the United States for patients since the late 1970s and the country does have the reputation you suggest; I've heard it called "the Beverly Hills of Central America" for that reason.
However, the country has fine hospitals, doctors and surgeons practicing other than cosmetic care. Cima Hospital, Clinica Católica, and Hospital ClÃnica BÃblica all have excellent reputations ... and low prices, by U.S. standards. Though they have not yet gotten the media attention of facilities in the Far East, they are just beginning to market themselves internationally. And I think they'll do well, for some of the same reasons that plastic surgeons and dentists in Costa Rica have done well.
Jeff Schult
Author, Beauty from Afar
www.beautyfromafar.com