Medical Tourism vs. Traditional Medical Travel: A Tale of Two Models
Michael D. Horowitz MD MBA and Jeffrey A. Rosensweig have an article published in the latest International Medical Travel Journal, which is well worth a read. Here's the abstract:
Medical tourism is an emerging phenomenon wherein citizens of industrialized nations bypass services offered in their own communities and travel to less developed countries to receive medical care.
In medical tourism, the direction of travel is opposite of that in the traditional model of international medical travel, where patients have historically journeyed to leading medical centers in highly developed nations for health care.
Medical tourism has transformed a one-way pipeline towards industrialized countries into a two-way highway, with patients now traveling in both directions. This paper presents a comparative analysis of the medical tourism model vs. the traditional form of international medical travel. The factor that most differentiates the two models is the availability of resources to patients. Financial resources give traditional international patients access to medical facilities of their choice throughout the world. Conversely, the absence of some resource drives patients to pursue medical tourism.
Has Anyone Actually Tried Medical Tourism?
We've read about it, heard about it, and even talked about it. But how many of us know someone who has gone on a health vacation to India? Anyone ever come back from Thailand with a new hip? Is there any forum where real people can discuss real medical tourism issues - http://www.healthmedicaltourism.org