What is Medical Travel?

International medical travel means leaving your home country to obtain medical or dental care. If you're new to the topic, you might be surprised to learn that some overseas facilities --even in countries that Americans and Europeans often think of as poor and backward-- can offer comparable standards of medical care to what you're used to in the United States or Western Europe. In addition, customer service levels can be much higher. It's not unusual to find surgeons who give you their cell phone number and encourage you to call, or to find one-on-one nursing and good food.

Prices are lower, too. Often much lower, even figuring in the cost of travel. This is a key factor, especially for Americans. As of 2007, uninsured and underinsured patients make up the bulk of medical travelers from the United States. That may change as insurance companies revise their policies.

Europeans sometimes have different motivations: leaving their home countries to avoid long waiting lists for treatment.

The international medical travel field is still new, so you have to be careful. Gradually, concerns like accreditation and malpractice will be addressed. The Joint Commission International, an arm of US hospital accreditation agency JCAHO, already accredits more than 100 non-US facilities.

Oh, and please don't call it "medical tourism." Medical treatment and recuperation is serious business. It's best to focus on getting proper care and taking care of yourself rather than planning for a lot of fun and sun.