All You Need to Know About Medical Tourism

Medical tourism refers to a someone traveling to a foreign country to receive medical care. Many people travel for health care reasons because the treatment is significantly cheaper in other countries. Also, people travel for medical tourism to have access to treatments and procedures that are not legal in the traveler’s home country.

According to the Medical Tourism Association:

• Nearly 80% of demand for medical travel is driven by cost savings
• Cosmetic surgery leads all other treatments, representing 38% of demand
• About 92% of total spending on medical travel per patient is less than $30,000
• Medical tourists spend between $7,475 and $15,833 per medical travel trip
• For 6 million patients, medical travel may contribute $45 - $95 billion to global GDP (Source)

While medical tourism can be found in a number of countries, the most popular destinations are Israel, India, Costa Rica, Turkey, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, and Thailand. The procedures and treatments available at some of these destinations include:

Israel: Medical tourists travel to Israel for procedures that include in-vitro fertilization, bone marrow transplants, heart surgery and catheterization, and oncological and neurological treatments. In addition, many people take advantage of the spas at the Dead Sea, a world-famous therapeutic resort. 

India: Treatments sought in India by medical tourists include dental care, bone marrow transplants, eye surgeries, cardiac bypasses, and hip replacement surgeries. Alternative medicine treatments are also popular options. India’s medical tourism sector is expected to grow 30% on a yearly basis. 

Costa Rica: Costa Rica offers various procedures for medical tourists. The most common are dentistry, plastic surgery, orthopedic, bariatrics, dermatology, and gynecology. 

Turkey: Treatments available in Turkey include neurosurgery, cardiac surgery, orthopedics, plastic surgery, stem cell and gene therapy, and gastric surgery. 

Thailand: Thailand is the leading destination for medical tourism in Asia, primarily due to the low cost and high quality of the care patients receive. Available procedures include cardiac surgery, infertility treatments, dental procedures, and medical check-up programs. However, one of the most popular treatments for medical tourism in Thailand is stem cell therapy. It is used to combat a number of degenerative diseases, slowing down or reversing aging. The safe and effective process improves immune function by regenerating and repairing damaged organs. 

With the lower cost and comparable quality of care received at the many destinations used by medical tourists, it may be worth considering this option the next time you need treatment. When that happens, a luxury travel agency will be ready to help you maneuver all the requirements to make the trip to your chosen destination easy and stress-free.