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Cross-Border Spine Surgical Treatment: Issues to Consider
Published in Alaaeldin (Alaa) Azmi Ahmad, Aakash Agarwal, Early-Onset Scoliosis, 2021
Cross-border treatments are most pronounced in broadly two categories: medical tourism and outreach/teaching. Medical Tourism is defined as the process in which a patient travels outside his or her usual residence for the purpose of medical or surgical treatment [1]. This may be from a lesser developed region to a more developed region for the purposes of receiving technically complex procedures or, conversely, from a more developed, more expensive region to a less costly region for procedures that cost considerably less. The more common conditions for this type of travel for treatment are plastic/cosmetic surgery and transplant surgery [2].
The Problem of Rising Healthcare Costs and Spending
Published in Kant Patel, Mark Rushefsky, Healthcare Politics and Policy in America, 2019
One can see how people faced with high healthcare costs dealt with it in two ways. One is medical tourism. Medical tourism occurs when someone decides to go to another country for medical treatment. While this is not a widespread phenomenon, it does exist. There is a medical tourism association. There are a number of countries where people in the US go for medical care. These include Costa Rica, Colombia, Mexico, Malaysia, and Thailand, among others (“Save Thousands as a Medical Tourist in These Five Countries” 2016). In 2016, a coronary bypass surgery would cost $88,000 in the United States, but only $31,500 in Costa Rica (“Save Thousands as a Medical Tourist in These Five Countries” 2016). Of course, this is not for everyone and certainly not for every, even most, conditions. Care must be taken to ensure that the medical procedures are of high quality. The ability to come up with the funds for this, often not covered by insurance, would preclude medical tourism as an option.
Health Communication: Insights for Quality Hospitality Bridging Healthcare (H2H) Delivery in Medical Tourism
Published in Frederick J. DeMicco, Shirley Weis, Medical Tourism and Wellness, 2017
Alicia M. Mason, Elizabeth Spencer
Medical tourism is a distinct type of tourism during which a person travels to gain access to medical treatments and services, thus becoming a patient. Some have argued that the concept of medical tourism may be better presented as medical travel placing the emphasis on “travel,” specifically for medical purposes. The semantic implications for this distinction are beyond the scope of this chapter. Unlike medical tourism, when a passenger travels to a spa, resort, hot spring, or healing retreat they are participating in what is known as “health tourism,” “wellness tourism,” or “spa tourism” (Carrera & Bridges, 2006; Kaspar, 1990). This distinction between medical and health tourism is rarely made in literature and the terms are often used interchangeably in mass media; however, the term “medical tourism” is most germane to travel involving diagnostic testing and medical procedures within the scope of biomedicine. In this chapter when referring to travel to access elective or obligatory medical services, we will use the term “medical tourism”; in doing so we recognize this process involves both the biomedical and tourism industries.
Modelling the factors affecting Nigerian medical tourism sector using an interpretive structural modelling approach
Published in International Journal of Healthcare Management, 2021
Erhauyi Meshach Aiwerioghene, Mahavir Singh, Puneeta Ajmera
Medical tourism is known to be the part of healthcare tourism. In some known countries, there has been a long history of pioneering the healing landscape and practice [2]. MT industry has shown rapid growth in the past few decades; it seems to be an excellent opportunity for future growth and source of an economic boost for targeted medical tourism countries. Carrera and Bridges establish that MT as ‘a tour organised outside the local atmosphere to maintain, or repair, the well-being of individuals’ body and mind’ [3]. The meaning extends the scope of medical tourism, health travel arrangements beyond the jurisdiction for health to improve or repair the health of individuals through medical interventions. MT is a broad category that covers medical treatments, such as surgery and treatment in nature and the physical and psychological well-being. This research paper will help us to model the factors affecting the medical tourism sector in Nigeria.
The creation of a medical tourist destination: Exploring determinants of perception
Published in International Journal of Healthcare Management, 2021
The term medical tourism or healthcare tourism is not a novelty in the health care industry and or even tourism industry. Rising cost for medical treatment in the home country has forced many patients to travel to other countries to seek medical treatment. The Indian government is assertively promoting India as a global healthcare destination. It also provides links to organizations operating in the healthcare industry. Emerging as one of the lowest-cost and higher-quality medical tourism destinations, it offers a wide variety of procedures at about one-tenth expenditure as compared to similar procedures in the United States of America. As per data made available by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, there is 45% growth in the number of medical visas issued by India since 2016. Around 1.78 lakh medical visas were issued in 2016, which includes visas issued for follow up treatment. In 2015, 1.22 lakh medical visas were issued in India. Prominent amongst patients visiting India for medical aid are persons from the Middle East, Africa, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Maldives and Pakistan. The total number of patients coming to India for treatment in the year 2017 was 4.95 lakh, as revealed by K.J. Alphons (Travel and Tourism Minister, India).
Medical tourism globe-trotting: Features, impacts, and risks
Published in International Journal of Healthcare Management, 2020
With many advantages for patients and states that bring this possibility of traveling to get the medical care, medical tourism carries many negative consequences that affect the individual and public system as a whole. Currently, there is no internationally accepted official definition of medical tourism. Due to the lack of agreed definitions, there are also lack of databases that record the total number of patients traveling abroad, the procedures they undergo and the outcome of the same [5]. However, it is estimated that medical tourism makes 2% of total world tourism and about 4% of all hospital admissions in the world [1]. As there is no systematic monitoring of this phenomenon, it is impossible to get statistical data that would allow comparison of the quality of implementation services of medical tourism between countries and institutions. The existence of such data would enable the creation of international standards and better-informing patients, in order to protect them and/or health systems of countries from which they are leaving, as well as those to whom they come for treatment [3]. So, more research on given topic is required in order to cover existing gaps in the research evidence [6].