From the December 2011 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine


The Deloitte Center for Health Solutions predicts that approximately 1.6 million Americans will travel outside the country for medical care in 2012, with an anticipated yearly growth of 35 percent. The growth, according to Deloitte, could be the result of several factors, including an increased sophistication of medical tourism operations, demand for cosmetic surgery, and access to low-cost global transportation. The firm forecasts that inbound medical travel will experience slower growth that should total approximately 561,000 medical tourists by 2017.

According to Deloitte, the American Medical Association has established a number of medical tourism guidelines, such as “medical care outside the U.S. should be voluntary” and “coverage for travel outside the U.S. for care must include the costs of follow-up care upon return.” These guidelines are meant to be adhered to by employers, insurance companies, and other facilitators of medical travel outside of the U.S.


Advantages and disadvantages
“The pros include the ability to receive affordable, quality medical treatment, especially for those that don’t have insurance,” Michelle Grant, travel and tourism research manager for Euromonitor International tells DOTmed News in an email. “In some cases, people travel to receive treatments that aren’t available at home or to avoid long lines.”

Wouter Hoeberechts, CEO of WorldMed Assist says medical tourists typically save anywhere from 40 to 90 percent of what their medical procedure would cost at home.

“If they’re not saving at least $5,000, it’s not worth doing,” says Rudy Rupak, president and CEO of PlanetHospital, another facilitator of medical travel.

One of the cons of medical tourism is that it’s difficult to fully evaluate the quality of care, says Grant. “Other [cons] include logistical issues, lack of follow-up support and care, uncertainty over malpractice issues and crowding out of domestic patients,” she adds.

Another disadvantage of medical tourism—perhaps one of the biggest—is the simple fact that many people prefer to be in close proximity to family and friends when they are unwell. Medical procedures are already stressful events without the added anxiety of being in an unfamiliar place far from home.

“Medical travel is not for everybody,” says Hoeberechts. “Traveling for care, whether that’s internationally or domestically, will always be for the smaller minority of patients.”

Medical tourism trends
According to Hoeberechts, there are three major trends currently taking place within the medical tourism industry. “One is softening of the market on the consumer side; [another] is a pretty rapid growth of the market on the corporate side; and finally, a rise of domestic medical travel,” he says.

December 2011 Magazine

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