- Share This Post
- submit
- 0
-
Sparkle (0)
Keep an eye on the growing trend of medical tourism. I predict it will become more prominent in coming years.
This prediction was made by popular populist physician Dr. Andrew Weil, on his Yahoo blog, Healthy Living. I predict that Dr. Weil's prediciton will come true. Then again, that's not a risky bet to take, since I have had a front row seat to the growth of medical tourism, and I"d say it's already getting more prominent. According to the Deloitte Center For Health Solutions, in 2007, an estimated 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical care. That number is estimated to increase to six million by 2010, an annual growth rate of more than 100% in 3 years (Deloitte based its findings on an online survey of more than 3,000 Americans).
Dr Weil notes that medical tourism is being driven by individuals who can't afford medical treatment here, but also by those who want better quality care than they can get domestically. Deloitte echoes this noteworthy finding, declaring that "The safety and quality of care available in many offshore settings is no longer an issue."
Weil also points out that medical tourism is increasingly being used by employers who see this as a less expensive way to insure their workers' health. Whether you fall in the 'health care is a right" Obama camp or a "health care is a responsibility" McCain camp, this is good news for
the millions of small business owners and employees who are currently uninsured in America.
Some of Weil's facts are behind the times. While he notes that the medical tourism 'destinations of choice' are India, Thailand, Singapore, and Malaysia, the fact of the matter is, Mexico is the #1 destination for medical travelers, with nearly 500,000 patients crossing the border in the past year. Mexico is a particularly popular destination for weight loss surgery; in Health Travel Guides' provider network alone, Dr. Armando Joya, gastroenterologist surgeon, has performed more than 4,000 bariatric procedures in the past 5 years, and surgeons at Grupo Angeles and ABC Hospital have, as well, performed thousands of the procedures on American patients.
Dr. Weil is correct when he notes that medical travelers are seeking more than 'face lifts or tummy tucks'; medical travel is an option for serious patients in need of serious medical care, including heart surgery, hip replacements and other essential care.
Weil notes that he has read that "Thailand's Bumrungrad Hospital is as luxurious as any resort hotel and boasts a staff of 500 physicians with international training and state-of-the-art medical technology. India is aiming to lead the world in medical tourism, and its hospital boom is luring back Indian physicians who trained abroad, but are willing to work there for far less than they would earn in the United States or elsewhere in the West"
Other countries are doing even more, and faster, to attract medical travelers. For example, in Mexico alone, StarMedica Hospital Group has built 7 hosptials in the last 5 years,AmeriMed Hospital Group is opening 10 new hosptials by 2012, and Grupo Angeles, Mexico's largest private hosptial group,
is investing $700 million to build 12 hosptials in the next 3 years.
As Weil points out, these hospitals are not only often better staffed and equipped than most North American hospitals, they also treat clients well, allowing post-operative patients to stay several days longer than they would in America, where early discharges are common because of cost concerns.
The July 26, 2000, issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association notes that the health of Americans ranks second to last among 13 wealthy industrialized countries. In 2001, the World Health Organization looked at the 23 countries that spend the most for health care and the U.S. ranked #1, roughly twice the
average of the other countries. For all that money, shouldn't the U.S. rank higher than barely above the Czech Republic in healthy life expectancy?
Harvard Business School said (The Rise of Medical Tourism) that "from humanity's standpoint, medical tourism is something we ought to celebrate." Particularly, they might have added, for Americans.
