What if you could get top-notch medical care by highly skilled, U.S.-trained physicians in a world-class medical facility, all at a cost far less than treatment in the United States? It is called medical tourism, and hundreds of thousands of Americans each year are doing it. They go for dental treatment in Mexico, for hip replacement in Thailand, for heart surgery in India, and for cosmetic and weight loss surgery that costs as little as a tenth what they would pay in the United States.
Medical tourism is one of the fastest-growing businesses on earth. With the rising price of treatment in the UK and long waiting lists, there's never been a better time to combine a trip abroad with a treatment. Plus many other countries have not been affected by the deadly MRSA bug in the same way that the UK has—another reason why going outside the UK is an attractive option. Hospitals overseas are clean and well-staffed, and this is the guide to know where to go.
The Complete Idiot's Guide(r) to Medical Travel covers the financial advantages and treatment options for those who choose to travel abroad for health care. The guide will also show readers how to minimize risks as they search for the right countries, facilities, and doctors to meet their medical needs. Readers will learn how to identify and work with travel agencies that specialize in medical travel and what to expect in terms of follow-up care.
In 2004, at the age of fifty-three, self-employed contractor Howard Staab learns that a leaking mitral valve in his heart needs to be repaired. Left untreated, his doctors tell Stabb, his condition may kill him at any moment. The procedure to repair the heart valve costs at least $200,000 at the Durham Regional Hospital near Stabb's North Carolina home-if there are no complications.
Patients Beyond Borders is the first comprehensive, easy-to-understand guide to medical tourism, written by the world's leading spokesperson on international health travel. Impartial, extensively researched and filled with authoritative and accessible advice carefully culled from hundreds of resources in the US and abroad.
Western patients are increasingly traveling to developing countries for health care and developing countries are increasingly offering their skills and facilities to paying foreign customers. This international trade in medical services has huge economic potential for developing countries and serious implications for health care across the globe. The potential is explored in this book through analysis of the market for medical tourism and identification of its link to economic growth.
