Global Medical Tourism: A Review

Introduction

Medical tourism refers to the practice of travelling to different countries in order to obtain health care facilities. It also refers to the practice of healthcare service providers travelling worldwide to deliver world class healthcare facilities. The services that the travelers are looking for include simple procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as cardiac surgery, dental surgery, joint replacement (knee/hip), and cosmetic surgeries. Nowadays, every type of health care, including alternative treatments, psychiatry, convalescent care and even burial services are also provided. In most of the cases, service providers and customers commonly enter informal channels of communication connection contracts. This is very helpful for both the parties because it means less regulatory or legal hassles to assure quality services for reimbursement or redress, if needed. There are about 50 countries worldwide which have declared medical tourism as a national industry. Since different countries across the globe follow different types of accreditation and quality there are several risks and ethical issues that make medical tourism controversial. There are certain destinations which may become dangerous for medical tourists to travel. The medical tourism also helps to establish peace and a better understanding between the developing countries, because tourism is the best way for the different countries to communicate with each other. Currently, a large number of student volunteers, researchers and health professions trainees from developed countries are working temporarily in third world countries as they are expecting huge boom of work from these areas. The general procedure of medical tourism is as follows: First of all, the person who wants to undergo medical treatment abroad contacts a medical tourism service provider. Then the healthcare provider asks for the patient details such as medical report, nature of ailment, medical history, diagnosis, local doctor’s opinion and may request additional relevant information. After reviewing all the reports, certified medical doctors or consultants then advise them on the course of medical treatment. Then depending upon the patients financial constraints, a choice of hospitals destinations and the duration of stay, etc., are discussed. Then the patient signs a consent bond and obtains a recommendation letter for a medical visa which is procured from the concerned embassy. After completing all the above formalities the patient travels to the destination country. The medical tourism service provider assigns a service executive. They look after all the needs of the patients starting from accommodation, treatment to postoperative care. After the treatment is over, the patient can stay back at the tourist destination for post care treatment or can return back home.