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What is medical tourism
Medical tourism (also called medical travel, health tourism and global health) is a term originally coined by travel agencies and the media to describe the rapidly growing practice of traveling outside country to obtain health care. It also refers disparagingly to the practice of medical professionals travel the world to deliver [health 1] [2].
Services sought by travelers typically include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee / hip), Surgery cardiac, dental surgery and cosmetic surgery. However, virtually all types of health care, including psychiatry, alternative treatments, convalescent care and even burial services available. In practice, suppliers and customers commonly use informal channels of communication, the connection the contract, and in these cases, this tends to mean less regulatory or legal oversight to assure quality and less formal recourse to reimbursement or compensation, if necessary [citation needed].
Top 50 countries have identified medical tourism as an industry. [3] However, accreditation and other measures of quality vary widely around the world, and there are risks and ethical issues make this method of access to controversial medical [citation needed care]. In addition, some destinations may be hazardous or even dangerous for medical tourists to contemplate.
In the global health context, the "medical tourism" is a pejorative, because for travel suppliers such health care was often the practice their areas of expertise or have different (ie lower) standards of care [4] [5]. A greater number than ever of student volunteers, interns health professionals, and researchers from resource-rich countries are working temporarily and anticipating future work in areas that lack of resources [5] [6]. This highlights the importance of understanding this definition others.
History
The concept of medical tourism is not new. The first recorded case medical tourism dates back thousands of years ago when Greek pilgrims traveled from all over the Mediterranean to the small territory in the Saronic Gulf called Epidaurians. This territory was the sanctuary of the healing god Asclepius. Epidaurians became the original travel destination for medical tourism.
Spa towns and sanitariums may be considered an early form of medical tourism. In the eighteenth century in England, for example, patients visited the spas and places that were supposedly health-giving mineral waters, treating diseases from gout to liver disorders and bronchitis. [3]
Description
The factors that have led to growing popularity of medical travel include the high cost of health care, long waiting times for certain procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in technology and standards of care in many countries [7].
Medical tourists can come from anywhere in the developed world, including Europe, Middle East, Japan, USA and Canada. This is due to its large population, comparatively high wealth, the high cost of health care or lack of options health care locally, and increasingly high expectations of their populations with respect to health care. An authority on the Harvard Business School said recently that "medical tourism is promoted much more strongly in the United Kingdom than in the United States" [8].
A Deloitte forecasts Consulting published in August 2008 provides that medical tourism originating in the U.S. could be a factor of ten during the next decade. An estimated 750,000 Americans traveled abroad for health care in 2007, and the report estimates that a million and a half to seek health care outside the U.S. in 2008. The growth in tourism Medical costs have the potential to USA professionals in the health of millions of dollars in lost revenue [9].
A big draw is medical and travel comfort and speed. Countries that operate public systems of health care are often so taxed that can take considerable time for non-emergency medical care. Using Canada as an example, an estimated 782 936 Canadians spent time in the waiting lists for doctors in 2005, waiting an average of 9.4 weeks. [10] Canada has set benchmarks in waiting time, for example, 26 weeks for a hip replacement and 16 weeks for cataract surgery, for medical procedures non-urgent [11].
In addition, patients find that insurance does not cover orthopedic surgery (such as knee / hip) or imposes unreasonable restrictions in the choice of the facility, surgeon, or prosthetics to be used. Medical Tourism knee / hip replacements has become one of the procedures widely accepted because of its low cost and minimal difficulties associated with traveling to / from the surgery. Colombia is a knee replacement for about $ 5,000, including all associated costs, such as FDA approved prosthetics and hospital stay costs. However, many clinics quote prices that are not all inclusive and include only the surgeon's fees associated with the procedure [12].
According to an article published by the University of Delaware publication, UDaily:
"The cost of surgery in India, Thailand or South Africa can be one-tenth of what is in the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less. A replacement heart valve would cost $ 200,000 or more in the U.S., for example, costs $ 10,000 in India – and that includes airfare roundtrip and a brief vacation package. Similarly, a metal-free dental bridge worth $ 5,500 in U.S. costs $ 500 in India, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one fifth of what would be in the United States, and Lasik eye surgery worth $ 3,700 in U.S. is Available in many other countries for only $ 730. Cosmetic surgery savings are even greater: A full facelift that would cost U.S. $ 20,000 runs about $ 1,250 in South Africa [12]. "
Popular destinations doctors worldwide travel include: Argentina, Brunei, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and recently, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Korea South, Tunisia and New Zealand. [3]
Popular cosmetic surgery travel destinations are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Turkey. In South America, countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia have a plastic surgery medical skills relying in their experienced plastic surgeons. In Bolivia and Colombia, plastic surgery has become very common. According to the "Sociedad Boliviana Surgery Plastic, Reconstructive and "over 70% of women of middle and upper class in the country have had any plastic surgery. Colombia also offers advanced care in cardiovascular surgery and transplantation.
In Europe Belgium, Poland and Slovakia are also breaking into the business. South Africa taking the term "medical tourism" very literally by promoting their "medical safaris" [13].
A subset specialized medical tourism is reproductive tourism and reproductive outsourcing, [14], which is the practice of traveling abroad to undergo in vitro fertilization, pregnancy, rental and other assisted reproductive technology treatments including freezing embryos for retro-production [15].
However, perceptions of medical tourism are not always positive. In places like the U.S., which has high levels of quality, medical tourism is seen as risk. In some parts of the world, wider political issues can influence the medical, where tourists will choose to seek medical attention.
Health care providers of tourism has been developed as intermediaries to unite potential medical tourists with provider hospitals and other organizations. Companies are beginning to offer options for global health care to allow American and European patients to access health care in the world at a fraction of the cost of home care. Companies that focus on the medical value and travel nurses typically provide case managers to assist with pre-and post-travel medical issues. They also help provide resources for follow-up care after the patient's return.
Process
The typical process is as follows: the person seeking medical treatment abroad in contact with a medical tourism provider. The provider usually requires the patient to submit a medical report, including the nature of the disease, local medical opinion, medical history and diagnosis, and may request additional information. certified medical doctors or consultants then advise on medical treatment. The estimated charges, the choice of hospitals and tourist destinations, and length of stay, etc, is discussed. After signing consent bonds and agreements, the patient is given letters of recommendation for a medical visa, to be the embassy of that question. The patient travels to the country of destination, where medical tourism provider assigns a case executive, who manages the patient's accommodation, treatment and other form of attention. Once the treatment is carried out, the patient may remain in the destination or return home.
International Accreditation health
Because standards are important when it comes to healthcare, there are parallel issues in medical tourism, international accreditation health, evidence-based medicine and quality assurance.
The oldest international accreditation body for accreditation Canada before known as the Canadian Council on Health Services Accreditation attesting Bermuda Hospital Board as soon as 1968. Since then it has accredited hospitals and organizations health services in ten countries.
In the United States, the group is best known for accreditation from the Joint Commission International (JCI). Them have been the inspection and accreditation of health facilities and hospitals outside the United States since 1999. [16] Many international hospitals today see obtaining international accreditation as a way to attract American patients [17].
Joint Commission International is a relative of the Mixed Commission in the United States. Both are private independent sector of nonprofit organizations that develop nationally and internationally recognized procedures and standards to help improve care and safety the patient. They work with hospitals to help meet Joint Commission standards for patient care and then prove to hospitals that meet the standards [18].
In the United Kingdom and Hong Kong, the regime of Trent International Accreditation is a key player. The various international accreditation systems health vary in quality, size, cost, intent and the skill and intensity of marketing. They also vary in terms of cost to hospitals and healthcare institutions making use of them. [19] A forecast by Deloitte Consulting on medical tourism published in August 2008 noted the value of accreditation to ensure the quality of health care and specifically mentioned JCI and Trent ISQUA [8].
Increasingly, some hospitals are looking towards dual international accreditation, perhaps having both JCI to cover potential U.S. clientele, Trent for potential British and European customers and Canadian accreditation. As a result of competition between clinics for American medical tourists, have been initiatives to rank hospitals based on metrics reported by the patient [20].
Other organizations contributing to the quality practices include:
- The International Society for Health Accreditation (SOFIHA), a free-to-join group providing a forum for discussion and exchange of ideas and best practices of international health care providers accreditation and users thereof. The main function of this organization is to promote a safe environment for patients in the hospital [21].
- The United Kingdom Accreditation Forum (UKAF) is a consolidated network of accreditation organizations with the intention of the practice of sharing the good experiences and new ideas about the methodology accreditation programs, which cover issues such as development of quality health standards, the application of rules within organizations health, evaluation of peer review and exploration of the techniques of peer review include the recruitment, training, monitoring and evaluation referees and the mechanisms for granting accredited status to organizations [22].
References
- ^ Shaywitz, DA, and Ausiello, DA (2002). World Health: A chance for Western physicians to give – and receive. The American Journal of Medicine, 113, 354-357.
- ^ Bezruchka, S. (2000). Medical tourism as medical harm to the Third World: Why? For whom? Desert and Environmental Medicine, 11, 77-78.
- ^ A Gahlinger bcd, PM. The Medical Tourism Travel Guide: Your Complete Reference to the highest quality, low cost dental, cosmetic, medical care and surgery overseas. Exit Sun River Press, 2008
- ^ Roberts, M. (2006). Duffle Bag Medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association 295, 1491-1492.
- ^ A b Pinto, AD, and Upshur, REG (2009). World Health Ethics for Students. Development World Bioethics, 9, 1-10.
- ^ James, D. (1999). Going Global. The new doctor, 48, Online. Retrieved on May 7, 2009. [1].
- ^ A b Laurie Goering, "For big surgery, it is Delhi," The Chicago Tribune, March 28, 2008
- ^ Lagacé, Martha "The growth of medical tourism", Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, December 17, 2007. Retrieved on July 1, 2008.
- ^ Linda A. Johnson, "Americans look abroad to save on Health Care: Medical tourism could jump tenfold in the next decade, "The San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2008
- ^ The private cost of the Civil Lines at 2005, the Fraser Institute
- ^ The shorter waiting times for some procedures doctors: report., Canwest News Service
- ^ A b "increased tourism health worldwide "by Becca Hutchinson, UDaily, July 25, 2005, retrieved September 5, 2006
- ^ "The Medical tourism: a need surgery, will travel "CBC News Online, June 18, 2004, retrieved September 5, 2006
- ^ LG Jones CA, Keith. Medical tourism and reproductive outsourcing: the dawning of a new paradigm for health. Int J Fertil Women Med, 2006; 51:251-255
- ^ Jones C, "Ethical and legal conundrums of postmodern procreation" Int J Obstet Gynaecol December 4, 2007
- ^ "Certifications Medical Tourism Industry and Information "
- ^ "Medical Tourism Magazine, Association of Medical Tourism, February 2008
- ^ Http://www.jointcommission.org/AboutUs/Fact_Sheets/jci_facts.htm
- ^ "INDIA: Accreditation a necessity," International Travel Medical Journal
- ^ Http://www.worldhospitalmonitor.com
- SOFIHA ^ – Welcome to SOFIHA
- ^ United Kingdom Accreditation Forum
About the Author
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