An old friend comes to visit and needs medical attention

January 8th, 2010

Medical tourism is on the up and up
An old friend and onetime neighbor flew into town on Wednesday and set about calling up all her old friends. Jenny is a happy, smiling character and it’s always a delight to see her. She interrupted the noisy reunion saying, “I have to get a blood test tomorrow. Can you please arrange it for me? Thanks.”

Yellow pages
At home that evening I scanned the yellow pages looking for blood test laboratories and found one. We picked our friend up early at her hotel and headed for the lab. We found it and the matter was attended to, rather inefficiently, I thought. Jenny was amazed at the low price she had to pay. That’s what started me asking questions about the costs of medical care for overseas visitors.

Many medical tourists
I discovered that Israel receives many medical tourists from the US and other countries who come for the latest medical procedures and operations at substantially lower prices that they would have to pay at home. “The level of medical knowledge is on a par with the US, the surgeons, doctors and medical staff are all first class and the hospitals are five star and lower in price,” explained a doctor. “Have you heard about the number of Israelis who fly out of here for even cheaper medical procedures?” he asked.

Even cheaper
It seems that many Eastern European counties offer medical procedures at low prices and there are Asian and African countries that offer even lower prices.

The Medical Tourism Facilitator
Medical tourism is a well-developed industry. How does one start when a medical problem arises? Sometimes referred to as medical tourism agencies, or a medical travel facilitator, there are companies, including some mom and pop operations, that act as facilitators or middlemen for medical tourism patients engaging in medical tourism. Over the last three or four years, thousands of these companies have popped up, most sporting names synonymous with health and travel.

The costs
The cost of surgery in India, Thailand or South Africa can be one-tenth of what it is in the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less. A heart-valve replacement that would cost $200,000 or more in the US, for example, goes for $10,000 in India. Similarly, a metal-free dental bridge worth $5,500 in the US costs $500 in India, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one-fifth of what it would in the States, and Lasik eye surgery worth $3,700 in the US is available in many other countries for only $730. Cosmetic surgery savings are even greater: A full facelift that would cost $20,000 in the US runs about $1,250 in South Africa.

Where
Popular medical travel destinations include: Argentina, Brunei, Cuba, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and recently, Saudi Arabia, UAE, South Korea, Tunisia and New Zealand.

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This entry was posted on Friday, January 8th, 2010 at 9:07 am and is filed under Personal / Internet. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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