Medical tourism has ballooned into a $100 billion industry, and struggling travel agents want to cash in. But is the lure of cheaper treatment and a possible vacation worth the risk to your health.As medical travel grows in popularity and expands to other countries, U.S. employers need to be educated on the ins and outs of tourism to ensure safety of their employees and avoid fraud. It's also important for patients to do their own research and be prepared to think about the downsides of medical tourism.
Medical Tourism is, at its most basic, the process of traveling outside of a patient’s home region for medical care. Usually it involves traveling internationally, but this is not required. Traditionally, medical travel took place when individuals would travel from a lesser-developed country to receive treatment that was not available in their region. But in the recent past there has been a growing trend of people traveling from well-developed nations to other countries for medical procedures.
Medical tourism Medical Risks increases the risk of nosocomial infections, also referred to as healthcare or hospital acquired infections. For example, if needles are reused between patients or other unsafe injection practices are occurring, serious infections such as hepatitis and HIV can be transmitted.Infections with multiresistant organisms, the spread of noroviruses (common cause of acute gastroenteritis) and mycobacterial infections after cosmetic surgery are well documented cases of medical risks. Patients who cross borders in seek of a medical care are also potentially exposed to infections that they would not normally encounter, thus posing a public health risk when they return home.
Legal risks Patient autonomy and informed consent both represent a cornerstone of bioethics, which can sometimes mean a concerning issue for medical tourists. In the context of medical tourism, informed consent can be influenced by ambiguous or incomplete information on websites, problems in obtaining veracious information about success rates and the quality of care in destination facilities.
Legal Issues Since United States law is rarely enforceable overseas, patients who choose Medical Tourism will have little if any legal recourse in the event that something goes wrong with the procedure. Medical malpractice and negligence can become much tougher issues to deal with in a foreign country than here in the United States. The limited ability to litigate in non-US countries is one reason that the cost of procedures overseas is able to be kept so low.
Ethical Issues While many will argue that Medical Tourism is a safe and viable outlet for quality medical care, there are other camps that point out that ethical issues may still exist that should cause American consumers to be extremely wary of going abroad for surgery. In countries such as China and India, there are still alleged instances of illegal purchases of tissues and organs used for transplant surgeries.
Medical Tourism is, at its most basic, the process of traveling outside of a patient’s home region for medical care. Usually it involves traveling internationally, but this is not required. Traditionally, medical travel took place when individuals would travel from a lesser-developed country to receive treatment that was not available in their region. But in the recent past there has been a growing trend of people traveling from well-developed nations to other countries for medical procedures.
Medical tourism Medical Risks increases the risk of nosocomial infections, also referred to as healthcare or hospital acquired infections. For example, if needles are reused between patients or other unsafe injection practices are occurring, serious infections such as hepatitis and HIV can be transmitted.Infections with multiresistant organisms, the spread of noroviruses (common cause of acute gastroenteritis) and mycobacterial infections after cosmetic surgery are well documented cases of medical risks. Patients who cross borders in seek of a medical care are also potentially exposed to infections that they would not normally encounter, thus posing a public health risk when they return home.
Legal risks Patient autonomy and informed consent both represent a cornerstone of bioethics, which can sometimes mean a concerning issue for medical tourists. In the context of medical tourism, informed consent can be influenced by ambiguous or incomplete information on websites, problems in obtaining veracious information about success rates and the quality of care in destination facilities.
Legal Issues Since United States law is rarely enforceable overseas, patients who choose Medical Tourism will have little if any legal recourse in the event that something goes wrong with the procedure. Medical malpractice and negligence can become much tougher issues to deal with in a foreign country than here in the United States. The limited ability to litigate in non-US countries is one reason that the cost of procedures overseas is able to be kept so low.
Ethical Issues While many will argue that Medical Tourism is a safe and viable outlet for quality medical care, there are other camps that point out that ethical issues may still exist that should cause American consumers to be extremely wary of going abroad for surgery. In countries such as China and India, there are still alleged instances of illegal purchases of tissues and organs used for transplant surgeries.
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