Lack of Medical Access Makes the Case for Medical Tourism

Medical Tourism continues to rise to the top of good options. Medical Tourism organizations have established relationships with the world’s most respected medical facilities. World-class surgeons providing procedures in state of the art hospitals at costs savings of up to 80%.
By: Roger LangenbergIt is getting brutal out there when it comes to healthcare. People are literally living in unnecessary pain and suffering, and yes, some are dying, because of the wait associated with necessary and life saving surgery.
In Canada alone, 12% of Canadian doctors recently reported patient deaths due to the inordinate delays in waiting for medical intervention. A study done in 2007 according to medical tourism association and understanding medical tourism revealed the average wait time for patients from referral to treatment was 17.7 weeks. The time in 2009 has only risen from there.
Is there a cure for this symptom of a breaking healthcare system? One answer moving rapidly to the forefront seems to be medical tourism; obtaining medical care at a hospital in a foreign country. If the current economic climate has done nothing else, it has once again brought to our attention the need for accessible and affordable healthcare.
While hospitals are bowing under the weight of administrative and bureaucratic demands, customer service has become almost obsolete. Instead of seeing themselves of service to the public, hospitals see themselves as being indispensable. Rules are structured accordingly to their greater benefit rather than the benefit of their patients.
Thus, people are living in unimaginable suffering in the middle of the wealthiest countries in western civilization. Racked with pain, many also suffer the erosion of their strength, as well as their physical abilities, watching themselves grow weaker. Sometimes, they grow too weak for the very surgery they are waiting for.
Medical tourism is becoming an answer to their prayers. From elective cosmetic to joint replacement or life saving heart surgery, medical tourism is filling the gap between the have and have-nots, on all levels, affordability, accessibility, and accountability.
Medical tourism revolves around arranging medical procedures for patients at state of the art medical facilities in other countries. A growing number of patients are pleasantly surprised at both the Quality and affordability of the surgical and recovery treatment that is available to them now.
In addition, the patients gain the added benefit of recuperating during what amounts to a vacation. Many patients are able to sightsee and experience local tours designed and scheduled to meet their ability before and after their procedures.
The rise in medical tourism has recently captured media attention. In 2007, over 750,000 people in the United States and over 40,000 in Canada needing surgical intervention sought treatment at major hospitals in places like India, Thailand, and Costa Rica. They were helped by the finest in surgical and medical staff trained at places like UCLA Medical and John Hopkins.
Their needs were met at a fraction of the surgical cost associated with the same surgeries they would have received at home. Moreover, the wait time was greatly reduced saving them from weeks of unnecessary pain.
For people across the nation, medical tourism is becoming one more personal weapon that they as patients can now choose in their fight to obtain professional surgical and prompt recovery care. While it may not prove the answer to all of society’s ills, medical tourism has built a solid bridge taking many people from pain and sickness to hope and recovery.