Medical Tourism

With the sway of the palm trees, the whistle of the wind, as the surf splashed an almost endless beach; you observe and quietly ponder this as the closest place to paradise! Within the confine of this paradise there nestles a place close to all kind of amenity. Wouldn’t it be great if we can combine holiday in the sunset beauty of paradise with perhaps medical motives?

Although you came here for holiday, but do you know you can also get your teeth or even surgery done while in enjoy the sight and sound of paradise. This is called Medical Tourism, but you say “ What is medical tourism? “

Medical tourism is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of traveling to another country to obtain health care.

Such services typically include elective procedures as well as complex specialized surgeries such as joint replacement (knee/hip), cardiac surgery, dental surgery, and cosmetic surgeries. The provider and customer use informal channels of communication-connection-contract, with less regulatory or legal oversight to assure quality and less formal recourse to reimbursement or redress, if needed.

Leisure aspects typically associated with travel and tourism may be included on such medical travel trips.

Factors that have led to the increasing popularity of medical travel include the high cost of health care, long wait times for certain procedures, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries.

Medical tourists can come from anywhere in the world, including Europe, the UK, Middle East, Japan, the United States, and Canada. This is because of their large populations, comparatively high wealth, the high expense of health care or lack of health care options locally, and increasingly high expectations of their populations with respect to health care.

A large draw to medical travel is convenience and speed. Countries that operate public health-care systems are often so taxed that it can take considerable time to get non-urgent medical care. The time spent waiting for a procedure such as a hip replacement can be a year or more in Britain and Canada; however, in Singapore, Hong Kong, Thailand, Cuba, Colombia, Philippines or India, a patient could feasibly have an operation the day after their arrival. In Canada, the number of procedures in 2005 for which people were waiting was 782,936.

Additionally, patients are finding that insurance either does not cover orthopedic surgery (such as knee/hip replacement) or imposes unreasonable restrictions on the choice of the facility, surgeon, or prosthetics to be used. Medical tourism for knee/hip replacements has emerged as one of the more widely accepted procedures because of the lower cost and minimal difficulties associated with the traveling to/from the surgery. According to an article by the University of Delaware publication, UDaily:

Popular medical travel worldwide destinations include: India, Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and China for alternative and traditional Chinese medicine like acupuncture

Health tourism providers have developed as intermediaries to unite potential medical tourists with provider hospitals and other organizations. Companies are beginning to offer global health care options that will enable North American and European patients to access world health care at a fraction of the cost of domestic care. Companies that focus on medical value travel typically provide nurse case managers to assist patients with pre- and post-travel medical issues. They also help provide resources for follow-up care upon the patient's return.

However, perceptions of medical tourism are not always positive. In places like the US, which has high standards of quality, medical tourism is viewed as risky. In some parts of the world, wider political issues can influence where medical tourists will choose to seek out health care. SEACBC believe there is a lot of misconception on medical facilities in ASEAN and we would like to demystify these misconceptions by offering and educating Canadian on the actual reality of medical facilities in ASEAN; of course, there will be disparity between countries. Nevertheless, it is always good to know the actual reality vs. misconception.

SEACBC is very excited to embark in this journey of exploration and realization, a dream of assisting those who are in need and those who can assist.

Please watch out for our upcoming event or conference of Medical tourism , a first in Vancouver and perhaps a first in Canada.

If you want to participate in this upcoming event or conference on Medical Tourism, please email us at: info@aseancanada.com

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