With medical costs rising and millions uninsured or underinsured, patients are paying cash in developing nations to access deeply discounted medical procedures. While medical tourism can be a cost-effective option, the phenomenon is not without risk: communication difficulties, endemic tropical diseases, unregulated hospitals, and organ trafficking complicate the landscape. These risks are precisely what put the well-informed provider in a position to educate patients to safely engage in the process.
The incidence is difficult to calculate. An estimated 50 million patients travel abroad each year seeking medical services and 3–20% of Europeans receive treatment in another European Union country.1,2 Patients cite shorter waiting times, and lower costs as the primary motivators.2 Cardiac surgery or a knee replacement in a developing country can be a fraction of the cost due to currency exchange rates, lower labour costs, fewer regulations, little or no involvement of insurance companies, and low malpractice premiums.3 For example, a cardiac surgery averaging $113 000 (£85 880) in the US is done in India for only $10 000 (£7600).4 Figure 1 shows a cost comparison in GBP.4
Medical tourists usually …