TY - JOUR T1 - Medical tourism: the role of the primary care provider JF - BJGP Open JO - Br J Gen Pract Open DO - 10.3399/bjgpopen17X100617 VL - 1 IS - 2 SP - bjgpopen17X100617 AU - Jamie L Weis AU - R Barry Sirard AU - Patrick A Palmieri Y1 - 2017/07/10 UR - http://bjgpopen.org/content/1/2/bjgpopen17X100617.abstract N2 - 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 $10 000 (£7600).4 Figure 1 shows a cost comparison in GBP.4 Figure 1. Comparative costs of medical procedures in different countries in US$.4 CABG = coronary artery bypass grafting.Medical tourists usually … ER -