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Posts Tagged ‘Medical Tourism’

In the past two decades, there has been a complete turnaround in the number of people globally who seek and undergo cosmetic surgery. The fact that more people aim to alter, modify and improve physical and aesthetic appearance is very obvious and is simply uncontested. However, there has been a drastic change in the cosmetic surgery sector. Globally, many people go abroad to undergo different cosmetic procedures.

While in the past, cosmetic and plastic surgery were usually preferred to be conducted at developed and sophisticated facilities in the United States and in other first-world countries, nowadays, the emergence of medical tourism has made going to other countries a viable and reasonable option. Despite the fact that quality of such medical procedures has not deteriorated in developed countries, many people now prefer to ‘be done’ elsewhere.

The dominating trend in the sector for global cosmetic surgery is governed by affordability. Prices abroad of common and special aesthetic surgical procedures, like liposuction, breast augmentation, face lift, tummy-tuck, rhinoplasty and laser hair removal, are drastically lesser compared to costs of having such procedures done in the US or in UK, for example. Further, aggressive marketing strategies implemented by offshore plastic surgeons and their clinics are persuading more people to fly to other countries for any cosmetic operations.

Medical tourism is providing more people chances to finally take the cosmetic surgery procedure they need and want. The growing marketplace abroad for such medical procedures is further lowering consumers’ expenses. As for safety, much to rave about is the fact that most plastic surgeons and professional staff in clinics abroad have also received medical education and training in Europe or in the US. Almost all are also striving to secure international accreditation and certification to assure potential patients of their safety, reliability and standard quality of services.

When choosing a country for plastic surgery, it is important to focus on overall safety. Many countries, especially in the third world, are offering the lowest costs. Do your research and determine the safety and satisfaction rate in such clinics. If you have colleagues or friends who have undergone cosmetic surgery abroad, you might ask them advices or recommendations. While it is your goal to save on costs, remember not to miss on making sure your overall safety is not compromised. Here are some additional guidelines.

Choose cosmetic clinics in nations near your home country. Patients in the American continents could travel to Mexico, Costa Rica, Panama and Brazil. The Asia Pacific region has the most aggressive and less costly plastic surgery offerings in Thailand, the Philippines, China, India and Malaysia. In Europe, Turkey, Ukraine and Malta have good, reputable and very cheap cosmetic surgery clinics.
Plan well and ahead of schedule. In the United States and UK, it may take months before cosmetic surgery procedures push through, despite high costs. In other countries, scheduling can be finalized within just days. Just make sure you do not travel during peak tourist seasons to avoid travel hassles. Allot a few days for recovery after the face surgery, tummy-tuck, breast augmentation or rhinoplasty. Traveling by air after surgical procedures is not advised as doing so may lead to pulmonary embolisms or blood-clot formations. Take several days to rest, relax and recover.
Many medical travel tours even offer vacation packages. After your surgical operation, there will be several additional days of vacation at beaches and tourist sites, included in package deals. Just be careful not to enjoy too much as it may cause bleeding and infection to the wound. Just relax and enjoy your getaway.
Do a simple research about the overall security and consumer protection legislations in the country of your choice. Is the country notorious for not imposing laws that guarantee patients’ and consumers’ overall safety and protection? If the country could not offer safety blankets to its citizens, at least when it comes to cosmetic surgery procedures, do not expect it to extend such provisions to traveling patients and medical tourists.

Travelers are globe-trotting these days to destinations around the world are increasingly popular for seven types of medical care, driven by excellent care, lower costs, beautiful and unforgettable locations and faster health care services.

Highly qualified and experienced doctors and physicians working in internationally accredited and certified hospitals and clinics in all specialties provide high standards in quality of care to individuals around the world. Individuals around the globe seeking affordable and accessible healthcare services are increasingly looking beyond domestic borders for such care.

Rising Health Care Costs Driving Global Medical Tourism
Rising health care costs in the U.S., coupled with the uncertainty of new health care legislation prompts growing numbers of Americans to travel abroad for cheaper medical procedures and surgery. Surgery costs abroad are less expensive than the U.S. because, for the most part, due to lower medical malpractice insurance costs.

The cost of medical care in the U.S. has increased substantially, in conjunction with the need for medical care providers to carry increasingly high levels of such insurance, which in turn drives up the care for everything from a wellness check to heart valve replacement surgery.

Lack of accessibility to quality medical care and choices in medical care is driving inhabitants around the Middle East, Africa, and Central Europe beyond their own borders in search of options when it comes to their health and wellness.

A handful of procedures continue to rank high in popularity with travelers seeking the best in care in destinations from Costa Rica and Panama to South Korea, Croatia and Jordan. Tourism destination favorites such as Singapore and Thailand continue to offer world-class treatments and procedures, but other countries and their world-class facilities are fast catching up.

7 Most Popular Medical Procedures Abroad
A handful of the most popular procedures sought after by travelers offers big savings, effective treatments and optimal prognosis and results in a variety of fields, including:

Gastric bypass is generally performed using a technique called Roux-en-Y, a procedure that reduces the size of the stomach to create a pouch that accepts no more than an ounce or so of food at a time. In Great Britain and the U.S., costs for bariatric surgery can cost up to ,000. The same technique performed in India costs roughly ,500, while South American destination costs hover around ,000.

Conventional hip replacement surgery involves large incisions made around the hip joint. Muscles are detached, the ball joint of the hip removed and replaced with a prosthesis or artificial joint. The artificial joint is attached to the thighbone with materials that allow bone to reattach to the new joint or by using a cement-like product.

Minimally invasive surgery involves a one or two incision technique where the length of the incisions are half those that are commonly used for the conventional hip replacement surgeries. Other than the size of the incision, the technique for the actual replacement of the ball joint is the same as that in the conventional surgery.

Patients from Iraq, Nigeria and locations throughout east-central Europe traveling to India, Singapore and Thailand benefit from hip replacement surgical procedures that cost about ,000. In India, costs range around ,000-,000.

Infertility Treatments – IVF
Eggs and sperm are collected outside of the body and placed together in a laboratory dish to form into an embryo or embryos in a lab environment. After fertilization, they are then placed into the uterus of a female recipient. In vitro fertilization is an option for any couple who have been unsuccessful with other methods.

In the United States, the average cost of one cycle of IVF may average ,400. The same procedure in the Argentina costs around ,000, while Thailand facilities offer the same procedures for about ,500.

Heart valve replacement surgery replaces heart valves that have narrowed and obstructed blood flow into or out of the heart. Heart valve replacement surgeries are often indicated for those suffering from congenital heart valve diseases or those suffering from heart conditions such as rheumatic valve disease, coronary artery disease, heart attack damage, cardiomyopathy or heart muscle disease.

Heart valve replacement or repair in the United States costs an average of ,000 per valve. Mitral valve replacement may cost around ,000 to ,000, depending on hospital location. Multiple valve replacement surgical procedures may cost up to 0,000.

Medical travelers to India, Jordan and Singapore receive quality of service at greater savings, with single valve replacements generally costing around ,500 and double valve replacements costing around ,500.

Advanced techniques offer multiple surgical procedures including but not limited to breast augmentation or reduction, facelifts, nose surgery and tummy  tucks. Liposuction in the U.S., Great Britain and in France or Germany can cost nearly ,000 per area of the body, while liposuction on two or more areas may cost as much as ,000. Liposuction in India costs one tenth of what it costs in the United States. In Argentina, the breast lift, augmentation or reduction procedures cost roughly ,500, and even a bit less in exotic locales like Thailand.

Stem Cell Research and Procedures
Today, stem cell research offers potential treatments for the future that may cure many disease processes, enable people with spinal cord injuries to walk again, and perhaps even see an end to cognitive impairment diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s Disease.

Stem cell therapies today involve the use of embryonic stem cells, adult stem cell therapy and research, and umbilical cord  or placenta stem cell therapy methodologies. The cost of placenta stem cell therapies in the U.S. in the future are projected to be  ,000-,000 depending on the number of implants, though placenta stem cell treatments in Mexico are approximately ,000. Costs in other locations are competitive.

Dentistry
Traditional dental techniques as well as cosmetic dental procedures are becoming increasingly popular. Some of the most popular dental procedures include but are not limited to dental implants, crowns and bridges.

Travelers to South American destinations may average a 50% to 75% savings for the same procedure. The cost of a crown will vary by the type of crown chosen, but may range between 0 and ,000. In central Europe and Asian dental facilities, crowns average about 5 to 0. Bonding can run between 0 and 0 a tooth.

You can request additional information about Medical Procedures Overseas by calling +1.303.578.0719 or info@placidway.com.

Dictionary.com defines outsourcing as “a practice used by different companies to reduce costs by transferring portions of work to outside suppliers rather than completing it internally”. The term which has been generally associated with the automobile industry was popularized during the past decade by the computer or IT industry. But when it is the health industry in question, how does outsourcing work there? What is outsourced and how?

If you are thinking it’s the drug manufacturing that is outsourced, you are wrong. Nor is it the bookkeeping that is outsourced. What is outsourced is the patient himself or rather he chooses to have his treatment done offshore. The driving cause is the high cost of health care in his home country. Or in certain other cases, the long waits before he can get the needed treatment.

So, medical outsourcing or offshore medical which is also commonly known as medical tourism is the practice of seeking health care abroad. But, who provides these outsourcing services?

There are lots of offshore health care providers in the form of hospitals and clinics participating in this business. Some of them can be found on the other side of the border while others may be a few oceans across. Examples include those in India, Singapore, Thailand, Mexico, Turkey, Panama, Costa Rica, Brazil, Argentina, Belgium, and so on. Some of them give excellent service – even superior to what you can get at home using the latest technology and by world-renowned surgeons – while others may not be as great. To show their commitment towards top quality, many providers also have international accreditations like JCI, JACHO, ISO, etc. Some have strategic alliances with well-known US health care providers like Cleveland Clinic, Harvard Medical International and Johns Hopkins.

International health care providers are able to provide you with high quality treatment at an affordable cost mainly because of low labor cost, low administrative cost, low malpractice cost and low living cost in their country. That’s the same reason why IT companies started outsourcing.

Now the obvious question arises – how do you find the right provider for your needs? The answer is do research. There are lots of resources available – news, articles, blogs, forums, testimonials, etc. Many people find it useful to work with a health tourism facilitator or medical tourism facilitator like Healthbase (http://www.healthbase.com). They are specialized facilitators who carefully screen and partner with international healthcare providers that meet up to the high standards of patients from the US, the UK, Canada, etc. They also help patients with all the logistics involved in getting a surgery abroad.

There are a few other things that you will need to do for a successful experience in getting your surgery overseas. Getting into the details of all of them is beyond the scope of this article. Here are some of them: doing a thorough research on the surgery in question to establish your suitability for it as well as for medical tourism, getting to learn about your medical travel destination, arranging all your medical records and sending them to the international hospital, securing passport and visa, booking tickets, and more. You may want to start here: http://www.healthbase.com/resources/medical-tourism/medical-tourism-information.

Earlier, people would go abroad mostly for elective cosmetic procedures which were not covered by insurances. Today, people outsource their orthopedic procedures as well as cardiac surgeries as well as organ transplants. It’s not just individuals who are interested in this trend to save money. Medical outsourcing has also received attention from health insurance companies who have started offering overseas treatment plans to expand their customer base, and from employers who have included it as a benefit to their employees.

At the time of writing this article, neither Merriam Webster nor Dictionary.com had an entry for “medical outsourcing”. But given the speed with which the trend is spreading, pretty soon they will have to update their dictionaries.

You can learn more about medical outsourcing, the details of the process, international healthcare providers and arrange your surgery by logging on to http://www.healthbase.com. Healthbase.com is a medical tourism facilitator committed to providing low-cost high quality medical travel services to the global medical consumer.