Medical tourism which is the practice of traveling to another country for health reasons is actually a trade-off. While there are advantages like affordable costs, quality health care, and a chance to recuperate and have a vacation at the same time, there are also risks of medical tourism.
Among these risks are legal and ethical issues. In case problems arise, patients or medical tourists might not be covered by their personal insurance or might not be able to seek damages through malpractice lawsuits. Although many hospitals and clinics abroad have medical malpractice insurance, seeking compensation can prove to be difficult because insurance laws may vary. It is still easier to understand the laws in your own country as well as rules and guidelines regarding malpractice suits.
In some countries, there are also major ethical issues around medical tourism. For example, the illegal purchase of organs and tissues needed for transplant has been alleged in countries such as India and China.
Medical tourists also face the risks of acquiring infectious diseases in countries like Thailand, India, Malaysia, Cuba or Costa Rica which are quite different than in North America and Europe. These patients who are still weak after their surgery have no natural immunity to foreign diseases and this may be one big hazard they have to face.
One thing that should be looked into in medical tourism is the quality of post-operative care. Post-operative care might not have the high standards of US and European standards. For medical procedures that require longer recovery periods, the patient needs to make postoperative arrangements on his own. This could mean consulting a local doctor in his hometown aside from the foreign health care provider that supervised the original surgery or treatment.
Patients should also be cautious in traveling long distances after surgery since this might increase the risks of complications. It is also not recommended to travel alone after surgery. The patient must have at least one companion and this naturally adds up to the cost of the medical vacation.
Scouting the best hospital, clinic and doctors is also one disadvantage for medical tourism. When a patient decides to have his treatment locally, he shops around for hospitals and dental clinics in his neighborhood or nearby cities. The patient can visit them in person and meet with them before the treatment. He can also check out the hospital or clinic where the medical procedure would be administered. This is not possible with medical tourism. However, medical tourism agencies have come up with a comprehensive list of medical facilities which patients can use as guide.
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