A year ago, an Asian had gone to Australia for business. In the course of his stay, he experienced abdominal pain and was rushed to a hospital. He underwent basic medical check-up and diagnostic examinations, and as a result was charged with thousands of dollars. The attending physician inquired if he had medical insurance, or if he was an Australian citizen. He was neither. He was directed to make arrangements for transfer from the hotel he was initially checked in to another, so they could send the bill to that hotel he previously stayed. Accordingly, he was discharged from the hospital without having to pay a single cent. He knew the amount was outrageous. Healthcare in the first world countries is evidently very costly.
Medical tourism, particularly in Asia is absolutely an increasing enticement for the people in the United States. According to recorded statistics in 2009, there are an estimated 46.3 million people without health insurance and more than 120 million with no dental coverage. These numbers are both likely to grow due to high costs of healthcare even in other industrialized countries. Patients in Britain, Canada and other countries awaiting major surgery would just be as eager to take advantage of more affordable foreign health-care options despite the availability of universal health insurances in the respective countries.
Currently, the major centers for medical tourism are Bangkok and Phuket. Six medical facilities in Bangkok can be found with hospital accreditation from the United States. The major attractions in these medical communities are cosmetic surgery and dental treatments; however, eye surgery, kidney dialysis and organ transplantation are among the most common procedures sought by medical vacationers in Thailand. For some patients, Bangkok Phuket Hospital is the premier place to go for sex-change surgery. It is in fact one of the top ten procedures for which patients visit Thailand. India is a newcomer to medical tourism, but is quickly catching up with Thailand, and recently there was an indication that their number of foreign patients is growing by thirty percent every year. It has the best centers for open-heart surgery, pediatric heart surgery, hip and knee replacement, cosmetic surgery, dentistry, bone marrow transplants and cancer therapy, and virtually all of India’s clinics are well-equipped with the latest electronic and medical diagnostic equipment. (Health Tourism in Asia, 2009)
India is a step ahead from its competitors for its technological sophistication and infrastructure to maintain its niche in the market. Indian pharmaceuticals meet the very strict requirements of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Additionally, its quality of care is at par with American standards, and some Indian medical centers even provide services that cannot be found elsewhere, like hip surgery. Patients in India can opt for a hip-resurfacing procedure, in which damaged bone is scraped away and replaced with chrome alloy. This is an operation that costs less and causes less post-operative trauma than the traditional replacement procedure performed in the United States.
According to an article by Salam (2001), Becca Hutchinson articulates about Dubai, an already known destination as a luxury vacation paradise has opened the Dubai Healthcare City. Increasingly more people are opting for healthcare overseas foe a number of reasons such as cost, quality of care, convenience, and progressively more in terms of the opportunity to amalgamate health and wellness, with a holiday. Since the location rests on the Red Sea, it seems to be the largest international medical center connecting Europe and Southeast Asia. Designated to include a new branch of the Harvard Medical School, it also may be the most prestigious foreign clinic on the horizon.
For many years now, foreign educated physicians can be found in the United States. Asia’s Philippines seems to be the leading exporter of this industry; however, it didn’t take long for other Asian nations to take their place. Lately, there has been a decline of doctors in this part of Asia, since many had taken up nursing just to get out of the country and earn more. It is unfortunate that foreign educated physicians who had come from this nation were for a number of years less in demand that they cannot even compete in the worldwide medical tourism arena. However, trends have changed. An apparent rise in the medical practitioner undergraduates had been evident as the demand for foreign nursing services had declined for the time being. The global medical tourism industry is a good source of revenue picking up in the Asian regions, even in the Philippines, at the same time they have improved in terms of resources and quality care has become excellent.
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