With skyrocketing
healthcare costs, partial or nil health insurance coverage and unending hospital waiting lists pushing
Western countries and UK to choose medical services in other countries-
hospitals, travel agents, hotels and medical tourism companies in the destiantion countries are collaborating like never before, for this is a gold mine with immense business potential for years to come. The price tag is a definite attraction, added onto a vacation in beautiful locales, excellent facilities, service and hospitality, all packed in so beautifully that travelling for medical care has never seemed so easier.
The destinations to choose from are many - Costa Rica, Thailand, Singapore, India, Malaysia, Dubai, South Africa...( I will talk about the destinations in detail in my future posts ). Effective marketing strategies online and offline, attractive discounts, and word of the mouth have patients flocking to these countries. Everything from pre treatment consultation to post operative care can be arranged thanks to medical tourism companies and hospital marketing teams.
However, it does pose a big question. Is there any one perfect destination to choose from, afterall all of them cannot be the best? Well, the answer is Yes and No. It all depends first upon the hospital you choose, its success rate, positive reviews from previous patients, years of experience, facilities, the credentials of the doctors, more importantly international accreditations given to them such as the
ISO, JCI, ease of communication(English speaking), and added advantages such as quality of locale, destination managements services. For eg, Burmungrad comes highly recommended in Thailand, while Apollo Group in India is world renowned.
Having so many good hospitals and packages to choose from may confound the patient but there is more than enough information available online through websites of hospitals and
healthcare facilitators, health tourism blogs and testimonials by patients who have been to various hospitals abroad. They may also approach their treating physician for advice, contact medical tourism facilitators who can help them familiarise with the best options under the circumstances but without having to forego the quality factor. No company would want to risk its image by directing a client to a poor hospital.
The immense potential has also attracted fraudulent schemes where patients are treated in hotels by quacks, but all it takes is a bit of common sense to realise that a treatment no matter how affordable or simple it may be, cannot be carried out in a hotel room. So if you have your head in the right place and can spend some time on the net researching you will get more than enough information pointing to the common names of the best hospitals and destinations for your treatment. Its worth the effort and your money.
Having more than one good hospital and destination to choose from helps you to decide the best package for you, the best place near home or for some the best place for a vacation far from home, the best place to recuperate. It is also a relief to know you have so many options on a global scale which can be equivalent or better than the medical care you receive in your home. country.