There are enough good reasons to try for medical tourism but one has to introspect deep within before deciding on it. Patients should consider whether or not they enjoy travelling abroad or are able to interact with a different language and culture group—this factor is especially important when the treating professionals can’t communicate in your native language. If patients are instinctively not comfortable communicating with individuals that are culturally different from them, then medical tourism may not be the right option for that person.
Examples of these include, “Do you have the means to travel abroad” or “Do you enjoy interacting with individuals of another culture?” Let us first discuss why should you try medical tourism. The reasons can be as follows:
Reasons you should try for medical tourism
Low Cost
The monetary concerns reign supreme when it comes to treatment of your own or a family member. The best thing about medical tourism is that it cuts down your medical expenses by an approximate 50 to 60 percent. In developed countries like the US and Canada, the cost of the general dental surgeries have skyrocketed and most middle class people cannot afford timely medication, medical checkups or elaborate surgeries. The same treatments at a good nursing home in a developing country along with accommodation and plane fare would cost only half of what you have to spend at your native land.
Patient Care and Services
There is a misconception in the mind of people that nursing homes in developing countries provide patient care and services at low cost. For example at the Bumrungrad or Bangkok International Hospital, Thailand the cost of a suite for the patient includes living room, one large bedroom, two bathrooms at only $200. You can get food, internet connectivity through Wi-Fi and Flat screen TVs. The patient care personnel are well qualified nurses. Warmth and care are given out to both the patients and their family members. Some of the nursing homes also provide translators to remove the language barrier.
Efficiency
A great thing about medical tourism is that the doctors and surgeons are first-rated who’ve earned their degrees from the top medical schools in the US or other developed countries. Most of the medical tourism facilities have got approval from the western medical associations of great repute and prestige.
Instant Accessibility
Unlike developed countries, where even getting an X-ray done takes weeks, patients get treatment faster. Treatment starts as soon as you confirm your admission.
Chance of Traveling
A chance to visit exotic locales and being treated by best doctors at the same time is really lucrative. South African hospitals offer a wildlife safari along with the treatment. Many other nursing homes include city tours in the treatment package.
If you need critical support
If you are facing a critical health issue or have some disease for which you are not taking proper treatment because of high cost factors, then medical tourism might be required for you. If you really want to get well in the best and fastest possible manner, then waiting to find a cheap surgical procedure within your country would not be a good idea. You can get far better services at affordable costs at various international locations where you may not only get treated for your disease, but can also relax and enjoy a break from your hassled schedule.
Medical tourism is an excellent idea if you want to go for an expensive cardiac surgery or organ replacement. If your home country does not have proper facilities to make this happen successfully, you should go to a neighboring country where accredited healthcare facilities are available with world-class infrastructure. You may meet their talented doctors and caretakers who can offer the best treatment and aftercare services to you. Also, an efficient medical tourism services provider can comfortably arrange for your travel and lodging in the new country. These service providers take care of all your travel and medical needs.
Waiting long for a treatment
If you were long waiting for a cosmetic surgery done but were unable to get the right treatment plan in your country, it is time to consider medical tourism. You may get both recreation and healthcare in a single package. It is also easy to find the right medical tourism services company as there is usually an area-based online database available for them. In addition, some complex diseases cannot find effective solutions at your local clinics. There has to be a specialized treatment plan for you to get rid of it. Thus, you may need to look for some specialists in that medical area who could make things well. These talented specialists might be based in another country that has a track record of providing superior medical services through certified professionals.
Now let’s talk of some possible areas of discomfort and inconvenience that should be factored while deciding on medical tourism.
How do you feel about traveling abroad?
If you are not an avid traveler, have not boarded a plane so far either and have an innate fear of flying, traveling overseas for a medical procedure or a surgery will not be a good decision for you. It will only add more stress to your already beleaguered health condition to complicate things further and that too, on a foreign land that you know nothing about or had never visited in the past.
The second thing to consider is to count on your capacity to travel through air. If the very thought of getting on an airplane makes you nervous or sick, you should better search for all the best options that are available within your own country. Try to get and exploit the best deal available within your home country to avoid traveling overseas for the same. However, if you find nothing affordable and good enough that suits your medical requirements, try finding the closest destination to your home country which is not only more affordable but also easily accessible for you.
A potential medical tourist should know how to swiftly travel abroad and manage different things at various airports on his way to a medical tourism destination. You might have to change your flights if you are traveling for example from USA to Australia or India. In another case, if you do not have to change any flight, you should not worry.
about spending (sometimes even more than 3-4 hours) time on different airports as your flight might be struck there for hours to refuel.
If you are boarding the plane for the first time, you should know about Jetlag. When you travel from one time zone to another, the contradictory time zones might have some adverse effect on your health. You should not only know about this thing, but should also be able to handle it. It could take around 3-4 days at times to thoroughly recover from the jet lag. Feeling good about traveling through plane is an essential trait that a potential medical tourist should possess.
Do you enjoy interacting with different language and culture groups?
In order to be a potential medical tourist, you should not necessarily be a jovial person or the one who loves interacting with people and traveling different countries. However, you should be at ease to interact with people at least since, during your medical trip, you are supposed to interact with people from different cultural, religious and racial backgrounds.
Even when you travel to a country where people speak your language, you should do your utmost to understand their cultural, racial or religious background. For example, if you are traveling from US to Australia, UK etc, the language might be the same but the culture can differ considerably. If you do not feel comfortable communicating with people from different cultures or individuals who do not speak and understand your language, medical tourism might not be an option for you.
This is extremely important when it comes to communicate with the healthcare professionals at a facility who do not understand and communicate in your native language. If the very thought of using a translator to discuss your medical history or things related to your treatment makes you nervous, you should reconsider your decision.
Many people love traveling. Such people enjoy the idea of traveling abroad to interact with people they never met before, know more about a new land and prevalent cultures. For such people, medical tourism combines tourism with healthcare to provide the added bonus of exciting new experiences, besides the affordability and accessibility factors that encouraged them to travel abroad for medical care. Hence, it is critical to evaluate your likings, dislikes and your nature to maximize the benefits of medical tourism and obtain optimal care at a foreign location.
Can you trust a foreign facility or provider?
If you are fundamentally uncomfortable with the idea of medical treatment in a facility abroad, you should reconsider you decision to use the medical tourism option.
If you are at ease with the type of facilities you enjoy back at home, decide against traveling abroad for healthcare, because this decision will put you out of your comfort zone. You should also consider the socio-political scenario of the destination country. Take into account the political stability, unrest, any foretelling of natural disaster like heavy rain and storm that could occur anytime, or crime rate to ensure your complete safety.
You need to check for credibility and accreditation of the medical service provider in a country overseas in detail. Confirm from those who have already been to the facility and read customer reviews on various online portals to know the kind of care that particular facility provides.
Many facilities participating in medical tourism have affiliation from renowned medical institutes. You might find hospitals at medical tourist destinations having collaboration with Harvard Medical School or Johns Hopkins to attract US citizens, as they are familiar with these affiliations. Sometimes, the medical institutes do such collaborations just to ensure medical tourists that they take the issue of high quality care very seriously.
Know and confirm everything in advance and use various online and offline sources. If you are able to trust any facility, only then decide visiting that facility in person for medical care. Check if the hospital has affiliation from the renowned medical institute.
Do you have all the means ready for the medical travel?
Confirm if your passport is still valid. Know the time duration that you are going to stay in a foreign country. How long does it take to obtain a visa to the said country? Also, check if you have all the documents ready to apply for a visa to the destination medical tourism country.
Do not forget about one of the most important travel requirements, i.e. funds. You need to have enough funds to cover your health services abroad. The budget includes the expenses for treatment, postoperative care and travel fare to and from the destination medical facility. Though medical tourism is all about saving big on medical treatments abroad, it is wise and must to have enough budget for other aspects including postoperative tourism activities to recuperate and accommodations to name a few.
Have you taken a second opinion?
The importance of second opinion in medical tourism is as important as it is in any other case. You cannot and should not forget to consult your family doctor or a local physician regarding your decision of traveling abroad for medical tourism.
Before embarking on a medical travel, you should consult your doctor who knows all about your health condition and is familiar with your relevant medical history too. Consulting your doctor about your health and discussing everything help you take decision in favor of or against medical tourism effectively and above all, in the best of your financial as well as health interests.
Do you have time and resources to plan medical tour meticulously?
Planning a medical tour is a big challenge for anyone. The act of medical tourism will increase the chances of errors and discrepancies if you did not plan everything meticulously and well in advance. When you decide to travel abroad for healthcare, you need plenty of time to plan your tour, arrange things with the treating facility, and talk to physicians abroad. Other than this, booking flights to and from the medical tourism facility, getting over the visa hurdle and arranging ample funds for the purpose requires your valuable time and finances.
If you could not manage everything on your own, that does not mean medical tourism is not an option for you. Instead, check if you have an option of using a facilitator in your home country who can take your fatigue away. If that is not an option on the table either, do ask any of your relative with enough experience of booking flights and all to organize everything properly for you.
The availability of time and resources – monetary or otherwise – remains crucial in deciding for medical travel. These factors play a role in properly organizing the medical tour and deciding whether it is an option for you or not.
Does your home country offer the post-operative care you might require?
Yet another factor that you need to consider and confirm for sure is whether the postoperative care of a medical treatment you plan to seek overseas is available in your country or not. Ignoring this factor could cost you all the benefits guaranteed by medical tourism.
Even before you embark on a medical tour, you should know that medical tourism is not a foolproof plan to seek healthcare at an affordable price and with ease at a foreign land, it is also about imperfect results at times.
Millions of individuals will tell you about their success stories as medical tourists and show their commitment to travel abroad to seek every treatment in future. Still, you cannot rule out the chances of you being one in million who is not satisfied with the healthcare services you received abroad.
Not checking if the postoperative care is available or facilities within your country are able to handle any postoperative complications might be one of the potential reasons for your bad experience. In addition to this, you also need to think as to how you will handle any specialized treatment like stem-cell treatment or proton therapy and the follow-up care. Traveling abroad for follow-up care is not just costly, but cumbersome and time-consuming too. Avoid traveling abroad for medical treatment in case there is no follow up care available in your country.
Countries like Tanzania, Uganda, and Ghana hardly have any standard multi-speciality & Super speciality healthcare facilities nor specific surgeries are done. So chances are less that they will get proper follow up and post-operative care. It might not be wise for them to opt for medical tourism. Follow up and post-operative now a days is concern with medical tourism destination. Once patients feel the need for travel and doctors feel that there is no follow up require then one can consider. They might have to stay for a longer period till complete recovery having no further need of post treatment care.
