| Medical Tourism is the practice of traveling abroad to | | | | experience and the amenities available at the various |
| avail medical, dental, or surgical care. The demand for | | | | healthcare institutions. Patients should also find out |
| offshore treatment is all set to redefine the | | | | whether language can pose any problems or not. A |
| landscape of medical practice. As the average life | | | | thorough cost comparison is also an important issue |
| span has seen an increase in the affluent societies, | | | | to be put into the agenda. While there are some |
| individuals have been compelled to resort to | | | | horror stories and quacks, the data are sparse and |
| alternative methods to take an economic approach. | | | | the evidence does not support any broad-based |
| Added to it are combinations of various factors, such | | | | significant increase in risk. |
| as | | | | India has emerged as one of the forerunners in |
| · Exorbitant costs of healthcare in industrialized | | | | facilitating medical tourism in the country. Now it is |
| nations, | | | | among the well-known nations throughout the world |
| · The ease and affordability of traveling abroad, | | | | for high quality, low cost health care. Its health care |
| · Favorable currency exchange rates, | | | | system--with well-equipped modern clinics and |
| · Rapidly improving medical technology and | | | | hospitals, and medical personnel trained in the finest |
| standards of care | | | | international teaching centers--provides excellent |
| · The ever-growing popularity of Internet | | | | medical service to patients from abroad. Whether for |
| All these have led to the growth of the medical | | | | elective procedures like cosmetic plastic surgery, |
| tourism market. | | | | dental surgery or life saving operations like bypass |
| The horizons of health tourism are no more limited to | | | | and heart transplants, the Indian healthcare |
| traditional holiday destinations such as France and | | | | community is experienced and ready to help. |
| Spain. Eastern Europe has seen a huge increase in | | | | Health tourism centers/clinics are actively seeking |
| people arriving for treatment, particularly Poland, | | | | First World ''customers'' by increasingly pursuing and |
| Hungary and the Czech Republic, while Britons are | | | | adopting American and other international best |
| traveling to places as far-flung as Latin America, | | | | practices to maintain the quality of services. With a |
| South Africa and South East Asia. With patients willing | | | | large pool of highly trained doctors and low |
| to travel across the globe to get treatment sooner | | | | treatment prices, healthcare aims to replicate the |
| and more cheaply than they could at home, | | | | Indian software sector's success. Healthcare |
| healthcare institutions see a huge market for their | | | | institutions in India are built on huge areas of land |
| services. | | | | often acquired at low rents from ambitious |
| However, people traveling to far-off land should take | | | | authorities seeking to promote business. These new |
| necessary precautionary measures. They need to | | | | and sleek medical centers of excellence offer |
| check out the doctors and hospitals before they part | | | | developed world-class treatments at developing |
| with any money. The Internet is a vast resource | | | | world prices. |
| carrying information about practitioners' skills and | | | | |