Why Go Abroad for Medical Care Reason #2: Better Quality Care

Yep, you read that title right -- BETTER quality care.

Most people can see that going abroad for medical care will save them money, but many are usually skeptical that the care is even close to what they'd get in the U.S. Well, Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody's Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism says that the care abroad is actually better. The details:

Veteran health travelers know that facilities, instrumentation, and customer service in treatment centers abroad often equal or exceed those found in the US. In fact, governments of countries like India and Thailand have poured billions of dollars into improving their healthcare systems, which are now aggressively catering to the international health traveler.

I'll be covering this issue more in the future as I work my way through the book since it's probably the main stumbling block for many people considering health care travel.

Of note, the book also says the facilities are often quite nice (I've heard the hospitals in many countries are more like hotels than hospitals) and that the doctors are much more accessible (one patient said his surgeon gave him his cell phone number and they talked quite frequently.

Comments

[F. Morana]

I have no doubt that it's time to shed nationalistic prejudice with regard to what is superior and inferior;---and this holds just as well in the areas of culture and professionalism as it does in the areas of manufacture and technical development.

[Sunitha]

Its funny how people's perceptions differ based on where they live. In India the rich and the famous go to the US for any critical medical treatment, while for the ordinary Westerns India provides affordable and quality care.

Another issue that medical tourism has raised is that the hospitals in India have become unaffordable for the average Indian since all quality resources including top doctors are employed in five star hospitals which cater to needs of "rich foreigners". These star hospitals are beyond the reach of the ordinary Indians and the ordinary Indians now have to make do with government run hospitals which are almost always overcrowded and quite tiresome to deal with. What is affordable for the Amercians are way way beyond the reach of an average Indian.

I don't resent the "rich foreingers" need for affordable and quality health care infact I am proud that India is now considered a destination for the quality medical care .... but I am saddended by the commerciality of the health care industry in India which has made quality health care out of bounds even for the middle class Indians ... while I shrudder to think of the plight of the poor Indians.

On the other had medical torusim has raised the bar of quality health care in India and I am happy for that. I welcome our "foreign guests" to India for their medical needs as we Indians tradionally believe that god usually appears in the form of a GUEST.... and for our greedy healthcare industry there can be no better god than the "foreign guests".

[GHarkness]

While medical care may well be better out of country - I really don't doubt that at all, considering the fine mess we have here in the US, what happens to patients who have serious problems post-surgery or need intensive follow up care that wasn't known to be needed in advance?

Most doctors in the US won't touch them with a ten-foot scalpel - and just how many trips to India can a (by now) seriously ill individual take?

[jav]

I firmly believe that foreign medical care is sometimes better than US. I had personal experiences in latin america, where I got cared in a very fast (less than 1/2 hour) and given the right prescription.
You don't have to go as far as India, Countries like Brazil, Mexico and Argentina provide high quality care and is only a few hours away (Mexico is about 2 hour flight, depending on your location).
Prices can vary, but ultimately makes more sense to me, as sometimes co payments can sum as much or more than the cost of travel and doctor's appointments.
Also you have to consider that some treatments are already available in other countries, that are more advanced and still not approved in the US.
Politics aside, Cuba has one of the best medical treatments in America, I know several people from latin america that have been cured in there.
Just my 2 cents.