Despite popular concepts, medical tourism is not a new
phenomenon. Americans have traveled,
sometimes great distances, for healthcare services for decades. The reasons have varied; rural residents have
traditionally traveled due to a lack of available local services. Others, particularly the wealthy, or the
elite, have traveled internationally for access to technologies and treatments
not available at home.
Now, due to a combination of factors, including the
increasing availability of information due to the internet, escalating and
out-of-control healthcare costs, and an aging population have made medical
tourism more of a middle-class option.
However, as medical tourism has risen in popularity, so have the dangers
and pitfalls. Previously, treatments,
facilities and doctors were chosen via a fairly small and select network of
providers, mainly through the world of mouth. These doctors were located in sophisticated and modern cities in western
Europe; Madrid, Paris, Stockholm, or in the elegant, and wealthy cities of
Latin America; Buenos Aires, Bogota or Rio de Janeiro. With the explosion of the internet,
thousands of websites, clinics and providers from all points of the globe have
emerged, to offer a dizzying array of procedures and services to overwhelmed
consumers. This has been both a blessing
and a curse. While providing people with
an increased amount of treatment options, there little control over quality,
accuracy of information or patient safety.
Many of the companies and providers promoting medical tourism have
little to no experience in doing so.
Surgeons and other medical providers are often recommended or selected
based on advertisements, not medical qualifications. Several guidebooks to medical tourism have
been published but unfortunately, these have been written as slick, promotional
brochures rather than investigative journalism by qualified medical
personnel. These books sell facilities
space in their publication for upwards of 20,000 dollars per listing. These are hardly objective, unbiased or
consumer-focused publications.
The need for objective, balanced and independently
researched information is acute. Consumers need to be able to find qualified, dedicated and well-trained
surgeons operating in safe and clean facilities. This information should be provided by an
impartial and informed source, not an agent or someone else receiving a
commission for referrals.
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Christine,
ReplyDeleteI think she is a wonderful person to know, too. :)
I fully concur Lynn :)
ReplyDeleteYay, Kristin!
ReplyDelete