Medical tourism: Dang! Why didn’t I think of that?

A while back I had a tooth implant. It cost me thousands of dollars out of pocket. I could have saved a lot of money and had a vacation by having the work done in another country. It never occurred to me to do that. Recently, my friend Donna mentioned that a friend of hers was considering this option. It turns out that, in 2016, 1,400,000 Americans traveled abroad for medical treatment—just nobody I know.

The most popular places are Costa Rica, India, Israel, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and Turkey. The most popular procedures are cosmetic surgery, dentistry, cardiovascular, orthopedics, cancer, weight loss surgery, and reproductive treatments, such as in vitro fertilization.

You can find lots of information on this topic. A good Web site is Patients Beyond Borders. They have vetted the places they recommend, and the criteria include “successful adoption of best practices and state-of-the-art medical technology,” as well as international accreditation, quality assurance, transparency of outcomes, and internationally-trained, experienced medical staff. People typically spend $3,800-6,000 for such a trip, including medical costs, transportation, inpatient stay, and accommodations. The savings range from 20-30% (Brazil) 65-90% (India).

Accommodations can be fabulous, especially if you’re having cosmetic surgery in Costa Rica, as this photograph from Conde Naste Traveler magazine shows.

“Chetica Ranch resort offers...personal cottages that overlook 80 acres of lush tropical forest and mountains home to wild horses. Meals are made with organic produce and local meat is smoked in the outdoor barbecue pit. Guests can sign up for daily lymphatic massages.”

Julie Munro is president of the Medical Travel Quality Alliance, an international organization that evaluates and monitors medical standards at hospitals around the world. She notes, and I would agree, that “Quality of care is not nearly as good in America as we tend to think.” You can go elsewhere. One medical tourist writes, “It is hard to recommend taking a 19-hour flight with a toddler to get a root canal with a straight face. But after going on just such a mission in December, I will aim to get all future dental work done in Thailand.” I wish I’d thought of that for my implant.

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