What is Medical Tourism?
Medical Tourism is the globalization phenomenon where people who live in one country travel to another country to receive medical, dental, and/or surgical care. Medical travellers often engage in medical tourism to save money, but this does not mean they are sacrificing quality for savings. Medical tourists typically receive equal or greater care than they would have in their own country, and are traveling for medical care because of affordability, or better access to a higher or more specialized quality of care. “Domestic Medical Tourism” is a subsection of medical tourism where patients do not leave their country, but travel to another city, region, or state to receive medical care.
What does Med Journey do?
Med Journey, facilitates contact with overseas doctors and hospitals and present their credentials to prospective clients. We also provide information to these clients about the various medical procedures and recuperation packages available.
We are a facilitation service, not a medical advisory service. We do not have a physician-patient relationship with our clients. We always suggest that they seek the advice of a qualified health provider regarding a medical condition, and make their decision about going on a medical trip abroad based on the health provider’s recommendation.
How Much Should I Budget for My Medical Tourism Trip?
Your particular lifestyle, the medical tourism destination, and the type of medical tourism procedure you will be undergoing will dictate, to a large degree, how much money you will be spending. In general, the farther away your medical tourism destination the more you will pay for airfare. So, for example, expect to pay more if you are flying from Dallas to Bangkok, Thailand, than you would for a flight to Monterey, Mexico. At the same time, you also need to take into account that some medical tourism destinations are more expensive than others. So even if a particular country is cheaper to travel to, you will need to factor in the relative cost of “living,” in comparison to another medical tourism destination. What about your lifestyle preferences? Do you plan to stay at a five-star hotel or are you comfortable “roughing” it at a local bed and breakfast? Some adventurous souls prefer to immerse themselves in the local culture and will literally live on a shoestring budget. Most everyone else though will tend to fall somewhere between the Holiday Inn and Club Med. The type of medical tourism procedure or medical tourism treatment you are undergoing will also play a large part in your decision of where to stay and what you will do. A medical tourism patient undergoing open heart surgery or a knee replacement will require extra care and very comfortable conditions after leaving the hospital. Not the case for someone coming for a dental bridge or an eyelid lift. Wherever you decide to stay, make sure it serves your needs as a medical tourism patient. Many of the expenses of a medical tourism trip will be the same as those of a “normal” trip or vacation. At the very minimum you will need to budget for airfare, hotel accommodations, transportation requirements and meals. Sightseeing tours and souvenirs are also a real possibility, particularly if you are traveling with a companion.
What is a Medical Tourism Facilitator?
Sometimes referred to as medical tourism agencies, or a medical travel facilitator, these are companies that, as their name suggests, act as facilitators or intermediaries for patients seeking treatments in other countries or regions. Medical Tourism Facilitators have played an important role in promoting the growth of medical tourism, and for many medical tourism patients, represent their first face to face contact with the concept of medical tourism. Over the last 10-15 years, thousands of these companies have popped up, most sporting names synonymous with health and travel. They function much like a travel agency, requesting and obtaining passports, booking flights, and arranging a medical tourism patient’s lodging, transportation and tours. The key difference, of course, is that they also serve as the liaison or mediator between you and the international hospital and doctor. In effect, it is the facilitator’s job to repackage the medical provider’s service offering, make it more appealing, and then guide you along the medical tourism process.
Why are Patients Traveling Internationally for Medical Tourism?
Patients are traveling because of the high quality of healthcare, affordability, access of care or better availability.
What are the Cost Savings?
The cost savings can be up to 90 percent.