Medical Tourism?

Medical tourism or medical travel or also health tourism is the practice of traveling to another country in order to obtain medical attention, that could be, but not limited to, heart surgery, breast implants or dental work. This is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media and it is becoming very popular between people of all over the world due to its benefits.

Thanks to Internet, the ease and affordability of international travel, and recent advances in medicine, medical tourism is becoming in a global trend.

Costs for cosmetic surgery, hair implants, dental work and a bunch of other medical treatments abroad can be very low comparing with the cost of the same treatment at the USA and western Europe. Many people actively promote this trend and offer very competitive rates along with other benefits. There are also numerous companies around the world that offer medical tourism packages, which combine surgery with vacation in the country that you will get the procedure on, all for less than you would have to pay if you opted to have the procedure done at your home country. It's not wonder why this phenomena is becoming so popular.

Medical tourism is also a good choice for those who need the treatment in a timely manner. In some cases, waiting for a major surgery can be as long as a year which is not exactly a good news for patients. These long waits could be a deciding factor for people who choose to seek treatment abroad, as in most destination countries for medical tourism wait times simply does not exists. This allows patients to get the care they need sooner and at a time when it is convenient for them.

The high cost of health care and wait times for procedures in industrialized nations, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in technology and standards of care in many countries of the world are factors that have led to the recent increase in popularity of medical travel.

Medical tourists come from all around the world, including U.S., the UK, Europe, Middle East, Japan and Canada. This is because of their large populations, higher income per capita, the high expense of health care or lack of health care options locally, and increasingly high expectations of their populations with respect to health care.

The main words to describe medical travel are convenience and speed. Public health-care systems in countries like the described above are often so taxed that it can take too much time to get non-urgent medical care. It can take a year or more waiting for a procedure such as a hip replacement in Britain and Canada; however, in Thailand, Hong Kong, Cuba, Colombia, India, Singapore or Philippines, a patient could feasibly have an operation the day after their arrival.

Additionally, insurance either does not cover orthopedic surgery (such as knee/hip replacement) or imposes unreasonable restrictions on the choice of the facility, surgeon, or prosthetics to be used. Medical tourism for cosmetic surgery is one of the more widely accepted procedures because of the lower cost and minimal difficulties associated with the traveling to/from the surgery. Colombia provides a breast implant and abdominoplasty (tummy tuck) for about $8,000 USD, including all associated fees such as FDA approved surgeon and hospital expenses. However, many clinics quote prices that are not all inclusive and include only the surgeon fees associated with the procedure.

Medical tourists look for essential health care services such as cancer treatment or transplant surgery as well as complementary or 'elective' services such as cosmetic surgery.

According to research found in an article by the University of Delaware publication, UDaily:

"For many medical tourists, though, the real attraction is price. The cost of surgery in India, Thailand or South Africa can be one-tenth of what it is in the United States or Western Europe, and sometimes even less. A heart-valve replacement that would cost $200,000 or more in the U.S., for example, goes for $10,000 in India--and that includes round-trip airfare and a brief vacation package. Similarly, a metal-free dental bridge worth $5,500 in the U.S. costs $500 in India, a knee replacement in Thailand with six days of physical therapy costs about one-fifth of what it would in the States, and Lasik eye surgery worth $3,700 in the U.S. is available in many other countries for only $730. Cosmetic surgery savings are even greater: A full facelift that would cost $20,000 in the U.S. runs about $1,250 in South Africa."

Popular worldwide destinations for medical travel include: Brunei, Cuba, Colombia, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Israel, Jordan, Lithuania, Malaysia, The Philippines, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand, and recently, UAE and New Zealand.

Popular destinations for cosmetic surgery travel include:Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Mexico and Turkey.

In Europe Belgium, Poland and Slovakia are also entering into the business. South Africa is taking the term "medical tourism" very literally by promoting their "medical safaris": Come to see African wildlife and get a facelift in the same trip.

In South America, countries such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Colombia lead on plastic surgery medical skills relying on the extensive experience their surgeons have in treating people with desire to enhance their look and feel. In Bolivia and Colombia, plastic surgery has become quite common. According to the "Sociedad Boliviana de Cirugia Plastica y Reconstructiva", more than 70% of middle and upper class women in the country have had some form of plastic surgery. Colombia also provides advanced care in cardiovascular and transplant surgery.

It is safe get plastic surgery out of my country?

This may be the first question to arise when you are thinking in getting plastic surgery in other country different from yours. The first think to take in mind are the reasons why getting a surgical procedure can be unsafe. First lets take a look a these factors: Medical Facilities, Doctor Expertise and Patient Post Surgical Care.

Medical Facilities:
It is absolutely logical to think that if you get a surgery in a place where the very basic conditions of hygiene are not met you are taking too much risk, and that is true, if the instruments that the doctors use are not sterilized then you can get very severe infections that can cause you death, also if the rooms where you are going to spend the post surgical care time are not very clean and the sheets and pillows are not clean then you will have serious problems to heal, but let's get real, many of the Doctors who practice cosmetic surgery are very responsive with their job specifically with the rooms they operate on, the nurses they have, the instruments they use, and this is mostly because they know every aspect of the risks involved in getting the knife over you. Of course there are 'doctors' who doesn't take all the necessary measures but the true is that those 'doctors' are not real doctor or just they don't have the enough professionalism and ethics to practice this honored career. Is in this case when the right chose of a medical tourism operator get absolutely critical because they should tell you who are the doctors (this is usually difficult because they work with more than two or three at a time) and what facilities they use; this last point is essential because most of the risk are on the operating room rather than in the post operating care room or in the doctor's practice. This is usually simple because with the very name of the clinic or hospital that the medical tourism operator use you can go to Google or MSN or Yahoo and find that facility website, if you cant find the website of the facility then you should take extra care because usually the good medical facilities have at least a simple website.
Doctor Expertise:
Let's be serious it is not the same a 25 years old surgeon than a 50 years old one, expertise makes the master and in the case of surgery is not the exception, but you must take in mind that doctors get great expertise very quickly in the cosmetic surgery field because of the amount of procedures they do in a year. This is true because when you have done a task over and over again you start to get practice and start to manage certain kind of expertise in the field, but anyway in the case of cosmetic surgery a doctor with expertise of less than 5 years is not as reliable as one with 10 or 15 years. Do the numbers: a common doctor can make 1 or 2 procedures in one day, if you multiply that by 5 years is a big number but if you multiply it by 10 or 15 you get not only a bigger number of procedures, but also a level of expertise superior to the number of procedures that is because, again, when a doctor as made certain number of procedures in his life he(she) starts to develop a personal technique that assures that the surgery is going to be successful because he (she) knows every risk that could be involved and he controls every aspect of the surgery. So don't be afraid of a young doctor, be afraid of a doctor who make less than 30 procedures in a month.

You should also check the diploma of the doctor and all the courses, seminars, and other academic experience he (she) have, that will give you an idea of the quality of the doctor. As an example, many of the Latin American doctors have diplomas in very recognized universities around the world because they know that the academic experience they get on those ambients are absolutely crucial in their career.

Patient Post Surgical Care:
When you get out of the operating room you will be taken to a room where everything is absolutely controlled, oxygen supply, monitoring equipment, etc, but that is mostly for the first night after that you will be taken to a hotel where you will stay most of your recovering time; if this place is not correctly equipped and you don't have the correct care then you may have problems in your healing process. Usually the medical tourism operator will accommodate you in a hotel nearby to medical facility or to doctor's practice but this is not enough, you will need special care and this can be provided only by a certified nurse, this is why when you arrange a medical tourism package you must get this included because it is absolutely necessary for you. If you are going to travel with a friend or a relative you can sleep in the same room with them but they must follow all the rules the doctor and the nurse give to avoid most of the risk that can be generated by the presence of another person in the same room of a patient in recovery. These rules can be from using scrubs to do not use the same bath room than the patient.

A last but not least important factor is the quality of plastic surgery in the country you are going to, usually this is linked to the prices of the procedure but this is not a matter of concern if you relate it to quality, the prices in other countries (Latin American mostly) are significantly lower because supplies are cheaper due to money exchange, economical aperture and many other factors that let the prices keep low comparing to the USA or other countries.

So the safety of getting cosmetic surgery in another country is related to those factors, others may exists but I consider that these are the most important.

Is Plastic Surgery In Colombia The Best Bet Yet?

A developing economy that is slowly, yet surely achieving greater heights, Colombia in South America is a country that is witnessing a medical revolution of sorts. Yes, no longer is Colombia known for violence, coke farming, and other dangerous things. Today, the country has completely changed its image from a disturbed and violence ridden place to a tropical paradise with soaring skyscrapers, beautiful and lively cities, monied middle-class and wonderful international shopping stores. However, more than all of this, a key economy driving factor is the plastic surgery industry in Colombia.

Currently touted as the Mecca of plastic surgery procedures, Colombia is fast cashing in on this booming industry by encouraging medical tourism and welcoming people who are in need for low cost yet international standards of treatments. Some of the popular cosmetic surgery treatments available in Bogota, the capital also known as the Athens of South America, are:

1. Breast enlargements
2. Breast upliftment
3. Eye surgery
4. Face lift surgery
5. Face surgery
6. Facial cosmetic surgery
7. Forehead lift
8. Laser hair removal
9. Laser surgery
10. Liposuction
11. Liposculpture
12. Tummy tuck
13. Nose correction
14. Jaw correction
15. Hair weaving

Offering so many plastic surgery procedures, Bogota, Colombia is a where all the action is. The best place to transform into a physically perfect and beautiful looking you, Colombia is a haven for all who are in the quest for physical perfection. If you are in America or Europe, you will find reaching Bogota easy as there are more than 50 flights that arrive in Bogota daily from destinations such as New York, Houston, Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, etc. If you are anxious about the security situation in the country, we must tell you that Bogota as well as other cities in Colombia are much safer than some of the largest cities in the US.

Offering world-class medical facilities, Bogota also has a long list of qualified professional doctors that not only speak Spanish but English as well. Most of the doctors have studied medicine in the US, while nurses are also qualified and experienced in tending to patients who have undergone plastic surgery procedures. The medical facilities offer every patient comfort, a home-like atmosphere, which helps to recover quickly, and many other facilities such as good food, SPA, recreational facilities etc.

So, if you want to benefit from fantastic and low prices without compromising on world class medical treatments and facilities, while also enjoying Colombian hospitality, Bogota is the place to be in.