Overview
Medical tourism has increasingly become a lucrative option for patients from abroad who want to travel overseas to receive their medical treatments in a bid to enjoy the affordable costs, better healthcare standards, less waiting time an exotic holiday to boot. Many talk about the manifold benefits of the medical tourism and view it as a life saver for many critically ill patients who are hushes by the skyrocketing healthcare costs and the exceeding long waiting periods. However, some are sceptical about this industry and its practicses and hence urges the patients to do their groundwork before you opt for medical tourism. Here we will discuss the pros and cons of medical tourism and the effects of the same on the existing healthcare system.
The pros of medical tourism are as follows:
Faster Treatment
When compared to the developed countries such as the US, UK where the waiting lines for getting a specific medical procedure can stretch on for years on end, the waiting time for the same procedures in developing countries such as India is minimal. Hence, medical tourism allows the patients to gain acess to the timely medical care.
Low Costs
A standards medical procedure in a country like India will cost just a fraction of what would cost for the same procedure in the US. In this way, patients can end up saving money while choosing to get their medical treatment overseas.
High Quality Standards
The majority of medical tourism destinations including that in India have internationally accredited medical facilities with the latest medical equipment and technology. They also have well qualified doctors, nurses and other medical personnel which ensures that the patient is in safe hands.
Holidays
Medical tourism packages comes with a holiday clubbed with your medical treatment. In this way, patients from abroad enjoy a peaceful holiday in a foreign destination during their treatment and can ensure a smooth recovery period.
The Cons
Medical tourism does not come without its share of cons which could well doubt with its effectiveness to supplement a nation’s already existing healthcare system and they include the following:
Unreliability
There is no way for a medical tourist to known detail of the destination and healthcare facility he/she will be visiting unless via internet which is unfortunately packed with misleadinf information. It is very easy for the patient to get misled by accepting treatment from a substandard facility with proper support and care.
Money laundering agencies
There are a number of medical tourism companied that have cropped up over years which promises to help medical tourists gain access to treatments in several destinations. Not all of these are licensed and genuine hence it is easy for patients to get cheated of their head earned money.
Unreliable outcomes
Some procedure have not been patent but still offered in several countries. Fertility procedure are always risky and may cause harmful side effects if not done properly. Individuals choosing these procedure need to do as volunteers for research based studies and the outcomes can be highly unreliable and cause permanent health issues. Governments looking to reduce costs could very well adopt the medical tourism as a standard supplement to the established healthcare system. However, you should always weigh the pros and cons carefully before adopting it as a common practice.
Conclusion
Medical tourism is one the rise with many Governments advocating it as a more lucrative supplement to the existing healthcare system. You should carefully analyze the pros and cons of this industry before promoting it on a grand scale.
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