A GP guide to the pitfalls of medical tourism
Communicating the complications of travelling abroad for cheaper healthcare may be useful to your patients
Medical tourism has been defined as people travelling outside their home country for medical treatment.1
Precise epidemiological and financial data on the extent of medical tourism is lacking but there is little doubt that it is a worldwide, multibillion-dollar phenomena that is growing rapidly.
The medical tourism industry is estimated to be worth $85 billion globally and growing by about 20% per year.
During 2007 alone, a US report estimated that 750,000 Americans travelled overseas for medical treatments.2
