Medical tourism is when a patient visits another country for his or her treatment. This can be prompted by many factors including cost benefits. There are many other benefits too. But it is not an all rosy picture. Like any good thing, medical tourism too has its share of problems.
The problems that come with medical tourism can be roughly divided into two segments, namely the problems that can be faced by the patient who has undergone the treatment and the policy problems rising in the countries due to the growth of medical tourism.
Among the patient's problem, the first can be that of getting to know about the hospital that provides the particular treatment he or she is looking for. This is nowadays handled by the medical tourism companies. And with the rise of the information technology, this problem can be easily handled. The IT revolution was part of the reason why medical tourism could grow in such a phenomenal way.
The bigger problem is getting to the right hospital. Even though a hospital provides a service, there is the problem of knowing whether the service is of the standard quality. Treatment can literally kill or save a person. And it is vital to know what kind of service a particular hospital is providing and which hospitals can be approached by a patient with certain assurance in mind. The primary solution to this problem is that a patient should only go to a hospital that has been favorably rated by JCI (Joint Commission International), which is healthcare industry's official quality accreditation institution.
Medical tourism means that you travel from one country to another for your treatment. So, the problems of getting visa and other necessary travel documents are present. But they could be taken care off easily enough.
There are few serious problems that a patient can encounter. God forbid, there are certain instances wherein an operation can go wrong. In such cases, patients do not have recourse to much legal remedy. As the treatment is taken in a foreign country, the legal obligations of the patient's home country are not binding on the doctor who prescribed the treatment.
Sometimes during a surgery, the doctor may need to clarify some doubt. But due to the language barrier between a patient and the doctor or nurses, this may not be possible. And this could critically influence the outcome of the operation.
If something in a treatment goes wrong, the patient has to be treated again back in his home country. And if the patient is insured, the insurance company has to foot the bill. But the cost ultimately returns to the patient by way of increased premiums. So, the patient has to pay twice for one single treatment.
If immediately after an operation, without complete recuperation, a patient flies home, there are serious implications for his health. There are chances of developing pulmonary embolism and blood clots. Without complete recovery time set aside after the operation, a patient may seriously compromise his health in an abroad treatment.
Medical tourism countries mostly thrive on numbers. The more number of patients they treat, the better off the hospitals are. In the rush to accumulate the numbers, the hospitals may rush patients out after only a token post operative care, and without proper recuperation. This can be vital for the patient's health.
With the doctor in another country, if any complication arises in the patient, the responsibility falls on the patient's home healthcare system. The doctor may not be able to gauge the criticality of the case, due to non familiarity with the exact details of the previous treatment. There are also instances as well as accusations of difficulty with follow-up care in the home country due to patient's inability to afford them or the unwillingness of the physician to provide them.
Medical tourism has also severe implications for the health care system at large. State run health care systems depend on the contributions of the private citizens to maintain it. And due to these contributions, the system is able to provide for the medical care of the needy and the poor. But when the contributing sector of the healthcare availing population decide to take benefit of cheaper treatment abroad, and not contribute any more into the home health care system, what happens to the poorer section of the society, the older patients who cannot afford to fly abroad? They are practically left with a huge health care cost, which they may not be able to afford. Basically, the medical tourism may be behind the creation of this social issue. Though medical tourism cannot be put to blame on this count. The onus to provide for the health care for the weaker section should and must be shouldered by the government.
There is also an ethical issue related to organ transplants. There are allegations of large scale irregularities in organ transplant operations in Asian countries, namely China. These issues can be resolved only by the government of the particular country.
One serious issue that has arisen out of medical tourism is the problem of inequality. In the race to treat foreign wealthy clients, all the medical resources, including doctors, nurses, facilities, etc., are diverted solely to one end. At the other end of the spectrum, native patients are hard pressed for a decent and safe treatment. This is especially the case with the public health care system of the medical tourism countries. While the private sector is reaping the benefits of medical tourism, it should also put in its effort to develop the healthcare system for the countrymen. In many instances, it has found to be the case.
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