Medical Tourism

Medical tourism is a term that generally describes the movement of patients from one country to another with the intention of pursuing private medical care. Medical tourism is distinct from emergency care obtained while on vacation or from formally organized cross-border health-care agreements, such as those coordinated by proximal governmental bodies or insurance organizations, and is most commonly funded out-of-pocket. Medical tourism presents a contemporary and globalized response to addressing health-care needs that many patients feel they cannot easily obtain in their home country for reasons such as high costs, limited or nonavailability, or regulatory restrictions. A complex phenomenon, medical tourism draws a diversity of patients into a global health-care process that can be risky and offers many benefits and drawbacks for patients and both ...