The Era of Medical Tourism with Offshore Outsourcing Services

Posted on Oct 11, 2010 09:55:00 AM

Medical tourism has emerged as a new segment of offshore outsourcing services to provide high quality services at reasonable prices.

The high cost of health care services in developed nations has given rise to medical tourism.

Developed nations have a high demand for high quality healthcare service at reasonable rates. With their sound infrastructure emerging countries, like India, are catering to these global demands.

What is medical tourism? What are the Benefits of Offshore Outsourcing Services

Medical tourism involves traveling to a foreign destination for a medical procedure, such as surgery, dental implant or organ transplant. The cost factor is the biggest benefit of offshore outsourcing services that promotes medical tourism.

It has evolved into a full-fledged industry because people are seeking alternative routes to expensive medical relief in their own country.

According to statistics available with the National Coalition of Healthcare, more than 500,000 Americans went for surgical and dental relief in a foreign country in 2006.

With growth in medical infrastructure in developing nations such as India, Thailand and Malaysia, it has become possible for patients to enjoy services at considerably lower rates. A majority of patients come from western countries because these countries have a highly inflated healthcare sector.

Countries promoting medical tourism have low wait time periods. For example, a hip replacement surgery in the UK can have an average wait period of six months. However, patients can visit India and have the operation done almost immediately. The low wait time period is crucial in certain diseases, which grow worse as the time passes.

Since 2000, health insurance expenses have highly increased. However, the service providers do not include several surgeries, such as orthopedics and cosmetic in the insurance cover. Individuals are opting for foreign destinations to undertake surgeries excluded from insurance coverage. Considering the economic significance of medical tourism, countries like India are boosting healthcare infrastructure to provide international quality services through the latest medical equipment and well trained professionals.