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Medical Tourism

Rising Medical Costs Send Patients On Heath Care Vacations

— March 30, 2009 — Lifestyle
With rising healthcare and insurance costs, many Americans simply do without either. This is all well and good until a serious medical need comes along. Taking clues from corporations who outsource labor,  US citizens are finding help abroad.

The world is full of fine surgeons and medical practitioners and anyone who has been at the mercy of an HMO knows that the service doesn’t mean that you’ll have a truly ‘personal’ physician and care. Traveling to meet health care needs without losing everything you own is a practical, viable, even brilliant alternative.

According to FierceHealthcare:
“Many upper/middle class and poor Americans can not afford a $250,000 heart surgery but would be more likely to afford a $23,000 heart procedure. The same goes for a $40,000 hip or knee replacement but are likely to afford a $7,500 hip or knee replacement. Another big area of treatment that AMO could assist in is with the 14 people that die every day because they did not receive an organ transplant.”


Even people with insurance may opt for travel abroad since their insurance co-pay often exceeds the full cost of procedures performed outside of the US. MedFund-USA is among the many medical tourism services that have assistance for those without resources.
Trend Themes
1. Medical Outsourcing - The rise of medical outsourcing presents an opportunity for affordable healthcare options, disrupting traditional healthcare services.
2. Global Medical Tourism - Medical tourism is growing as a trend due to the rising healthcare and insurance costs, creating opportunities in the travel and hospitality industry.
3. Organ Transplant Tourism - Organ transplant tourism is a trend as many individuals opt to travel abroad for organ transplants, creating disruptive innovation opportunities in healthcare service providers.
Industry Implications
1. Healthcare Services Industry - The healthcare services industry can provide international medical services to American patients, offering more affordable healthcare solutions.
2. Travel and Hospitality Industry - The travel and hospitality industry stands to gain from medical tourism as an increasing number of Americans travel abroad to meet their healthcare needs.
3. Organ Transplant Industry - The organ transplant industry can create disruptive innovation opportunities by facilitating international organ transplants to meet the increasing demand for life-saving medical procedures.
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