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Medical Tourism

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American Healthcare Systems-Research Paper-6th Dec 2013
Medical Tourism
By: Mrudula Mynampaty and Swathi Damacherla
Introduction
“Medical tourism” is the term commonly used to describe people traveling outside their home country avail medical services at lower costs1. Medical tourism is fundamentally different from the traditional model of international medical travel where patients generally journey from less developed nations to major medical centers in highly developed countries for medical treatment that is unavailable in their own communities 2.
History
The concept of medical tourism has been very pervasive all through the history. The first recorded case of medical tourism describes Greek pilgrims who traveled from the Mediterranean Sea to Epidaurus, a small territory in the Sardonic Gulf. It was said that this small territory was the sanctuary of Asclepius, known as the healing god. Since the 1500s India has enjoyed a rich history of providing yoga instruction as well as Ayurveda healing to patients from around the world. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Europeans and Americans flocked to health spas and sanitariums, sometimes in remote places, in the hope that they would obtain relief from their disabling conditions, such as tuberculosis, gout, bronchitis, or liver diseases 3.
What led to Medical Tourism today?
The market size for medical tourism is USD 24-40 billion, based on approximately eight million cross-border patients worldwide spending an average of USD 3,000-5,000 per visit, including all medically-related costs, cross-border and local transport, inpatient stay and accommodations. It is estimated that 900,000 Americans will travel outside the US for medical care this year (2013) 4. To understand the reasons behind this widespread impact of medical tourism in US, it becomes very crucial to understand the various parts of the US health industry.

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