Top Destinations for Medical Tourism

With health care costs rising and employer contributions dropping, many people are left having to find ways to take care of their medical bills out of pocket. An article in the health policy journal, 'Health Affairs' showed that a large majority of bankruptcies were the result of high medical bills.

Many companies are now offering medical tourism packages which include surgery and a chance to see the sights of the country. MedRetreat offers trips to Argentina, Brazil, Costa Rica, India, Malaysia, South Africa, Thailand and Turkey. The hospitals in India, Malaysia and Thailand that participate in medical tourism are all working on getting accredited by the Joint Commission of Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO), an american based commission whose mission is to "...improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations." The JCAHO has a list of accredited hospitals worldwide. By getting accredited hospitals can assure their international patients that their quality of care standards are at an international level. Medical tourism is also growing due to the strength of the dollar and the devaluation of other currencies. This increases the purchasing power of the dollar and means that a foreigner with US dollars can purchase expensive medical procedures for minimal cost. Wikipedia notes that a UDaily published findings stating that a $200,000 heart-valve replacement in the U.S. costs about $10,000 in India while a $20,000 facelift in the U.S runs for about $1,250 in South Africa.

Although Thailand has been a medical tourism destination for years, India has quickly supplanted it as the top medical tourism destination. Singapore is giving both countries stiff competition and South Africa has jumped into the frey in the hopes of snatching up a portion of the medical tourism dollars. Here are the top medical toursim hospitals in the world.

1. Apollo Hospital, Hyderabad Located in Hyderabad, India, this hospital is both JCAHO certified and certified in disease or condition specific care (DCSC) for Acute stroke. It is part of the Apollo group of hospitals (7 in all). 2 other Apollo hospitals are JCAHO certified, namely the one in New Delhi, and the one in Chennai. The Hyderabad Hospital has been featured in several news articles and shows in the U.S.

2. Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand has been JCAHO certified since February 2, 2002, making it one of the first hospitals to get certified in the international arena. It is currently the only hospital in Thailahd with this accreditation, which makes it the number one destination for medical tourism.

3. John's Hopkins International Medical Center in Singapore, Singapore has been JCAHO accredited since August 4, 2004. It employs medical interpreters for its international clients andencourages medical tourism from Malaysia, Indonesia, the Middle East and Sri Lanka.

4. Bangkok General Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. Although it is not JCAHO accredited, Bangkok General Hospital is a popular medical tourism destination for other Asian countries and even has a Japanese wing for it's Japanese patients. It is recognized in South East Asian countries as a hospital with an exceptionally high standard of care.

5. Escorts Heart Institute and Research Center in Delhi, India According to an article in UDaily, it performs 15,000 heart operations every year, and its death rate is 0.8 percent, (less than half of all major hospitals in the U.S.). They also offer a pediatric children's healthcare unit. Their impressive results have boosted medical tourism to their facilities.

There are many others, but these are the facilities that are the most popular for medical tourism. As costs continue to rise, the appeal of medical tourism will continue to grow. It will be interesting to see if these trends make an impact on health policies in the Western world.