Medical treatment abroad
Travelling abroad for Medical Treatment
Throughout history people have travelled long distances for health care. The practice of travelling internationally for surgery, however, is a relatively recent phenomenon and has now grown into a large global practice.
Today, people can get inexpensive flights and find information online about the medical services that are provided in different parts of the world. They can read reviews and comments by other patients who have visited countries for medical, dental, cosmetic and surgical care. This helps to make a more informed decision as to which country would be the perfect one for their healthcare needs.
Factors leading to the increased popularity of travelling abroad for medical treatment include the high cost of private health care and long waiting times for certain procedures at home, the ease and affordability of international travel, and improvements in both technology and standards of care in many countries.
Travelling abroad for medical treatment is particularly indicated for those self-payer patients who had a Private Medical Insurance rejected because of pre-existing medical conditions but want to escape the long waiting lists often provided for by the public health systems.
Cheap Medical Tourism?
There are three main motives to seek medical treatment abroad. The first is the search for the best surgeon in the world for that specific intervention, or for technologies offered only in one specific centre in the world. This is the so called elite medical tourism, reserved for the few with vast financial availability; it is also normally accompanied by a desire for five-star accommodation and all the luxury that goes with it.
The second, and by far the most common worldwide, is the search for a cheap treatment. Many countries now offer this sort of choice, normally in all types of therapeutic areas, but most often in dentistry, plastic and cosmetic surgery. Often (but not always) the quality of the treatment is of good standard; often, though, it is the corollary offering that is of poor quality; and, in extreme cases, serious and even fatal medical complications have been reported. These have often reached the media and given the phrase “medical tourism” a bad reputation.
The third motive is the search for a safe, high standard treatment, accompanied by the best possible corollary offering, and available quickly, with very short and reasonable waiting times. To achieve competitive prices, no super-luxurious accommodation comes with it, replaced sometimes (as in our case) by the option of great locations and high-quality tourism opportunity attached, for the patient and/or for those travelling with the patient.
This is the type of offering that characterises and qualifies IMeT.
IMeT - Surgery and Physical Rehabilitation
A new agency, dedicated to offering orthopaedic surgery and physical rehabilitation at four private hospitals in Italy.
Contact
Howbery Park
Innovation Centre
Windrush East, Suite E01
Wallingford
Oxfordshire
OX10 8BA
United Kingdom
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