The number of patients seeking medical/dental care abroad, a practice called “medical tourism,” has grown dramatically in recent decades, to an over $100 billion market-value annually. Historically, the direction of travel for medical care was from less-developed to wealthier nations, but that trend has reversed: patients from wealthy nations with high healthcare costs, including the USA, are now seeking discounted health services in lower-income countries, and facilities in these destinations have expanded to meet the demand. As elective procedures with often out-of-pocket costs, aesthetic surgeries are particularly disposed to medical tourism, and an entire subset of the industry has developed specifically to support cosmetic surgery tourism, affecting not only patients but also US physicians and Dental surgeons.
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As consumers, we all love a great “deal” right? says Dr. Atcha. But “great deals” sometimes seem to good to be true. Many medical/dental tourists may receive receive reasonable care, but issues of safety and quality can loom large. Substandard surgical care, poor infection control, inadequate screening of blood products, and falsified or outdated medications in lower income settings of care can pose greater risks than patients would face at home. In fact, there is an old saying when it comes to deals. “If it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is,‟ says Atcha.
Patients who choose to fly to an unfamiliar environment for cheaper care are often looking to save money, however, some people seek treatments that are either unavailable or not approved for use in the United States. So why do some patients take the risk? The answer is usually one of the following factors. The patient is looking for cheaper medical care, the patient shares the same language/culture as the foreign destination or the patient wants a surgery that is not approved for use in the US but will get it due to cheap cost.
Medical findings have shown a number of risks associated with medical/dental tourism to destinations such as Mexico, costa Rica, Turkey, Dubai, India and other far east countries includes: Antibiotic-resistant infections such as MRS, unknown blood supplies used during surgery, bloodborne infections and bacterial infections due to unsanitary condition and infection from foreign and waterborne bacteria to which the patient has not developed immunity states Dr. Atcha.
SOURCE: PRWeb