Why medical tourism

When people travel abroad to obtain non-emergency medical services the term medical tourism is used.

In medical or healthcare tourism, people mostly travel for medical procedures such as dental care, cosmetic or non-cosmetic surgeries, fertility treatments, sex change, organ, and tissue transplantation, cancer treatments, and healthcare including psychiatry, alternative medicine, and convalescent care. Some people with rare diseases also need to travel to certain countries in which the specific disease is better understood or has a clinical trial treatment. 

There are several reasons why people are motivated to travel overseas for healthcare services including cost differences, treatment availability or treatments with the latest technology, quality or better care, better services, less waiting time, social-cultural similarities, legal implications, and privacy concerns. All these push and pull factors make the patients’ decision to seek care abroad.

  Of course, there are always patients who have experienced medical care abroad and as first-hand accounts encourage their relatives and friends to have the same experience. You can read the factors that influence tourists to travel abroad in more detail here:

·       Affordability and Low Cost. The economical pricing aspect is an important point in creating healthcare tourism.  There are countries with high medical service costs which are not affordable for all. Therefore, patients who cannot afford medical treatment or healthcare in their own country seek a medical tourist destination that offers them a lower-cost treatment without negotiating the quality. It should be noted that the medical costs are significantly different across the world.

·    Waiting Time and Postponement. In many developed countries, patients need to wait a long time to receive proper medical services or procedures. Some patients are not able to bear their pain or their current conditions for a long time. This motivates them to look for alternative destinations for medical care services.

·       Medical Treatment Availability. When a particular procedure is not available in the patient’s home country, they seek destinations that offer a wide range of medical treatments. In some countries, the availability of cutting-edge procedures and modern treatment methods attracts health tourists.

· The Quality of Healthcare Services. Specific hospitals worldwide have state-of-art facilities and diagnostic centers based on international health organizations. They also have high professional surgeons along with supporting staff. On the other hand, healthcare services in many places lack skilled medical professionals, follow-up healthcare, and have poor quality facilities and treatments.

·       Cultural Environment and Ease in Communication. When a health tourist decides to achieve medical services abroad, the similarity in language and culture makes an easier decision for selecting the destination. The similarity in language makes it easier for foreigners to discuss their treatment procedures, manage their follow-ups, and receive better medical advice.

·       Privacy and Confidentiality. Some people especially celebrities do not intend to reveal to others about their disease or cosmetic surgeries, so it is easier for them to visit foreign countries due to vacation along with healthcare reasons.

·       Legal Liability. There are specific circumstances that force patients to go abroad for having permission for their treatments. Some medical services especially in the sex and fertility fields are not legally permitted worldwide. These treatments include gender change operations, abortions, egg, embryo, and sperm donation, baby gender determination, and stem cell treatments.

·       Tourist Attractions. Tourists which are visiting a country for non-emergency healthcare services like to visit attractive places and monuments of that country. Hence, along with high-quality and lower-cost medical treatments, they would spend a relaxing vacation.

Therefore, these facts pull or push the citizens to visit aboard for medical treatment reasons.

There are different destinations for people to travel to. Many people like to travel to countries with similar culture and language and also a near destination, therefore, they go to neighboring countries or countries on their home continent.

As a result, there are countries on every continent that have the highest number of medical tourists. South Africa, Tunisia, Jordan, Iran, and United Arab Emirates are the top destinations for health care in Africa and the Middle East. In the Americas, the top destination countries are Brazil, Mexico, Canada, Costa Rica, Cayman Islands, Cuba, and United States. China, Hong Kong, India, Malaysia, New Zealand, Pakistan, Singapore, and Thailand are top Asia and Pacific Islands countries for medical tourists. European countries which have the most medical tourists are Azerbaijan, Croatia, Finland, France, Germany, Lithuania, Serbia, Russia, Turkey, and United Kingdom.

Of course, some countries are proficient in certain fields of medicine and clients travel to those countries to get the best medical facilities and expertise, even though they are not familiar with it in terms of language and have to travel long distances to their own country.

 Also, because certain treatments such as gender reassignment and some fertility procedures such as sperm or surrogate uterus are illegal in some countries, patients travel to other countries to make good use of those services.

Ermateb is a Medical Tourism group in Iran that has the potential to provide healthcare services and different medical treatments for clients worldwide. Ermateb provides you with well-qualified surgeons, specialists, and healthcare programs 24-hours a day, 7-days a week. At Ermateb, you can consult and discuss different existing methods for treatment and healthcare you need and you will also have a follow-up plan post-treatment.

Our consultants will talk you through any concerns, provide relevant aftercare advice, and even answer your questions once you return home. Our team includes expert translators in five different languages so you wouldn’t have any difficulty in communication with the medical team.

In Ermateb, you can achieve the best quality treatments at an affordable cost. In addition, Iran has wonderful and attractive places and monuments that you can visit during your visit. Here in Ermateb, we want you to be satisfied with your medical services and enjoy your stay in Iran.

More Study:

What Are The Types Of Medical Tourism?