Summary
Due to the increasing costs or health care in the U.S and the perception that health care is cheaper in other countries, even with the travel and housing expenses, patients are succumbing to the foreign markets.
India, Indonesia and other countries, with lower costs of labor and less expenses overall are getting into the market of delivering surgical services such as cardiac and cosmetic surgery at bargain prices.
The question is this really a bargain and what are the real issues?
Analysis
Even at Johns Hopkins University we have investigated the issue of health tourism. Why? Because we have had the ability to deliver expertise health care to our foreign customers for services that they can not get in their own countries, sometimes at higher rates of expense. However, our technology seems to attract the King, Dictator, etc. who can't get the services or perceives better care in the U.S..
Now the well trained foreign physicians, many trained in our own U.S. Universities have set up bargain packages to deliver lower priced packaged "deal" in their own countries.
Many places have patient agents who set up the travel, pick-up and hotel, etc. services as one would see in a spa setting. Most of the times the outcomes are acceptable but not always and this is the main issue or set of issues.
For who then takes the responsibility of caring for the patient and who then pays for the subsequent services when the patient is back in the U.S. Who does one sue for the instrument left in the patient, who removes the instrument, sponge, etc. and who in going to pay and what hospital wants the responsibility of caring for the patient who didn't want to pay the price offered in the U.S., received a discounted service and presents with the complication.
What insurance agency wants the risk?
Ghana health care is not know for their expertise and in fact some of my students working on health care delivery in Ghana find even basic services lacking. Why then do they want to offer health care tourism except to profit from it. I believe that their delivery system has to improve before they can offer a competitive system. One which patients will consider as equal and safe as compared to the U.S. system or to other systems already out there competing with the U.S. market. Therefore this is an unrealistic strategy for this country.
