Medical tourism will continue to flourish

Implications: -There is no reason to think that medical tourism will decline in popularity.  Certainly for cosmetic procedures, there is no insurance-related issues that might curb the rise of offshore surgery.  -As for overseas experimental treatments, they will continue to be attractive to the U.S. consumer as long as our FDA continues to lag behind international regulatory agencies in their approval process.

Analysis: -Many US hospitals and practitioners have responded to the burgeoning popularity of medical tourism.  Hospitals such as Cleveland Clinic, Massachusetts General and others have established outposts in places such as Dubai, Abu Dhabi and other niche markets.  These American style hospitals aim to serve as destination medical facilities serving Asia and the Middle East, as well as medical tourism from Europe and the US.  The attractionsof these facilities include merican operating standards, American trained staff, and US board-certified physicians.