International Health

International Health


The practice of traveling to another country to receive some form of medical care is becoming more and more popular. This travel is often referred to as "Medical Tourism" or "Health Tourism." You can perform the service of arranging and organizing travel and accommodations for these medical trips, as well as providing information to people who are curious about perhaps taking such a trip. These people may be traveling from an exotic locale or may have an exotic locale as their destination. Others may prefer to travel to multiple countries on the road to their well-being.

The first thing you should know before planning such an endeavor is that there are several reasons for this kind of travel. Each is unique to the individual traveler. You will need to consider each individual traveler's needs before providing them the services they will ask you for assistance with.

For some, traveling to another country is their option of choice when they decide to have some form of elective surgery performed. When people choose to have certain forms of dental or other cosmetic surgery or some other procedure performed to alter their appearance, they often want to have it performed in a country far away from where they reside. This helps them recover in a relaxing environment, away from home and away from the awkward questions that might arise while incisions and bruising are in the process of healing. At times, persons needing a surgery such as knee or hip replacement, want to avoid the social age-related stigma sometimes associated with these particular procedures and so would rather have it performed somewhere that is more 'below the radar', as it were.

For some travelers, it is more appealing to have a long recovery time take place on a beach or at some other scenic location with lots of amenities instead of in a sterile hospital environment with only nurses and doctors and the smell of antiseptic for company.

Quite a few persons travel to other countries because a particular procedure is experimental or is so complex and specialized that the doctors who are able to perform it are very rare and hard to find. Some of these procedures are only legal in countries other than their country of origin.

For some, the cost of a treatment in their country of origin is beyond their reach. Their insurance may not cover the procedure and by traveling to a country where the procedures are less expensive, they are able to get the treatment they need at a price they can afford.

There may also be long waiting lists in place for some procedures. Some countries that provide their citizens with public healthcare cannot provide non-urgent treatments in a timely manner and make people wait for months or even years. They would rather not waste time waiting in line when, in the same space of time, they could be well on their way to recovery in another country.


There is another kind of travel that is referred to as "Reproductive Tourism" that involves in-vitro fertilization or some other kind of assisted reproductive treatments. Again, many of these people travel for experimental procedures or for the anonymity of being in a foreign country.

Then there are also the travelers in need of various forms of mental hospitalization that would prefer to do this in a location that promotes relaxation and is out of the public eye.

You will definitely need to have a web presence with lists of travel packages to give people an idea of what they can expect. Make sure to refer them to organizations that provide information on foreign accreditations also, so that they will be sure to get the best of care. The choice of doctor and procedure will be entirely theirs. Your job is to help them get there and back and to make the trip as easy as possible.

You have a couple of choices on how you could bill your clients. You might make your profits off what your customer will save, for example, if the customer saves $5,000 you can charge them $1,000. On the other hand, you could charge them a percentage of the total cost of the trip. This is entirely up to you. You will need the basic skills of a travel agent along with the knowledge of the customer's particular needs. Having a network of contacts or resources in many countries would be a definite benefit, since you will be providing a specialized service.

In no time at all, you will have built up a large clientele base, many by word of mouth, as your customers are wowed by your professional services, and how easy you have made their international travel plans!

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_tourism

http://travel.state.gov/passport/passport_1738.html

http://www.smilesavershungary.co.uk/

http://www.medicaltourisminsight.com/articles/0703-leading-edge.htm