Medical tourism is a relatively new term to describe a growing number of people worldwide that travel abroad for healthcare. Why these people travel and for what varies, but essentially there are two types of medical tourists – the leisure tourist that incorporates a visit to the doctor for some minor treatment, as part of his or her vacation, and the tourist travelling specifically for medical treatment.

What are the drivers behind medical tourism?

Before there even was a term ‘medical tourism’, it was common practice among the well-heeled in developing countries to travel to the USA, Switzerland and Germany for medical care. However, over the past five years this trend has been turned upside down and now countries such as Thailand, are attracting patients from the USA, Canada and the UK.

This new niche market has evolved as healthcare systems worldwide are struggling to meet the medical needs of their populations. In the United States, the price of healthcare is beyond the means of many and there are an estimated 40 million uninsured people. While in Britain, Canada and Holland, socialised healthcare guarantees affordability, demand for medical services far outstrips supply and waiting lists for surgical procedures or specialty medicine can be as long as two-to-three years.

Today, governments, insurers and employers are carefully looking at medical outsourcing as a way to improve access and lower healthcare costs for their citizens, policyholders and employees.

Bangkok, Thailand’s healthcare services are about half the cost of similar services in Singapore, one-third the cost of Hong Kong and one-tenth the cost in the United States.