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Welcome to MedicalTourism and thank you for stopping by. The purpose of OUR website is to provide visitors with up to date information and resources about the rapidly growing industry known as "medical tourism" so that they may make educated and well informed decisions regarding their travel, accommodations, and medical, dental, and surgical care.

Are you planning a vacation for yourself or for your family?

Have you considered having an elective surgical procedure performed but have been dissuaded by the prohibitively high costs?

Do you or someone you know need or desire a dental procedure that is very expensive in your home country?

Do you or a loved one need a medically indicated procedure or surgery but simply cannot afford it in your country of residence?

If any or all of these questions apply to you, I encourage you to please take the time to explore MedicalTourism.com to see how you may be able to benefit from the worldwide advancement of healthcare and the globalization of the marketplace. It is my sincere hope that the information provided here will assist and empower you to make confident decisions regarding your health and well being.

Frequently Asked Questions


		What is medical tourism?

		Medical tourism is a term that has risen from the rapid growth of the industry where people from all around the world are traveling to other countries to obtain medical, dental, and surgical care while at the same time touring, vacationing, and fully experiencing the attractions of the countries that they are visiting. A combination of many factors has lead to the recent increase in popularity of medical tourism - exorbitant costs of healthcare in industrialized nations, ease and affordability of international travel, favorable currency exchange rates in the global economy, rapidly improving technology and standards of care in many countries of the world, and most importantly proven safety of healthcare in select foreign nations have all led to the rise of medical tourism. More and more people are traveling abroad as an affordable, enjoyable, and safe alternative to having medical, dental, and surgical procedures done in their home countries.


		Who are medical tourists?

		Medical tourists are generally residents of the industrialized nations of the world and primarily come from The United States, Canada, Great Britain, Western Europe, Australia, and The Middle East. But more and more, people from many other countries of the world are seeking out places where they can combine vacationing and obtaining their medical care at an affordable cost.

		Where do medical tourists travel?

		Currently medical tourists are traveling in large numbers to India, the East Indies, and South America - three places where the quality of healthcare is equal to anywhere else in the world and yet the cost is significantly lower. These regions also offer numerous options for touring, sight-seeing, shopping, exploring, and yes, even lounging on sun drenched beaches. Although India, the East Indies, and South America are currently the most popular choices for medical tourists, the industry is growing so rapidly that more and more countries and medical centers around the world are beginning to tailor services aimed specifically at medical tourists, and the expectation is that the options for where medical tourists can choose to travel will continue to increase at a rapid pace.

		What kind of healthcare do medical tourists obtain?

		Myriad options exist for medical tourists - from purely elective procedures such as rhinoplasty, liposuction, breast augmentation, orthodontics, and LASIK, to more serious and life-saving procedures such as joint replacements, bone marrow transplants, and cardiac bypass surgery - medical tourists can now obtain essentially any type of medical or surgical procedure abroad in a safe and effective manner for a fraction of the cost that they would face in their home countries. For a complete list of options please see links to worldwide medical centers and/or contact them directly.

		What are the cost savings for medical tourists?

		The cost savings are enormous. For example, for the same price as a week long vacation for two in Hawaii that includes airfare and boarding & lodging, a couple can travel to the natural and lush beauty of Kerala on India's southeast coast to include airfare, boarding & lodging, personal tour guide/concierge, and LASIK corrective surgery for two. The average cost of private heart surgery in the United States is $50,000. That same operation with comparable rates of success and complications costs only $10,000 in the finest and most state-of-the-art hospital in Bombay. A bone marrow transplant that costs $250,000 in the U.S. costs only $25,000 in India. Large price disparities such as these exist across the board for numerous medical and surgical procedures. And because of favorable currency exchange rates for medical tourists, the costs associated with accommodations, food, shopping, and sight-seeing are similarly very favorable.

US: Medical Tourism is Becoming a Huge Industry in India

	Many types of medical treatment in India cost a fraction of what they do in the United States and other Western nations, and citizens from these countries are flocking to India by the thousands. Until recently, it was the other way around, as upper-income Indians commonly rushed to America and Europe for sophisticated treatment.

With world-class medical care, equipment and facilities now available in India, patients from the United States and other developed countries are going there for treatment. A number of private hospitals in India offer packages designed to attract foreign patients, with airport-to-hospital bed transfer service, Internet access, and other facilities. Some packages include add-ons, such as a yoga holiday or a trip to the world-famous Taj Mahal.

Howard Staab, a 53-year-old carpenter-contractor from North Carolina, was diagnosed last year with a serious heart condition. Mr. Stabb's doctor recommended surgery as soon as possible. But he had no health insurance.

The estimate for hospital care alone was nearly $100,000. The cost for the surgeon, the cardiologist, the anesthesiologist, the radiologist, and the pathologist, along with the cost of a heart valve and prescription drugs, has brought the total up to a staggering $200,000 - assuming no complications. Howard Staab did some research and decided to go to Escorts Hospital in New Delhi, where the estimated cost was under $10,000, including airfare, surgery, and rehabilitation.

Howard Staab said, "I was apprehensive (in the beginning) because I had no experience with India or about the quality of care, and the situation there. But my experience was superb. From the time we arrived at the airport, Escorts(Hospital) people escorted us to the hospital, gave us excellent care. The surgeons and all the staff were extremely professional, kind and caring. Everything went very well and I was so satisfied and impressed with the care."

Dr. Naresh Trehan is the executive director of Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in New Delhi, a leading private healthcare provider. Dr. Trehan worked as a heart surgeon in Manhattan from 1968 until 1988, but returned to start the Escorts Hospital Group in India. He says the success of the operations performed and the care dispensed at his hospital have established the institute's credibility.

Dr. Naresh Trehan said, "Now we do over 4,000 heart operations a year, and the mortality, which is an index of how well things are, is 0.8 % which is even better than most places in the world. The other thing that we measure is infection rate. Ours is 0.3 % as compared to the world average of 1%."

Dr. Trehan says American citizens not covered by insurance - or those in countries such as the United Kingdom where there are long waiting lists for many National Health services - prefer to receive treatment in a country like India where top-tier institutions can provide high-quality health care at a fraction of the cost.

The American system is excellent, but the cost and the compulsion to send people home early is actually stressing out many people, and they prefer to come to our country where we can take care of them in a more comprehensive manner. Our nurses are being trained to U.S. levels. Two hundred of our nurses have already gone to the United States for training. Our doctors have established their credentials all over the world. Today, 7 percent of doctors in America are Indians and 11 percent of the specialists are Indians. Language is another big advantage in India, says Howard Staab, who spent more than three weeks in Escorts Hospital and at a resort, recuperating after surgery: "Doctors and nurses were all Indians, and many of the doctors were trained in the United States and Britain and most of them spoke very good English. I did not have any trouble understanding them." Howard Staab's partner Maggie Grace, who accompanied him on his medical trip to India, is writing a book about their experience. We want to help people in the United States know they have choices, says Mr. Staab: "There will be our book coming out very soon. My partner Maggie Grace is writing it. The book title is Patient Pilgrimage: A True Story of the First Americans Travel to India for Heart Surgery and the website is www.howardsheart.com. Howard Staaab says one key to his trip's success was that it combined a high degree of medical excellence with a human touch. India is hoping to expand its medical tourism industry. In addition to Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre in New Delhi, Apollo is another major hospital group and is one of Asia's largest private healthcare providers. Apollo Group has six hospitals in India, one in the southern city of Hyderabad where Apollo also has its headquarters.

Other Apollo hospitals are in New Delhi, Chennai, Lucknow, Pune and Kolkata. Apollo has treated 43,000 foreign patients during the last 3 and a half years. Several medical experts say India has established expertise in practices such as cardiac care, cosmetic surgery, joint replacements, and dentistry. And it has immense potential for medical tourism as medical costs skyrocket in the United States and other developed countries.