Things to Keep in Mind While Opting Medical Tourism
The Practice of visiting a different country for getting medical treatment can be termed as Medical Tourism. There has been a growing trend amongst the western population to opt out medical tourism as a way to get treatment. The cost of living is increasing by the day and it is very difficult to sustain medical treatments in the United States. For the same treatment, one has to shed more than $66,000, the same person can save more than $40,000 in Costa Rica for the same treatment. The statistics state that more than 1.6 million people from the United States have traveled to other countries for medical care and treatment. Around 14 million patients travel abroad and spend an average and spend $4000-6000 at an average treatment. The average saving per treatment has made people more excited about opting for Medical Tourism in the countries such as India, Israel, Costa Rica, Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and Thailand.
While there can be lots of saving in opting for medical tourism, there can be some serious fatalities as well. So, when you plan to travel for opting the Medical Tourism, keep the following five precautions in mind –
Guidance and Recommendation
It is very necessary to get good recommendation and guidance for opting the medical tourism. After all, planning a medical treatment in another country is not an easy task and has to be taken very seriously. You must seek advice from someone in the field or someone who has had that experience in the particular health issue. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention suggests that people opting for Medical Tourism must consult a Travel Health Advisor for better information. Sometimes, flying to other countries for medical treatment can worsen the condition of the patient and therefore must take certain precautions. Have all risk covered before you fly up for getting medical treatment abroad? You must also have thorough information about the place you are going the language barriers you might face there. The cultural indifference also plays a major role in medical stabilization and hence prior knowledge of these factors is necessary for the same.
Proper Documentation
It is obvious and necessary to have all the documents ready while gearing for opting Medical Tourism. Therefore, you must organize and catalog your paperwork for the same to avoid any last minute commotion in the trip. You should make sure that all the documents pertaining to your medical treatment are ready and in order to produce. This might range from scans to reports to doctor’s appraisal and prescriptions as well as treatment records also. Keep an organizer for the same to avoid troubles. This is important as it would become difficult to get the documents once you have reached the destination. Also keep the travel documents such as visa, passport, credit or debit card as well as local currency with you for smoother passe.
Under the Procedure and Recovery Procedures
While getting the treatment from other countries, one must have the proper understanding of the treatment as well. You must check out the technicalities and specifics of the treatment that you will be going through and hence can equip yourself with the required items. The most important part of every treatment anywhere in the postoperative recovery and in order to get better benefits of medical tourism, you must follow up with same doctor to keep the progress in check.
Double Check for Fraud
There are lots of fraud in this field and being away from your own country makes it even worse to recover. Here, you must check out for fraud attempts at you because you are not commoner and do not understand the common tongue. The American Government also recommends that you keep your medical identity safer from theft by securing your insurance documents, social security numbers and medical records intact. You must also keep your insurer informed about your treatment and the costs pertaining to it. You are also advised to not let anyone know your personal data over the email and phone. For any kind of treatment anywhere, read all the documents carefully and validate them before signing them.
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