Medical Tourism means travelling to some other country for medical treatment. This is also called as Global Health Care. This industry, now a days is on a rise as more and more people are looking for cheaper medical treatments outside their home countries. Mostly people go for elective and planned treatment and very rarely there is some emergency. Numbers of people using this phenomenon of Global Health Care are increasing day by day. This phenomenon is on high rise for western people, who travel abroad for medical treatment. The whole medical treatment, their flight expenses and their recovery time of about one or two weeks in some resort is less than half of the cost which they will have bared in their own country. India, Malaysia and Thailand are among top countries where this industry is flourishing, thanks to latest marketing techniques which actually give a full tour package.

Emergence of this industry is mainly due to high costs of medical treatment in countries like Britain, USA and Japan. In these countries if people are not having health insurances, then it would have been very difficult for them to bare medical expenses. Popular elective or planned medical treatments are hip joint replacements dental surgery, cardiac surgery, cosmetic surgery and knee joint replacements. This industry seems to be on a rise as more and more people are attracted towards it and trusting quality of treatment. In some countries where you have to wait for one year or even more for your turn of surgery, in other countries you can have it performed immediately. You are also treated in a very friendly and professional way and you are given all facilities which you can think of while being under treatment.

Some of the Benefits of Medical Tourism are as following:

1. First benefit is of cost saving. This industry is basically based on this very idea of giving quality service in low cost in developing countries like India, Malaysia and Thailand.
2. Another benefit is the speed and efficiency. For example in UK waiting time period for Hip Replacement surgery is about a year or perhaps more at times. In this case people can travel to other countries and get themselves operated and get back in no time after full recovery.
3. Another factor which has given this industry a high rise is of insurance because some orthopedic operations like hip and knee replacement are not covered by the health insurance so one has to move towards other countries to have these things fixed. People who do not have health insurance are left with no choice but to go to foreign countries to have them fixed. In USA nearly 45 million people are without health insurance so this tells us that there is a lot of scope in other countries for Medical Tourism.
4. Final benefit is of having some enjoyment and relaxation added to your package. You can relax after your treatment is completed. For example in Thailand you can enjoy beaches, in India there are some wonderful resorts and in South Africa Safari Trips are also part of the package.

There are some risks also associated with this medical tourism which are as following:

1. Major risk is about quality of doctors and other support staff present in there.
2. Another risk is of follow up care, as once you are back in your own country and there is any complication it would be very difficult for the patient.
3. The recovery period which includes entertainment for patients could also be harmful for patients like Sun bathing on beaches or not taking diet foods in resorts etc.