Medical Travel

This year, a few hundred thousand intrepid American travelers will head to places like Thailand and Costa Rica, in search of something that they can’t find in the United States. They won’t be looking for Mayan ruins or ancient Buddhist temples, but something a bit more practical: affordable medical care.

In the past few years, medical travel has drawn interest from the self-funded employer community and the nation’s health plans, sparking growth and, in the wake of health care reforms, promising to transform medical travel into a global and integrated health care system.

Can you buy health care the way you buy goods and services on eBay? Almost. A small, emerging online service called MediBid is letting providers bid to provide the care that patients need.

One of the coauthors of ta blog appearing on The Council for Affordable Health Coverage recently had a knee operation, a bit of arthroscopy that put him on crutches for four miserable (but hopefully worthwhile) weeks. It gave us the opportunity to review bills and—uniquely—compare prices.

Minerva Journeys, providers of world-class medical travel concierge services, assisting individuals and businesses to access cost-effective, high-quality health and dental care, announced today that it has partnered with Startup America Partnership, the national organization dedicated to helping young companies grow in order to spur job

Taiwan has recently launched a new app service for medical travel that provides handy information on tourist attractions and healthcare facilities around the country, a move expected to expand its medical tourism market.

Following its successful UK launch, The Clinic Finder has now gone global. As well as launching locally into more than thirty countries it has also integrated a Medical Tourism option, which lets prospective patients find clinics overseas.

Produced by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. Many patients are traveling great distances to obtain medical care. Whether the destination is an exotic resort halfway around the world or a health care facility several hours away in a neighboring state, U.S. citizens are increasingly

Dramatically rising U.S. health care costs are prompting many consumers to consider outbound medical tourism as a viable care option.

The purpose of this white paper, published in October 2007, is to lay out the issues that US players should begin addressing now and to provide the context in which to evaluate them.