There can be some confusion about the terms, and places where health tourism and medical tourism are used interchangeably, so it’s something that has to be considered in context. Generally speaking, there are some similarities, and some differences, and how large these are depends on your point of view about medicine as a whole. It’s useful, then, to discuss both of these, to get an understanding about each in terms of their specific contributions to health and travel.

Looking at medical tourism first, this is a larger terms that’s somewhat of an umbrella. It has come to mean any kind of travel for medical and health procedures, where there are some borders crossed. People go to other countries for cheaper prescriptions, and this is sort of an extension of that. Here, in medical tourism, people go to another country to have a medical procedure, which can be elective and/or cosmetic, or necessary. This can and does include dental work. The reasons for travel began with the idea that one could go on a vacation and have an operation at the same time. The location would provide a great place in which to recover. Now the reasons for travel still include these, but it’s more common to see people going out in search of cheaper, and sometimes even better, care.

In health tourism, there are some differences. In general, and again, these terms are sometimes used to signify each other, people are traveling with different health agendas. It’s not necessarily for formal western medical work, and often includes holistic therapies, homeopathic medicine, as well as basic old-fashioned spa treatments. In a sense, this is the new age arm of medical tourism, where there are more kinds of practices that can enter into it. Often, people are going to other places less for the cheap costs, and more for the expertise.

For example, if the ailment needs the work of a skilled shaman in the Amazon, there are very few places that will offer this work. It can be location-specific, for the healing properties associated with the place, or related to local healing practices. This is something that people have been doing for a number of years, and is probably much older than medical tourism, and will probably have a longer track record.