Medical tourism is a growing industry that has risen exponentially in popularity in recent years. They say that necessity is the mother of invention, and that’s certainly the case here.  With medical costs skyrocketing, and increased difficulties of getting coverage for either voluntary or necessary medical procedures, it makes sense that we would start to look at other options.  If there is a dentist just south of the border who can provide the same bridgework with the same excellence in care, for a fraction of the cost, then it simply makes sense to look outside the systems that are in place.  Which countries, then, offer medical procedures?

Because of the popularity of medical tourism, there are more doctors in more countries that are providing services to people from all over.  At the same time, a fortunate result of the trend is that we can share the information fairly easily.  It’s not an underground network, but usually begins with some simple searches on the internet, or getting recommendations from health professionals who are familiar with the better doctors in other countries.  This makes it particularly easy then to get information fairly quickly.  Some countries have better reputations than others, and sometimes there is a kind of specialization by place.

For example, Turkey seems to be the best place for laser surgery, Mexico for dental work, China for neurology, and India for just about anything.  Each of these fields and places are subject to change, however, and it’s necessary to keep up with who’s got the best reputation and price for what you’re looking for.  As of the early part of 2010, however, the countries offering medical tourism are: Mexico, the U.S., Canada, Brazil, Panama, Uruguay, Cuba, the UAE, Israel and Jordan, New Zealand, the Philippines, Turkey, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Poland, Germany, and the Czech Republic.  It will be interesting to see how this trend develops in the coming years.