ANALYSIS | medical tourism |
rising standards in medical tourism: threat or
opportunity? Medical tourism often incites polarised views — defensive attitudes
among established professionals whose services are being eschewed versus enthusiastic endorsement from users who have found a less expensive way of accessing cosmetic surgery. Will these two ends of the industry ever meet in the middle? Ashley Yeo investigates
M
ASHLEY YEO, Principal Analyst, Informa Business Information
email
ashley.yeo@
informa.com
12 ❚ November/December 2011 |
prime-journal.com
edIcAL tourISM — travelling away from local medical specialists, usually to a foreign destination, to take
advantage of surgical procedures not readily accessible at home — is growing in importance. It is not a new concept by any means, but it has taken on a growing significance in the last 5 years as patients’ knowledge of global healthcare systems and of services available beyond their national borders has improved. this affects cosmetic surgery too. But
whereas surgeon and/or procedure quality, or even availability, is generally the driver for medical tourism — as well as cost in certain cases — for aesthetic surgery, cost is the main consideration. in addition, some patients are lured by access to surgery denied them by their domestic health service on health grounds. in the past, medical tourism has
suffered negative connotations, and still does in some circles. it has more often than not been associated with poor quality of care, lack of follow-up and potential costs to the national health provider in the patient’s country of origin. industry associations such as the london-based British association of
aesthetic Plastic surgeons (BaaPs) are sceptical about such businesses, which they see as offering a cheap but risky option for patients seeking such elective procedures. they highlight the dangers of individuals using untrained or unspecialised surgeons, against the sound advice of professionals. (a recent high-profile episode, in February 2011, involved a British woman who died after travelling overseas for buttock enhancement.) in some cases, the established industry
feels that warnings are necessary, as in the case of the controversial PiP (Poly implant Prosthesis) breast implants (now off the market), which were being sold under a different name in some of the most popular cosmetic surgery tourism destinations around europe, and regularly visited by patients seeking low-cost procedures.
Safety: the key issue indeed, for prospective patients, the draw of lower-priced surgery can be powerful, hence the inexorable rise in the popularity of cosmetic surgery tourism. Furthermore, the latter is becoming more accepted as an option as local practitioners increasingly recognise the value and, crucially, safety, of cosmetic surgery procedures accessed abroad.
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