Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

Offshore Doctors ● 43In their study of health and tourism, Goodrich and Goodrich definehealth-care tourism as “the attempt on the part of a tourist facility or destinationto attract tourists by deliberately promoting its health-care servicesand facilities, in addition to its regular tourism amenities.” 6 They studiedsome 24 mostly more developed countries and did not include complexmedical procedures. So too Hunter-Jones, in her study of the role of holidaysin managing cancer, distinguished between health tourism, spa tourism,health-care tourism, and wellness tourism, but did not include invasive,complex procedures. 7 Henderson expanded the health care alternatives asper the following typology. She divided health-care tourism into three categories:spas and alternative therapies (massage, yoga, beauty care, etc.), cosmeticsurgery (and other nonessential medical procedures), and medicaltourism (such as health screening, heart surgeries, joint replacements, cancertreatment). 8 In this study, the classification of services is different fromHenderson’s insofar as it gives prominence to diagnostic services. Thisbroadening is warranted given the reality of the mid-2000s consumerdemand. Also, Henderson’s cosmetic surgery and medical tourism categoriesare spliced in this study. This is necessary to reflect the fact that, while inthe 1980s plastic surgery was the principal surgery sought abroad, in thetwenty-first century it no longer dominates the market. Finally, in this studythe preferred umbrella term for the entire industry is medical tourism ratherthan Henderson’s health-care tourism. This reflects the growing encroachmentof medicine even in spa and wellness services, an encroachment thatmight be perceived as a marketing tool, a trend, or even an egregious misuseof terms in order to lend credibility to a service. Whether justified or not,the use of the word medical is real and this study responds to that reality.Medical tourism services are studied below in the following categories:invasive, diagnostic, and lifestyle. There is no evidence of services sold toforeigners that are outside these categories as not all medical services aretradable (for example, Canadians do not travel to South Africa for the treatmentof mental illnesses such as bipolar disorder). Moreover, some servicesmust be consumed close to home, such as those demanded by patientsphysically unable to travel, or when emergency care is needed following anaccident.Invasive procedures refer to those that are performed by specialists forpeople with noncommunicable diseases. The most popular invasive procedurecontinues to be dental work. Its popularity is due, in large part, to thefact that treatment is fast and recovery even faster, allowing the internationalpatient time and energy for an exotic vacation. Also relevant indental care is that the costs are rarely covered by the patient’s insurance(some dental work may be covered, although it is limited to a number