Deciding to travel for medical treatment is never an easy decision. The key factors that influence the decision to travel are: Availability, Quality, Cost, and Privacy.

Availability

Hospital waiting lists are a fact of life in some countries. Many western countries with excellent, free or highly subsidised healthcare simply cannot meet the demands put upon them. Waiting 2 years for a hip replacement, even if it is eventually free, is not an option for many: the pain can be agonising and two years without mobility can seem a lifetime. By travelling abroad for treatment they could receive a replacement hip in a few short weeks.

Quality

We may rarely think beyond or local healthcare system as an option, but is it really the best? Would Newsweek do a colour spread on your local hospital as it did on Bumrungrad Hospital in Thailand*, naming it among 10 hospitals across the world that are leaders in their field? Centres of excellence shift from place to place as medical advances take place. A procedure pioneered in Singapore may take 5 years to reach the USA: American doctors must first travel to Singapore to learn the procedure and then seek approval to perform it back home. To obtain the highest quality and find the leader in any field you may have to look further afield than your local clinic.

Cost

You should never have to choose against having an operation because you cannot afford it. According to the New York Times** over 46 million Americans, from all walks of life, have no medical insurance. Even those with medical insurance can find that their insurer does not cover the procedure they require. If you have to pay for a procedure yourself, then it is time to look for the best value for money. That does not mean compromising on quality. A number of factors combine to decide the cost of a procedure: Demand on facilities, excessive liability insurance for doctors, local wage scales etc. The same procedure performed by the same standard of doctor, with the same equipment can vary in cost dramatically from country to country.

This information is intended as a guide only. Always consult with a trusted qualified medical practitioner before considering any potential treatment.