The Curious Case of Medical Tourism

By Evan Falchuk

In our survey of major U.S. employers, we found very little interest in medical tourism.

But there is a great deal of interest in it among the major media – the Wall Street Journal, the New York Times, and today, Forbes (via the Associated Press) have done major stories on it.

But here’s something curious.

All three stories have featured the exact same medical tourist – Ben Schreiner of Camden, South Carolina.

Back in March, I wrote about how curious this was.  I guess it’s curiouser now.

Are there this few patient stories?  Based on our survey, maybe.

Whether medical tourism becomes a trend in America remains to be seen.  But since he’s appeared three times, one thing is certainly a trend – Ben Schreiner’s role as the go-to guy for stories on it.

WELCOME Instapundit readers.

This blog is about health care.  It is from the perspective of someone actually in the health care business.  It is a perspective informed by the health care system as it actually works.

And what it is really about is this:  Health care has become focused on the unit cost of care – treating it like something that can be produced on an assembly line.

But it’s not.

It is about thinking, judging, and deciding what is wrong with a patient.

The trouble is, our system systematically undervalues this process.  When your doctor can only spend 15 minutes with you, why are we surprised when things go wrong?

Proposed reforms continue to see health care in this light, hoping that through ever-more clever ways to pay for care, we can fix a problem created in that very same way.

If you read this blog, you will see not just the reality of how this works, but also the good news – the stories of patients, doctors, employers and others who are doing real and meaningful things to put right what is wrong.  You won’t hear much about it in the media – well, sometimes you will – but there are people out there changing the face of health care even faster than the politicians can.  And perhaps you will see what politicians might learn about how to actually make change.

Please visit again, join the discussion, and add your voice to this most important debate.

This entry was posted on Saturday, August 22nd, 2009 at 1:10 pm and is filed under Health Care Media, Healthcare Benefits. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • http://BoomerHealthTips.com Boomer Health

    This is the “me too” m.o. of the media. One covers a story, then they all do. Genesis of the “one-day news cycle.” (Unless story “has legs,” of course — then they all cover ad nauseum for as long as people read/watch/listen.)

  • http://33charts.com DrV

    Whether it’s a trend is irrelevant. What’s important is that it sounds like a trend. Interesting pick up.

  • http://twitter.com/efalchuk Evan Falchuk

    Thanks for the comments, guys.

    I’m puzzled by the fascination with this subject in the media.

    It looks like a man bites dog story. We know that foreigners travel here, but did you know that Americans also travel abroad for care?

    But I would think that a quick Google search of Mr. Schreiner’s name would reveal that an aberration was being reported as a trend.

    I don’t think there’s anything nefarious going on, it’s just odd.

    Evan

  • http://www.asiasmedicaltourism.com/ brooks

    Medical Tourism is really a growing trend.There has been a steep rise in the number of patients opting for medical tourism as a solution for their medical concerns.
    Thanks for sharing nice information Evan.
    Keep it up.

  • Thomas

    Hmmm, I’d do it but it might reflect more on me than the US medical system. I like to travel, I like good deals, and I don’t distrust doctors in India…

  • Wayne

    No doubt Greg Packer was unavailable for comment.

  • M. Scott Eiland

    A solemn moment–the meme of American medical tourism has its own Greg Packer!

  • Conor

    Brooks, how do you know that medical tourism is a growing trend? Do you possess the mystical power to see national trends without conducting a scientific survey? Or could you maybe point us to some data analysis?

  • John Skookum

    The Greg Packer of health reform astroturf.

  • Bob
  • Dennis

    I know at least one family from Alaska that did the research and then took a dental vacation, as they called it, to Mexico and got all their dental work done there. If this family could research it then WSJ et al were just lazy if they used on guy.

  • Brian Macker

    Medical tourism from the US to foreign countries is nothing new. I remember as a kid reading about many such cases in C.S.I.C.O.P. magazine, the organ of the Commitee for the Scientific Investigation of the Claims of the Paranormal. There was plenty of outgoing medical tourism to quacks like psychic healers. So one reason for medical tourism has a lot in common with traveling for Nigerian scams.

  • Laurence

    My daughter was taking an extended trip to South Korea to visit her new relatives and show off the baby. While there, she paid to have extensive dental work done including root canals and caps. She found it much cheaper and less hassle than going thru her insurance.

  • Narniaman

    Thought for an interesting study. . .

    How many medical tourists come to the US vs. how many leave the US for other countries.

    And then for the pontification. . . on why so many people travel half way around the world to get medical treatment in the country that only has the 38th best medical care in the world.

    Incidently. . . .excellent point about the medical quacks abroad. In the 70′s and 80′s there were lots of Americans getting their laetrile and coffee enemas from the Mexican Cancer Clinics.

  • Dave Monroe

    This isn’t a trend: it is a reality. Take one trip to world-class Bumrungrad hospital in Bangkok and count the Americans. I know. I have done it. The laziness of the main stream journalists is contemptible. It is quite easy to find many examples of medical tourism with a simple web search and a few interviews.

  • Ellen

    You want a sex change, you go to Thailand. I must know half a dozen folk that’ve done it. I’ve also known several people who go to Mexico for dentistry. And if you want a treatment the FDA won’t allow, you NEED to travel.

    Nations specialize. There’s nothing surprising about it.

  • Laurence

    RE: How many medical tourists come to the US vs. how many leave the US for other countries.

    They come to the US to get the best treatment money can buy. The US medical tourists can be broken down into two camps: those who do it to get more affordable treatment for standard conditions and those who do it looking for desperate cures.

    RE: the 38th best medical care in the world.

    This figure is very deceiving. For example, some boards rate a country lower depending on whether or not it has a socialized system. Also, as a rich country, albeit one living beyond its means, the US suffers from a number of diseases caused by self abuse via diet, etc. Finally, the US has some very violent minorities whose activities slew our results. For example, about 45% of the murders in the US is the result of black on black crime. I think the relative ranking of the US would rise it one discounted violent crime.

  • JAL

    Anecdote(s) alert:

    I have been a medical tourist — 30 + years ago — before it was a “trend.” We had served in a developing country with a mission board. Went back for another purpose 2 years after returning to the States and had a crown put in by my “there” dentist who I already knew as part of out trip.

    Would probably do it again if I knew who was at the mission hospital and what their training was …

    But here’s a kicker — my physician here, now, is having some jaw surgery done on one of his kids in a South American country. Researched it and decided it was worth it and responsible.

    There also was an article last year sometime on medical tourism — maybe in an AARP rag? Some place like that. Complete with contact info for researching stuff.

    It’s out there. Ben Whatshyzname nothwithstanding.

  • JAL

    Did you google medical tourism?

    Here are some AARP pieces — one from 2007.

    http://www.aarp.org/aarp/broadcast/my_gen_archives/Mygen_107_archive/My_gen_106_seg_1/

    http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/healthyliving/articles/affordable_surgery_closer_to_home_.html

    http://bulletin.aarp.org/yourhealth/articles/traveling_for_treatment.html

    FWIW, I am not a big fan of AARP, and I do not favor the federal government managing health care and business in the States.

  • Pingback: More medical tourism questions | Asia Health Care Blog

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