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Medical tourism, one of the
fastest growing businesses
17 May, 2007
Medical tourism is set to become one
of the fastest-growing businesses in
the 21st century.
According to statistics, in 2006, over
150,000 patients traveled overseas
seeking more affordable treatment.
More and more investors are looking at
this as a profitable business
opportunity.
Reports say that there are nearly 30
countries in four continents servicing
international medical travelers from
Europe, the United Sates and Canada.
A search on the internet brings up
hundreds of thousands of websites that
promote medical tourism, highlighting
cost-savings as well as the medical
procedures performed overseas. Online
providers publicize medical vacations,
consisting of air fare, hotel
accommodation, excursions, and medical
care at costs far less than those in
the United Kingdom or the United
States.
According to Hungarian Dental Travel,
new companies and websites are born
every day to attract the attention of
the medical tourist. However, most of
those companies are not even
registered and not quality-oriented
but quantity-orientated.
The Hungarian Dental Travel cites one
example: Los Angeles Times has
published the case of Edson Martinez,
a resident of California, the United
States, who visited Tijuana, Mexico,
for wisdom-tooth extraction. The
procedure was performed with pliers
for $50. Three weeks after his return
to the United States, Martinez found
that the dentist in Tijuana had
extracted only part of each tooth, and
he had to spend another $1,000 to
complete the
work.
Christopher Hall, managing director of
Hungarian Dental Travel, gives the
following tips for those embarking on
medical travel: When choosing a
medical provider abroad, consider an
agency which works with several
well-vetted medical providers in
abroad. Make sure that the agency is a
properly registered company and
possibly have offices or agents in
your home country.
Hungarian Dental Travel (www.hungariandentaltravel.co.uk),
based in Lincoln, the United Kingdom,
is a registered dental travel agency
organizing dental holidays for British
and American patients who want to
travel to Central Europe for dental
treatment.
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