With the cost of healthcare continuing to rise, consumers are increasingly motivated to find innovative and non-traditional ways of providing healthcare for themselves and their families. One such innovative means of delivering healthcare is the emerging trend of medical tourism. Though medical tourism is growing in popularity, industry leaders continue to critique the lack of accountability and oversight for this method of healthcare delivery.
Though the appeal of medical tourism can be attributed to multiple factors, critics argue that it lacks the necessary components to ensure patient safety. Some patients travel abroad for medical care due to experiencing delays in accessing care, while others cannot afford the cost of medical care. Proponents of medical tourism argue that there are many excellent healthcare facilities around the world that deliver a high quality of care which oftentimes is at a significantly lower cost to the patient. As a result, medical tourism companies have now gotten involved in organizing healthcare services that cross the borders of countries (Turner, 2010).
As the medical tourism industry continues to grow, serious consideration must be given to the role that accreditation and accountability play in the cross-border delivery of healthcare. Those in support of medical tourism accreditation have suggested several elements to increase the accountability of this emerging industry. Some of these suggestions include only using accredited international healthcare facilities to provide care, as well as ensuring continuity of care for the patients. The argument is being made that steps need to be taken to ensure that the proper standards are in place to enable patients who utilize medical tourism to make informed decisions regarding their care. Many also argue that there should be restrictions placed on what services may be provided in a medical tourism setting (Turner, 2010).
Regardless of the specific constraints that are implemented, it remains of critical importance to ensure the safety of the increasing number of patients who are actively participating in medical tourism. Though some industry leaders may wish to ignore the rapid growth of the medical tourism industry, innovative healthcare leaders will recognize the prominence of this trend and act quickly to advocate for the safety of patients. Whether patients chose to receive their healthcare at home or around the world, healthcare leaders have an obligation to safeguard against the unnecessary risk of improper accountability in the medical tourism industry.
Reference:
Turner, L. (2010). Quality in health care and globalization of health services: Accreditation and regulatory oversight of medical tourism companies. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 23(1). Retrieved from:intqhc.oxfordjournals.org/content/23/1/1.short
