Medical tourism
Medical Tourism
Medical tourism (pronunciation: /ˈmɛdɪkəl ˈtʊərɪzm/), also known as health tourism or global healthcare, is a term initially coined by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly-growing practice of travelling across international borders to obtain health care.
Etymology
The term "medical tourism" is believed to have been first used in the early 21st century, but the concept dates back thousands of years. The word "tourism" is derived from the Greek "tornos," meaning "a lathe or circle; the movement around a central point or axis." This meaning changed in modern English to represent one's planned vacation or journey. The term "medical" is derived from the Latin "medicus," meaning "a physician".
Related Terms
- Healthcare provider: A person or organization that provides health care services.
- International healthcare accreditation: The process of certifying a level of quality for healthcare providers and programs across multiple countries.
- Medical travel agency: A company that specializes in arranging travel plans for people seeking medical treatment abroad.
- Patient safety: The prevention of errors and adverse effects to patients associated with health care.
- Healthcare quality: The degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge.
Overview
Medical tourism can be defined as the process of traveling outside the country of residence for the purpose of receiving medical care. Growth in the popularity of medical tourism has captured the attention of policy-makers, researchers and the media. Originally, the term referred to the travel of patients from less-developed countries to developed nations in pursuit of the treatments not available in their homeland.
Today we are experiencing both qualitative and quantitative shifts in patient mobility, as people travel from richer to less-developed countries in order to access health services. Such shift is mostly driven by the relative low-cost of treatments in less developed nations, the availability of inexpensive flights and increased marketing and online consumer information about the availability of medical services.
See Also
- Health tourism
- Global healthcare
- Medical travel agency
- International healthcare accreditation
- Patient safety
- Healthcare quality
External links
- Medical encyclopedia article on Medical tourism
- Wikipedia's article - Medical tourism
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