Medical Tourism Is
Booming In Costa Rica
Costa Rica has been
seducing foreign
visitors with its
volcanoes, beaches and
rain forests. However,
the trend of late is for
foreign visitors to come
to Costa Rica for
cosmetic and medical
surgeries and dental
treatment.
According to reports by
the US networks, CNBC
and ABC, as well as
videos on YouTube, all
promote Costa Rica as
one of the "hottest"
countries for medical
and dental services.
Visitors do their
homework by surfing the
internet for websites
that offer all kinds of
professional services
that include plastic
surgery for an extreme
makeover, medical and
dental treatment and
buying real estate in
addition to the perfect
vacation spot.
Some combine their
vacation with their
medical treatment.
The reason for the
medical tourism "boom"
is simple, the same
procedure in the United
States can cost double
to ten times what it
costs in Costa Rica.
The simple truth is that
visitors find the cost
of the medical and
dental treatment costs
much less in Costa Rica
than in the United
States and receiving
equal of better
services, as many of the
professionals in Costa
Rica have been schooled
and/or trained in the
US.
The growth in medical
tourism is not only from
the growth of the
internet and the number
of websites promoting
services, but also from
the best form of
advertising and
promotion - the word of
mouth, as Costa Rica is
recommended to family
and friends.
Reports like the one
features on ABC's 20/20,
where they featured
three women coming to
Costa Rica for plastic
surgery and then
recuperating in places
like Las Cumbres, have
helped the industry get
the word out.
Christian Rivera, a
plastic surgeon at the
hospital La Católica and
whose patients are
mainly foreigners says
that the low cost allows
foreigners to have
surgery that they could
never afford in their
home country.
Rivera and his work has
been featured on the
Discovery channel. "They
(the television crew)
followed me around an
entire day and filmed a
step by step surgery
performed on a woman",
said the doctor.
Many of the doctors and
medical centres will be
represented at the World
Medical Tourism & Global
Health Congress being
held in San Francisco,
California, from
September 9 to 12.
According to Colombian
doctor, Óscar Oeding,
who is a specialist in
hip and knee
replacements at the
Clínica Bíblica, more
women than men come to
Costa Rica for medical
treatments, the majority
being American seniors.
Oeding added that there
agencies in the US who
specialize in putting
patients in contact with
doctors in the Costa
Rica.
In the US Medical
Tourism, also known as
Global Health.
The World Medical
Tourism & Global Health
Congress websites says
that Global Health is
one of the fastest
growing industries in
Global Healthcare. As,
the healthcare crisis
worsens in the United
States, Canada and
Europe, the world
realizes the potential
of attracting
international patients
to overseas hospitals.
And as the healthcare
crisis worsens in the
United States many US
insurers, Employers,
TPA's and health
insurance agents are
looking at innovative
and creative ways to
reduce healthcare costs.
US Employers and
Insurance Carriers are
saving up to 90% off of
the cost of their
healthcare expenses by
implementing medical
tourism.
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