The concept of medical tourism is not new, it is an age-old process of travelling to far away land for health, this was later converted to medical tourism. It is estimated that the medical tourism industry will raise its business to $US 60 million in the year 2012. One of the major achievements in recent times is the giant development noticed in the field of medical tourism. People started loving and accepting the concept of getting treated along with a touch of tourism. The potential of health care sectors and medical tourism was soon realized and the management started improving every aspect of health care treatment. This new area flourishing with advance technology attracted foreign patients and increased the economic status of a country.

The western and the US people find the treatment in many Asian countries to be affordable; therefore they flock to Asian countries for treatment along with tourism. It is estimated that by the end of 2010 around 6 million US residents will travel abroad for treatment. According to a survey, 23 million American travelers are expected to travel to Latin America, Asia and Middle East and will spend around $60 billion, by 2017. This affordable treatment sometimes is accompanied by risks of infection, lack of post-operative care and negligence but this does not happen often as the physicians are well trained and well experienced.

The future of medical tourism is strongly backed by the sophisticated research going on in every field of medicine. The latest development in diagnosis and treatment has taken the medical field to unimaginable heights, building confidence in patients mind and convincing him to travel overseas for a successful treatment. Currently, many hospitals catering to medical tourism has established business connections with the local hotel managements, travel agency, insurance agencies etc to provide accommodation, help in ticket booking and complete legal formalities, if any. Health care centers are also providing patients with all time-attender in the post operative recovery period. All these amenities make medical tourism a convenient and relaxing journey creating a positive outlook towards medical tourism.

Medical tourism will flourish abundantly in the future as it has become one-step-process. A person willing to take up medical tourism should just approach a medical travel facilitator who will arrange from start to end of the trip. This has reduced the burden of a medical tourist and assists him in having the best treatment in a world class hospital.

As people’s hunt for better quality treatment will always be on, medical tourism will never come to a halt. This helps in increasing the economical status of a country. Less developed countries can make use of the revenue from medical tourism in improving the quality of health services and attract more medical tourists. This revenue can also be used for providing the best health care services to the local rural population.

Projects for future

Just talking about the achievements in medical tourism will not help the industry to flourish, it will dormant the further growth, rather the future goals should focus on building a stronger foundation for medical tourism treatments.  These goals should aim at

• ·         Quality of health care globally
• ·         Patients safety
• ·         Policy relations
• ·         Collaborative role of global agency
• ·         Global health care policies

The future of global health care service is mainly on the developing more global health care policies allowing patients to travel anywhere in the world for their health needs.

Conclusion

The overall objective of medical tourism should be in taking advantage of the available resources and opportunities and bringing down the negative effects and increase the quality of health care services at an affordable cost, especially to the poor and the vulnerable. The question still remains about medical tourism is – whether the local population is benefited, despite all these advance facilities, global health system and the loads of revenue a country generates. Another major issue is internal brain drain, which creates shortage of trained and experienced physicians thus reducing the access of health care facilities for the local population, this also seem to create inequities in providing health care service to different population. The globalization of health care can have adverse effects on the host country as it can create discrimination between those who can and who cannot afford to pay.

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For the past few years medical tourism is booming dramatically. However, there are few hurdles that need to be crossed to live up to the standards of medical tourism and to deliver an effective service to the people.

Lack of awareness

Awareness gives a person the ability to perceive things and help them in taking a sensible decision. Making a sensible decision is very important when planning for a medical trip. Lack of knowledge and poor research are distracting people from the main concept of medical tourism as the concept is poorly presented at times. Information regarding medical tourism is passed as word-of-mouth or by internet-savvy individuals which most of the time cannot be relied on. Dropping baseless comments on the website also diverts people from getting the exact information. Therefore, it is necessary that an authentic, authorized and well-researched concept is put forth which gives a better understanding about medical tourism. It is very important to educate people that medical tourism is not just a funny trip but the core reason and aim is to make use of high quality treatment and advanced technology. Medical tourism industry should take necessary steps to create awareness among local population.

Lack of legalization

Besides having an entire list of advantages and stretching its arm globally in a short period of time, medical tourism industry is yet to be legalized by authorities. The government of developed countries should take initiative in terming medical tourism as legal and formal. Every country practicing medical tourism should join hands together in making this concept a formal, affordable and acceptable industry. People should be aware of the legal, official and responsible associations dedicated to medical tourism related issues.

Lack of transparency and quality

Transparency and quality is very essential in any industry and most importantly while dealing with health and health care industry; there should be no hidden aspects either regarding the cost of procedure or regarding the quality of service. Medical regulatory law assures about the quality, but the quality of services provided abroad cannot be known. Internet claims certainly are highly doubtful. The best standard quality service should be provided with proper certified and accredited medical tourism facilitator. The hospital management must maintain transparency regarding the cost, pre & post operative issues, future technological developments.

The development of medical tourism industry and medical tourism facilitator depends on each other. A medical tourism facilitator with lack of information could be a great barrier in the development of the industry. Facilitator should follow the guideline which ensures safety, benefits and convenience for medical tourism. A Medical tourism association (MTA) certification could aid them in providing quality service.

Cultural aspect

All the health care organizations promoting medical tourism are aiming at attracting foreign patients but they never concentrate on knowing their culture, ethnic and religious background. This information would go a long way in helping them and satisfying a patient’s personal needs.

Ethical aspects

The government authorities in many countries are just trying to get maximum business from medical tourism and completely omitting the ethical norms and regulation. The local population must be given importance first; all the available medical facilities should be accessible and affordable to the resident population. The government should identify organizations which are capable of offering international care, and only certain services should be allowed by such organization for international patients.

Lack of education

Sufficient knowledge about globalization of health care is not available even among the civilized group. Regional education about the language, culture and health ethics are to be imparted to people, the health care organization can also take the initiative of conducting educational events to implant the notion of medical tourism perception to all.

Set of inter-connections

Establishing a bilateral communication and networking within the health care authorities by a group of professionals is very important. There are many B2B providers, health authorities and insurance companies but for the industry to develop it is very essential to establish a business to consumer relation, such as interaction and non-commercial networking. Medical tourism is looking for a better platform which would help to establish regular connections and also educate the consumer.

Two-way deal

Medical tourism industry to function smoothly need to balance very effectively between health care organizations and the government. This will help in developing health care exchange resource programs which will aid in introducing authorities to assist in the economic development and prevent brain-drain.

Considering medical tourism from the economic standpoint, it has for sure increased the revenue of a country and provided a better improved health care for the local population. The introduction of newly advanced technology and improved quality of health care services has made the less developed nation independent, developed countries may eventually become dependent on developing nations for medical care. At the same time developing nation can also benefit financially from medical tourists. As developing country has low wages and ample man-power, the health care cost will be less and it will attract many medical tourists.  The economic growth from foreign revenue can be redirected and can be used in improving the health care facilities and in subsidizing the cost of treatment for local population.

Quality Standards in Medical Tourism

Quality and cost are the two sides of a coin which should never be messed up. Medical tourism is one such emerging field which carefully balances between quality and cost, as people are pulled towards medical tourism because of less cost and quality service. It is estimated that in 2010, around 6 million US people will travel abroad for medical treatment for cost effectiveness. And about 400,000 people from abroad are seeking treatment in US, as the deciding factor is not always cost, quality is given utmost importance.

The decision of seeking treatment overseas is challenging and the patient need to consider it seriously before starting the arrangements. Although the development in health care sector is immense it is very important that safety and quality is given the top priority. Providing quality and safety treatment is a challenge to every organization inspite of medical breakthrough and expanding knowledge in the field of medical. The treatment procedures, quality and safety procedures varies in different health care center and in different countries, therefore, for the patient to be sure about the quality and standards it is very important to analyze the accreditation status of the hospital. The accreditation standards developed by different accreditating agencies cover all the aspects for providing better quality and safe treatment to the patients.

How to Attract Medical Tourists

All around the world medical tourism is the new hot topic. Every health care organization is striving to understand the concept better and position themselves in this fast growing industry. A recent survey suggests that in future around 20 million people will be travelling around the world seeking treatments. Therefore, every organization trying to establish itself in the field of medical tourism should know to draw the attention of people. Marketing is the best way to attract people. Always be a step ahead of the crowd. Market and advertise the exclusive and innovative techniques followed in the hospital. Before marketing one important strategy is to identify the potential target customer and then present the exclusive qualities of the health care center. Very important strategy that every marketing organization should focus on is “one size doesn’t fit all”. Attracting people from different countries is not so easy, maintaining a public relation (PR) with target audienceAdd New is always important. What might be appealing and attracting to a European audience need not necessarily convince an American audience. It is very important to research the local population and find out their medical requirements and standard of quality they expect and what are their priorities while choosing a medical tourist destination?

Just attracting foreign patients does not finish the job, the actual challenge lies in providing them the best quality care that no other organization would have provided. Medical tourists travel abroad only to get rid of their ailments, therefore every organization should train their staff to provide excellent customer service. Communication is another area of significance which helps the medical tourist feel home, the physicians and nurses should be able to communicate in the patients language or else atleast in English.

Few basic highlighted points to market a health care center

•  Advertizing and popularizing about  the quality and standards is one best method
• Provide world class treatment
• Arrange for total care programme
• Win the confidence of patients
• Coordination of all appointments.
• Travel arrangements.
• Hygienic environment
• Arranging accommodation for patients and attendants.
• Cuisine prepared to meet the diet requirements of the patients

All put together as summary,

• Brand building
• Marketing strategy
• Customer retention
• Market penetration are the new key words of medical tourism, new ways of planning and executing are essential for medical tourism business to survive and thrive in today’s market.

It is quite natural that educated professionals will tend to move to countries where they find a better career opportunity. Because of this migration, many developing country experience brain drain situation, where well educated and trained professionals move out of their home country in search of better opportunity and lucrative avenues, both financially and professionally. The country from where the trained professional moves out is said to experience brain drain, this in turn affects the economy of the country. But the country where the person has migrated to is said to experience Brain gain. Brain gain is considered as a profit to the country’s economy as the country did not spend its resources in training the professional. The phenomenon of brain drain is prevalent in all the countries, especially in the areas of health care sector and IT sector. This has put the country’s economy in major risk.

Competition prevails everywhere; the destination country also competes in getting the best professionals. Competition is not only for health care professionals but also for well trained and experienced nurses. Developing country is experiencing this brain drain from the early 70’s. When the developing country is not able to provide the expected remuneration, highly qualified professionals move out to countries where they are offered better pay scale, better working environment and better life style. Brain drain creates a shortage of health care professionals to the number of patients; as a result the native country is not able to provide better treatment to the local population. Developing countries like India, Thailand and China are affected largely, as their health care professionals move to countries like US and UK which offers them high scale and best life style. In Philippines, for every two

doctors graduating, three leave to foreign shore creating the shortage of one doctor. In the past years, Malaysia has experienced major brain drain as 20% of it physicians are working as nurses overseas creating a dire shortage of specialists in public hospitals. To counter act this, government started promoting medical tourism which would positively increase the revenue of a country and prevent brain drain.

Detailed survey and analysis points that migration of health care professionals is largely towards the country where medical tourism is practiced extensively. The destination country also attracts the health professionals with high incentives for the name and expertise they bring along with them. In this situation, medical tourism came as a rescue to the host country as experts believe that promoting medical tourism may eventually mitigate the phenomenon of brain drain as the country’s medical facility, quality of service and annual revenue will increase with the incoming of foreign medical tourists. With medical tourism catering foreign tourists the standards and quality of the hospital also increases. Treating a foreign patient is more profitable since the revenue from foreign patients are more; now the health care centers are able to provide attractive salary packages to physicians than before. As more and more people from the developed countries start coming to the developing nations for medical care, the healthcare professionals may be attracted back to the native countries, thus reversing brain drain.

Medical tourism might have given solution to external brain drain, but it has in turn lead to internal brain drain, where health care professionals prefer working in private sector than in public hospitals. These private healthcare facilities that cater to the medical tourists, not only provide world class facilities to the patients but also a better working environment to the healthcare professionals with expected pay scale, therefore, professionals prefer working in private sector than in government run hospitals. As someone rightly said “For years we have been providing doctors to the Western World but now they are back home serving foreign patients”. This internal brain drain has lead to less number of doctors and nurses that is actually required for normal functioning of a hospital. In 2007, Thailand was hit by major brain drain due to high pay provided at Bumrungrad; this was the reason why Thailand was unable to provide one doctor per 1800 people in public sector. In India about 57% of doctors are working in metropolitan cities. It is feared that medical tourism may deepen this gap of doctor-patient in rural areas. The impact of internal brain drain was felt intensely by countries that were already in short of doctors and nurses.  However, much effect was not noticed in countries with more number of health care professional as it had surplus resources. Internal brain-drain can be lessened by reforms in medical education policies.

Medical tourism is the only answer to external brain drain. Government of developing countries should take initiatives in promoting themselves as medical tourism destination and bring back their health care professionals. Government should take steps to modify their medical policies and encourage the growth of medical tourism to attract foreign tourists and facilitate easy access of medical facilities. Promising and profitable association must be made between the health care sectors and the tourism management to promote medical tourism and provide quality facilities to the medical tourists. However, promoting medical tourism may lead to internal brain drain, considering this the government should reform their medical policies and try to avoid this adverse effect. Medical education policies should be reviewed in order to ascertain uniformity in the distribution of healthcare professionals and services.

Impact of Medical Tourism on Public Health:

Medical tourism is no longer a novelty but has become a global trend. The increasing popularity of medical tourism and its benefits has attracted many people. Medical tourism has brought a major improvement in the quality and management of health care services which has benefited the local population. People are provided the best treatment with latest technologies which were not available before. The chance of getting treated in abroad at an affordable cost is the main reason why medical tourism is flourishing. Medical tourism has both positive and negative impacts on local people’s life.

Benefits and risks of medical tourism on public health

Benefits:  Medical tourism increases the annual revenue and foreign exchange earnings of the host country. This helps in introducing new advanced technology and increase the quality of health care service. Medical tourism reduces Brain-drain – the migration of well educated and experienced physicians to foreign country in search of good annual income. It upgrades the health care infra-structure, quality, standard and knowledge. It also benefits the host country when an experienced physician comes to their country. It overcomes the shortage of human and physical resources in specialist areas. Local population are benefited a lots as they receive more advanced and affordable treatment in their home country itself.

Risks: In countries where people opt for going abroad for treatment may create a dual market structure. At times the local population may be the sufferers as the entire attention will be paid to foreign tourists, the management will be concentrating entirely on promoting medical tourism and completely neglecting the local people. Sometimes, there is diversion of the health care resource, which is not used for health care services. Brain drain is the major problem as the host country spends its resources in educating a person, but later he shifts to a foreign country and serves there. Patients who undergo treatment in foreign country may face difficulty in follow-up procedures once they are at home.

Be an informed consumer and make a wiser choice in selecting a medical tourism facilitator. Know the qualification and experience of the facilitator and the fee structure. Ensure that there is transparency and full disclosure of information regarding him and the company. The facilitator has to provide options for travel and medical complication insurance. The patient should check for the license of the facilitator and testimonials from former clients. They should also investigate about any unresolved issues regarding the facilitators. The patient should ask him what alternative arrangements he will make in case of emergency or any problems.

Medical tourism facilitator should act as a one-stop facilitator, who arranges and takes care of the following

-       Understanding of medical services: Since the patients cannot always rely on the net information, it is important that the facilitator should have basic knowledge about medical services to explain the consumer, medical ethics and law, importance of accreditation and need for pre-operative and post-operative arrangements.

-       Tourism and travel knowledge: The facilitator must be able to give detailed information about the destination country, the travel route to be followed, knowledge about the nearby tourist destination, easy and convenient route for tourism, advance booking for tourism. Apart from this, the information should also include details about the culture, ethics, environment, politics, community factors and security of the destination country.

-       Accreditation: International accreditation to the medical tourism facilitator adds to its credit. Accreditation improves the quality of service and creates a trust, confidence and credibility for the facilitators among medical tourists. The presence of international accreditation for a facilitator helps them to provide a better health protocol which includes – patient’s protocol, pre & post operative protocol, communication protocol and legal liabilities. The facilitator also receives continuous updates and latest trends in quality medical practice. Following the right processes and procedures at the right time and place reduces the chance of error with a foreign patient and helps in bringing a positive outcome.

Roles and Responsibilities

As people glide through internet for all information in medical tourism industry, several blogs are focused on displaying the pitfalls rather than spotlighting the success story. Hence the decision of medical travel still remains a doubt. In this case, the role of medical tourism facilitator becomes significant in promoting medical tourism. After all, they are the one who represents the concept of medical tourism to the patients.

Medical tourism facilitators play an important role of bridging the gap between the health care providers and the consumers. Medical tourism facilitators can be credited for the significant growth of the medical tourism industry, it’s because of them more and more people are opting for medical tourism, as the only thing the person need to do is approach the right facilitator and the rest is done by them. A medical tourism facilitator makes the medical tourism procedure so simple by bringing together the knowledge of medical service, tourism and travel facilities.

Functions of A Medical Tourism Facilitator

The basic functions of medical tourism facilitators are:

-       Arranging for travel: The facilitator should take care of all the arrangements for travel. He should help in booking the tickets, passport and visa arrangements.

-       Selection of health care center: The facilitator also suggests the best destination and quality hospital, arranges an online or telephonic conversation with the concerned physician and estimates the cost of travel.

-       Insurance arrangements:  In case the medical traveler already holds a medical/travel policy, the medical tourism facilitator should help them to complete all insurance formalities without delay in the treatment.

-       Foreseeing the future: The medical tourism facilitator should always be prepared for the unexpected and should act immediately in case of – extended stay, additional expenses, death etc.

-       Other care taking services: The medical tourist facilitator also arranges for third party providers in the destination country. They take care of all necessary arrangements in the foreign country like – picking up from the airport, dropping in the hotel or hospital, arranging for accommodation, hospital consultations, assists in pre and post surgery check-ups, tourism and finally dropping in the airport.

Knowledge Management

Medical tourism facilitator should have a wide knowledge about the procedures, laws and ethics of different countries, as something ethical in one country may be unethical in another. Similarly cultural differences must also be understood to provide a comfortable journey. A deeper understanding about the legal issues of the destination country will help the facilitator in explaining the tourist about how and whom to approach in case of any malpractice or negligence. These qualities and functions of a medical tourism facilitator have made them a key player in medical tourism industry.

Advantages of Having A Medical Tourism Facilitator

• One stop for all medical tourism related issues
• Establishes easy relation with international health care providers
• Convenient and easy share of medical information
• No insurance related problems
• No cultural and language barriers

Disadvantages of Having A Medical Tourism Facilitator

• Quality of service may vary from one facilitator to another
• Chance of miscommunication
• May be biased towards one destination or hospital
• May have to pay more at times

In precise, a medical tourism facilitator play a major role in drawing foreign patients and secondly providing quality experience through the services offered.  Considering all these points, the patient should select the best medical tourism facilitator and avail the best quality treatment and a comfortable journey.

Understanding the Concept of Medical Tourism Facilitator

The choice of medical tourism is no doubt a very challenging decision. The person needs to focus on identifying a reliable healthcare provider, arranging for a comfortable journey, a detailed understanding about pre-operative and post-operative arrangements, the cost of the entire journey and treatment, insurance policy etc, taking care of these things is really very confusing and tedious job. Therefore, many medical travelers opt for a travel agent. These agents can, for sure, act as intermediaries but cannot offer a flawless one-stop service.  This lacuna in deciding for a medical travel was filled satisfactorily by a medical tourism facilitator.

Medical tourism facilitators are a team of professionals who arranges variety of medical tourism services from basic consultation, arranging the hospital, financing options for Visas, boarding, lodging and tourism after treatment. Arranging for a medical tourism service provider accomplishes all arrangements effortlessly.

Hospitals that cater to medical tourism claim providing international class treatments by qualified doctors, nurses and technicians. But how can a foreign tourist be sure of the quality of service provided, whether the doctors and nurses are well qualified or not, how hygiene is the environment? Etc. To answer these, it is very essential to evaluate the credentials of the hospital and the doctors before opting for it. Evaluating the credentials is not as easy, as the medical tourist may not have direct access to these data’s. An effective and single word answer to these entire set of questions is just checking for the term “accreditation” by any international organization. If a hospital is accredited by JCI, then the name of the hospital chosen by the tourist should also appear in the list of hospitals accredited by JCI. The medical tourist should also know about the success rate of the treatment he is about to undergo. A detailed statistical survey about complication rate, mortality rate, and post-operative infective rates should also be done. Feedbacks from earlier patients should be considered.

How much ever daunting task may be of selecting a good hospital for medical tourism, good research and prior knowledge of the hospital improves the experience as a medical tourist. The patient can be sure that he is getting the best service possible.

International Hospital Networking

Every health care center, world-wide, is striving hard to achieve a world-class quality service. Each hospital has its own area of specialization, one hospital may have a well-trained, experienced physician, whose experience and expertise might be required to a patient in another health care center. Therefore, the Methodist International Hospital is building an international network of affiliated hospitals which would help these health care centers around the globe to share their resources, research and best practices, quality improvement goes without saying. Less developed or developing hospitals can enjoy the vast knowledge and advance technology of international hospitals. This group works continuously with the selected hospitals and helps them to achieve levels of excellence in the field of clinical, technical, administrative, financial and operational. To join this network the candidate hospital must show their dedication to the highest quality and performance met with mandated standards.

To ensure that the medical tourist gets the best treatment, lots of enquiry and research must be done about the hospital. Every person opting for medical tourism should ask these questions to the health care management.

1.     General Concerns

• As a medical tourist, will I have the right to use all modern amenities at the hospital?
• Is the hospital air conditioned?
• Does the hospital have cable, television, and internet access?
• Does the hospital provide newspapers, magazines, and other reading materials?
• On request, would it be possible to contact and talk to the past medical tourism patients?
• What privacy policy does the hospital follow?
• Should somebody from my family accompany me?
• Will the hospital arrange for accommodation?
• Is a translator needed, if yes, will the hospital provide him?

2.     Regarding the Hospital

• Are the facilities in the hospital up-to-date?
• Does the hospital treat my condition? How experience is the hospital in treating that condition?
• What is the hospitals success rate in this specific treatment?
• Is the hospital accredited?
• When was it accredited, and its validity period?
• Are the doctors and surgeons well-qualified as per international standards?
• Does the hospital explain it rules, regulations and rights of the patients?
• Basic infection control method followed
• Is the hospital accessible? How can I reach the hospital?
• What all services are billed in my medical estimate?
• Does the hospital provide a written description about the medical fee and bill?
• Is any type of financial help is available?
• What are the acceptable modes of payment?
• How safe is my data?
• Will my concerns be taken before sharing my records?

3.     Regarding Treatment

• Will I have to sign a consent form before any invasive procedure? If yes, can I review it in advance and make changes, if required?
• In case, if the hospital is unable to provide the treatment when I arrive, will I get my money back?
• Is the nursing service provided round-the-clock during recovery?
• I follow strict dietary restrictions. Will the hospital provide necessary support?
• When do I leave from my country for the treatment?
• When can I go back to my country after the treatment?

4.     Regarding Follow-Up Care

• Am I allowed to take the medications back home with me?
• Are there any medicines which may not be allowed to be taken along? In such case, how do I continue my treatment?
• Would I be given some prescription that can be filled in my country?
• How would be the follow-up care given?
• Suppose I return back home and develop some complications. How would I be treated?
• Will my primary care physician be allowed to give follow –up care?

5.     Regarding Safety of Data

• What precautions are taken for ensuring the safety of the medical records?
• How will the medical reports be transferred if my primary care physician needs to consult?

 6.     Legal Concerns

• I have a medical insurance in my country. Will it cover the procedure done in a foreign country? Does it also cover the complications arising out of the treatment?
• Does the medical expense paid as part of medical tourism affect the tax payment?
• As a medical tourist, whom do I approach in case of malpractice or negligence of care?

The decision of going on amedical trip is tagged with many questions like – whether the hospital will provide him with quality treatment, the risks and benefits of the treatment, and over all will the trip be worth the investment. While going through the list of hospitals for medical tourism one may find that every hospital will claim to provide world class treatment. Therefore, it is very important to know that there are certain essential features that make the hospital more sought after by medical tourists. There are some important components that a person should look for before selecting a hospital for his treatment. This precise piece of writing will help a medical traveler in selecting the best health care center.

Essential components of a quality hospital

Basically every hospital that supports medical tourism should provide the best quality world class treatment. The services offered should include well qualified and experienced physician and nursing staffs, well equipped laboratory and diagnostic center, infection control methods, best dietary protocol, transport facility, good pharmacy, round the clock emergency service, directly available clinical support, and all other medical services. Apart from these medical facilities the hospital should also provide well maintained IT department, Medical records, pastoral services and security services.

While surfing through the net for information regarding the hospital the person should look for the following points

• International certification and accreditation of the hospital
• Doctors are board certified
• Always select a hospital over a clinic
• Select a hospital with multi-specialist departments
• There should be no communication gap, so check whether the staff talks the language the patient understands or at least English.
• Reputation of the hospital in local public
• The quality of hospital in terms of infection control, nurse-patient ratio, mortality rate etc
• Geographical location of the hospital
• Previous and current patients experience and consider their testimonials
• Accommodation must be provided by the hospital or it should be near the hospital
• The hospital must also have the facility of translator for efficient communication.

Services a medical tourist seek at hospital

As every medical tourist is new and unfamiliar with the country, it is the duty of the health care center to provide additional services to the tourists. As few hospitals arrange for flight tickets, it is always advisable to enquire the details before leaving. All hospitals provide pick-up and drop facilities from airport. The hospitals usually have tie-up with many hotels in the city for the relatives of the medical tourist to accommodate. Advance booking for hotel accommodation is also available, therefore, the medical tourist can always request the hospital to book a room for his family. If the treatment is not so complicated and the medical tourist can travel after it, then he can request the hospital management to arrange for the best tourist package.