Medical tourism: what you need to know

Ivan Ivanovich is an avid skier. All of his 38 trips to ski resorts ended with triumphant evenings by the fireplace, where he boasted to his friends about his brilliant avalanches and backflips. But his latest trip ended in a very unpleasant collision with a pine tree and a hip fracture. Now Ivan Ivanovich needs surgery. In his native St. Petersburg, hip replacement costs an average of 250,000 rubles or 3,500 euros. Ivan Ivanovich has the money. However, it is not easy to find a good specialist who guarantees a positive outcome.

Ivan Ivanovich is an experienced traveler, so he decided to look for a solution to his problem abroad. Now he will also be a medical tourist.

What is medical tourism and who are medical tourists

The stories of medical tourists can be very different. One thing unites them - all these are people who travel to another city or country to receive medical care, give birth, or undergo rehabilitation and recovery.

Often, medical tourists travel to other countries for beauty. Such procedures as facelift, liposuction, tummy tuck, breast augmentation, and aesthetic dentistry are popular.

Many serious procedures are also performed abroad, such as joint replacement, hysterectomy, and heart bypass surgery, and internal organ surgery.

Medical tourism is an opportunity to receive high-quality medical services at a good price or, conversely, to receive luxurious service and VIP conditions that are impossible in your home country, but you really want them.

What are the types of medical tourism

When Ivan Ivanovich travels abroad for treatment, he is an international medical tourist. There is also domestic medical tourism. This would be if Ivan Ivanovich had gone to have his hip operated on not abroad, but in Syktyvkar, because his best friend recommended a local surgeon with "golden hands" to him.

Why people choose medical tourism

People choose medical tourism for many reasons. If Ivan Ivanovich goes to Europe to have his hip operated on, it is because he has the money for it and he is confident in the impeccable quality and service that he will receive in a European private clinic.

On the contrary, thrifty Europeans may ignore the service, Google a clinic in Albania, Turkey, or Ukraine, and get a nose job or liposuction for half the price of doing it at home.

Medical tourism is also chosen because of the geography: the exclusive location of the clinic. For example, people from all over the world flock to the exclusive Swiss spa resort in Bad Ragaz for its healing thermal waters with a stable temperature and miraculous properties.

According to the American Medical Tourism Association, the reasons why people choose other countries instead of their home country are as follows:

• 56% of patients want to receive higher quality treatment
• 22% are looking for lower prices
• 18% are looking for a treatment option that is not available at home
• 10% want to receive treatment as soon as possible, without waiting in line.

When Ivan Ivanovich answers the question of why he needs medical tourism, he needs to figure out where to go for medical tourism.

Here are some factors to consider when choosing a destination for medical tourism:

When choosing a country for medical tourism, it is best to follow your individual needs. If you, like Ivan Ivanovich, need a top-notch orthopedist, look for clinics and medical centers in Western Europe and the United States. For plastic surgery, people often go to the United States and Brazil. Cancer is successfully treated in Israel, Western Europe, and again, in the United States.

Ivan Ivanovich studied the Internet, read reviews from patients on forums and in specialized groups, assessed the level of healthcare in a particular country, prices for medical services, estimated the experience of doctors, and compiled a list of 5 top countries where he could go for hip replacement. Let's consider this list.

Top 5 medical tourism destinations

• Germany
• Switzerland
• France
• United States
• Israel

A long flight to the United States is not the best option in the case of a hip fracture. Israel has a specific climate. France, Germany, and Switzerland can boast of a high level of medicine. Of the three countries, the most expensive treatment is in Switzerland. But here work specialists with a world name. When the financial issue is not a priority or vice versa priority - that is, you want the best of the best - choose Switzerland.

Features of medical tourism in Switzerland

The number of medical tourists in Switzerland continues to grow every year, despite some of the highest treatment costs in the world.

The peculiarity of Swiss medicine is the fact that it is almost entirely private. Clinics and medical centers are equipped with the latest equipment. It was in Switzerland that one of the first in the world began to use in the treatment of modern types of lasers, robotic surgeons, 3D technologies, etc.

The prices for treatment in Switzerland are justified by quality and excellent service. In addition, in Switzerland, you are guaranteed complete anonymity of the visit, if the patient so wishes.

Surprisingly, treatment in Switzerland is preferred not only by wealthy Europeans. Tourists from China, Asia, and the Middle East come here. The number of patients from Brazil, Russia, and India is growing. The main reason is the inability to receive sufficiently qualified medical care at home.

One of the most profitable and growing segments of medical tourism in Switzerland is wellness and spa tourism. In 2015, Swiss resorts became the most popular for medical tourists among other European resorts with similar natural landscapes, such as Austria or Germany.

In private hospitals in Lausanne, Bern, Zurich, and Geneva, medical tourists seek popular procedures, including therapeutic spa treatments, cosmetic surgery, infertility treatment, neurosurgery, obesity treatment, and orthopedic surgery.

Tourism is a key sector of the Swiss economy - 6% of Switzerland's export revenue comes from tourism, and about 17-20% of this revenue comes from wellness and medical tourism.

Hip replacement in Switzerland will cost Ivan Ivanovich from 20,000 to 40,000 Swiss francs. In addition, he will have additional expenses, including purchases, accommodation in a hotel, after discharge from the hospital for the time of rehabilitation and entertainment. The Swiss are very interested in attracting more medical tourists like Ivan Ivanovich. Therefore, medicine and medical service here are truly at the highest level.

How to go on a medical tour to Switzerland: from where to start and where to turn

Deciding on a destination for medical tourism is only the first step on the road to recovery. Next, you need to find a clinic, and in it a suitable doctor. If you speak English well or, ideally, German, you can google Swiss clinics yourself and learn all the information from the primary source.

When you are planning medical tourism for the first time in your life, you do not have the experience and understanding of how the process of finding a clinic, doctor, processing documents, and obtaining a visa takes place. Therefore, it is better to look for a clinic for treatment abroad through specialized agencies. These are agencies that work in a similar way to travel agencies that send you on vacation.

The agency receives a request from Ivan Ivanovich to find a suitable clinic for hip replacement. In a consultation with a manager, which can often be done online, Ivan Ivanovich gives the agency a full understanding of what criteria the medical center should meet, where the patient would like to receive treatment.

Agencies that deal with medical tourism have a database of clinics in the country where they send patients. Ideally, when the managers of the agency are insiders of the healthcare system of the country where they send patients. For example, the CorSwiss agency was founded by doctors who have worked for many years in leading Swiss clinics.

Agency takes on not only the hassle of finding the right clinic and doctor. Often, agency managers are the link between the patient and the clinic, and they also help with document processing, visa opening, finding accommodation for relatives and accompanying patients, and helping to determine logistics of movements and transfers.

Of course, Ivan Ivanovich may not contact the agency. He can directly contact the clinic, buy tickets, take care of opening a visa, independently process documents, and delve into the specifics of the clinic contract.

It is important to note that in order to travel to Switzerland for treatment, the patient must have an invitation from the clinic or medical center, which confirms the fact of full or partial payment of the upcoming treatment. It also specifies all the patient's data and the period in which he is expected at the clinic.

Best orthopedic clinics in Switzerland

Ivan Ivanovich injured his hip and needs an orthopedist. There are many private clinics in Switzerland that consult and operate on people with musculoskeletal diseases and injuries of varying degrees of severity. We have selected two top orthopedic clinics in Switzerland with a long history and VIP service.

Clinique La Colline in Geneva

Location:

Clinique La Colline is located in the center of Geneva.

Profile:

Clinique La Colline is a multidisciplinary medical and surgical institution. The center is equipped to serve patients 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

The clinic has six of the most modern operating rooms in Europe, equipped for general surgery, endoscopic surgery, and robotic surgery. It also houses a powerful, high-tech radiology institute. In addition, there is a physiotherapy department in the premises, equipped for all rehabilitation exercises.

Specialization:

With over 30 areas of medical specialization, La Colline offers interdisciplinary and surgical expertise of the highest level. Key areas of expertise are orthopedic surgery, visceral surgery, and neurosurgery. In addition, the clinic provides individual diagnostic programs as part of its sports medicine and training center.

Facts and figures:

There are over 450 doctors and surgeons from FMH (Swiss Medical Association) and about 300 employees working here. 67 rooms, including luxury rooms, 6 operating rooms.

Health Center in Bad Ragaz Grand Resort Bad-Ragaz

Location:
The health center is located in a picturesque resort area.

Profile:

Bad Ragaz is a resort, a five-star hotel, and a modern clinic with a long history. On their website, Grand Resort Bad Ragaz declares themselves as a place that was founded on the traditions of bathing and spa, spanning hundreds of years. This tradition is the basis of the unique combination of its own thermal spring and wellness oasis.

Specialization:

The center offers modern diagnostics and the development of individual treatment plans. Nutrition counseling, dietetics, treatment of dermatological diseases and aesthetic medicine, orthopedics and rehabilitation medicine, sports medicine.

Facts and figures:

The healing properties of the springs in Bad Ragaz have been known since 1242. The uniqueness of the resort lies in the natural springs on which the complex is built. The healing waters here have a constant temperature of 36.5°C. The springs are called the "blue gold" of Switzerland.

More clinics and information can be found on the website https://corswiss.ch.

Medical tourism, and medical tourism to Switzerland in particular, is a great solution for those who have the finances, want to be sure of the result, and appreciate good service. Like Ivan Ivanovich, who can now conquer the peaks again, already in Zermatt.