Number of medical tourism patients rise in Korea by 41.3%
A total of 1,061 foreigners visited Korean hospitals in May, up 41.3 percent from the same month last year, the Ministry for Health, Welfare and Family Affairs said Sunday.
The government expects medical tourism to boom after the Medical Law was revised on May [...]

Competition for high-quality, affordable medical care no longer local.
While domestic healthcare costs are expected to increase to an estimated 21% of GDP by 2010, some Americans may be interested in taking their healthcare spending elsewhere. A recent Gallup Poll finds that up to 29% of Americans would consider traveling abroad for medical procedures such as [...]

People have been traveling for centuries in the name of health, from ancient Greeks and Egyptians who flocked to hot springs and baths, to 18th and 19th century Europeans and Americans who journeyed to spas and remote retreats hoping to cure ailments like tuberculosis. But surgery abroad is a fairly modern phenomenon.

With only half the U.S. population covered by dental insurance, Americans are flocking overseas for high-quality, low-cost dental care. The U.S. is facing a dental crisis. Only about 50% of the population has dental insurance, compared with the 85% who have medical benefits. Medicare doesn’t cover dental procedures, despite the fact that aging teeth are just like aging bodies—vulnerable and brittle. That means more and more patients will be traveling abroad to take care of their pearly whites.

As U.S. travelers rethink plans to seek medical care in Thailand, Bumrungrad Hospital has empty beds. Other regional hospitals face similar straits.
Like many medical centers in Asia, Bangkok’s Bumrungrad Hospital had big expectations for a global trend known as medical tourism. Administrators were especially eager to attract more patients from the U.S. keen on saving [...]

The same economics that outsourced call centers and manufacturing jobs overseas may soon hit health care in a big way.
A recent Deloitte study forecasts that the number of people turning to “medical tourism” — traveling internationally for medical care — will increase from 750,000 to 6 million by 2010, an eightfold increase.
If the actual increase [...]

Patients in the EU may in future choose to shop around Europe for the best and quickest medical treatment, under proposals presented by the European Commission. The proposals will be subject to lengthy discussion and probably changes before becoming law.

Why has the Commission unveiled this package now?
The Commission says there has been too much [...]

The medical tourism industry, currently worth $56bn worldwide, is projected to be worth $100 bn by 2012, figures have revealed.
Women’s Healthcare, an inaugural event at the Dubai International Exhibition Centre, has been showcasing the healthcare travel industry, which is growing 15 – 20% per annum, highlighting the benefits of traveling abroad for both preventative [...]