Recently my mother had a toothache; she went to a dentist in Philadelphia who was going to charge her over $2,000 for a root canal and a dental crown. However, she decided to wait until her vacation in Costa Rica for holidays and had the procedure done there for $200.

She was extremely satisfied with the price and more importantly the service. Her experience convinced my father to have his two front teeth replaced; to eliminate a wide gap that blemished his smile, he estimated he had saved $3,000.

According to Deloitte consulting services, 875,000 Americans like my parents were medical tourists in 2010, traveling outside U.S. borders to receive health care, cosmetic surgery, dental work, and even open heart surgery.

Doctors specialising in medical tourism procedures adhere to a simple formula: Focus on the process and on volume. “If you are investing heavily in the process, the product naturally will be good,” according to Dr. Luis Da Cruz, the head plastic surgeon at a hospital in Costa Rica. Much like large retailers such as Costco that capitalize on the power of bulk purchasing, doctors such as Da Cruz apply the same formula of process and volume to their hospitals while maintaining the standards and innovative methods they perfected in the United States.
Economists and medical experts have identified other influences that make overseas hospitals less expensive: clearly lower labor costs, but also fewer third-party payments, price transparency, limited malpractice liability and fewer regulations.

Undoubtedly American health care dollars are certain to be a major focus for providers overseas. But I was worried about the quality of health care in a developing country, where certain luxuries that we take for granted are absent.

While speaking to Dr. Da Cruz by phone he told me that the Joint Commission International — a U.S.-based organization that establishes standards for and inspects health care providers – recently inspected his hospital and passed it with flying colors. Currently 225 medical sites outside of the US are JCI-certified.

Likewise, the nurse-to-patient ratio at Da Cruz’s hospital continues to be, and has always been, one-to-one. Better than many hospitals in the US.
Doctors performing medical tourism procedures are in the unique position to offer not just great quality care, but perhaps more importantly, superior value-based care (quality divided cost). Da Cruz maintains U.S.-standard quality in the services provided in his hospital at a lower cost, thereby delivering better value than the majority of American hospitals.

Medical tourism has commanded the attention of leading medical experts and consumers alike. The industry’s focus has forever been to deliver value-based care that is high-quality health care at the lowest cost. Medical tourism is in the unique position to provide on that promise.