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MEDICAL TOURISM Costa Rica: From Ecotourism Leader to World Class Healthcare Provider Mention Costa Rica to someone and invariably you’ll hear words such as eco-friendly, misty rainforests and picture-perfect volcanoes to name just a few. Costa Rica is well known around the world as a premier ecotourism destination. Its proximity, stunning scenery and friendly locals have been luring North American travelers for at least three decades, long before the term “ecotourism” became popular. With all the focus on Costa Rica’s natural attractions, many people are not aware that the country is also a popular destination for top quality health care at very affordable prices. That is now changing. According to Costa Rica’s <strong>Tourism</strong> Bureau, the number of visitors to the country coming in search of medical treatment has doubled since 2003 1 . Although exact numbers are hard to come by, (a 1991 study by the University of Costa Rica suggested that nearly 14% of visitors came for medical purposes; other surveys put this number much lower), there is no doubt that more and more North Americans are finding Costa Rica a very attractive destination for their healthcare needs. 20 DECEMBER 2007 By WILLIAM COOK Why Costa Rica? PRICE If you have done any research, you will quickly discover that the price of medical procedures in Costa Rica tends to be at least 40-70% less than what you would pay in North America. This is due in part to lower wages, a favorable exchange rate and lower malpractice insurance. Price is no doubt the principal reason why patients choose Costa Rica and other foreign destinations. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION Located just two and a half hours from Miami, Florida, Costa Rica is one of the closest off-shore medical care destinations for people living in North America. If you choose, you can literally fly to Costa Rica’s
capital city of San José on one day, have your surgery that same day, and be on your way home the following day. This, by the way, is not recommended, but it is an attractive option for less invasive procedures. For many, however, the advantage of a relatively short flight home is what puts Costa Rica at the top of their list of medical tourism destinations. Coupled with the fact that Costa Rica is a favored vacation destination for American travelers, the country is a convenient option for people who are looking to combine a regular vacation with a health check-up or surgery procedure. I mean, who wouldn’t want to slide into bubbling thermal springs or explore an emerald-green rainforest and then take care of an ailing health problem all on the same trip? Add to this picture the luxury of a wide variety of recovery retreats, a feature unique to Costa Rica, and it is easy to see why this country is such an attractive destination for plastic surgery as well as other medical procedures. A LITTLE HISTORY Even back in the early 1980’s there was already a healthy flow of North American patients coming to Costa Rica for cosmetic surgery procedures. The low cost of cosmetic and dental procedures is still one of the main attractions for patients abroad. Increasingly however, travel to Costa Rica and other countries for medical care is being driven by North Americans who don’t have health insurance or have only minimal coverage. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, “These patients are not ‘medical tourists’ seeking low-cost aesthetic enhancement but middle-income Americans who need life saving surgeries and want to evade impoverishment by succumbing to expensive healthcare options in America.” 2 This trend of traveling abroad for life-saving medical treatments is expected to increase dramatically over the coming years due to rising health care costs, higher deductibles and insurance premiums that are well beyond the reach of many middle income Americans. In a typical scenario, Tom, a self-employed roofing contractor, is told by his U.S. doctor that he requires knee replacement surgery. The price he’s quoted is close to $40,000, and, as one of America’s 47 million uninsured, Tom has no way of footing the bill. Through a friend, Tom hears that there may be more inexpensive options abroad. A Google search brings up a hospital in Costa Rica where Tom learns that the exact same procedure costs only $9,500. After carefully researching the site and talking to doctors and former patients, Tom decides to use the hospital to arrange his surgery and logistics. During this time Tom speaks several times with his Costa Rica physician and is impressed by his warmth and knowledge, as well as by his credentials and fluency in the English language. Tom arrives in Costa Rica a few days before his surgery and takes advantage of the hospital’s concierge services to visit an active volcano and relaxing hot springs. A few days later, Tom is picked-up at his hotel by a hospital representative and taken to the hospital for surgery. The hospital’s caring staff and ultra-modern facilities quickly put Tom at ease. After surgery, Tom spends three days in the hospital and an extra week in a recovery retreat before heading back home. Total expenses including round-trip air-fare? $10,700. ARE WE FORGETTING ABOUT QUALITY? Sure, soaking it up at a tropical paradise may sound all fine and dandy. But who’s to say the masked man hovering over me is a qualified medical professional and not some quack that just stayed at a Holiday Inn Express? Is there any kind of government regulation? How does one weed out the good doctors and hospitals from the bad ones? First off, just as in life, things usually aren’t so black and white. Whether in the United States, Canada or Costa Rica, some doctors and hospitals simply have more experience in certain procedures and are therefore more likely to have better outcomes. Here or abroad you’ve got many good DECEMBER 2007 21
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Page 58 and 59: MEDICAL TOURISM The Boomers are Com
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