It is a story heard all too often in Medical Travel stories – The patient who needed surgery 5 years ago and has sacrificed quality of life because they can’t afford surgery. Desperation pushes them to seek out other options and that is when they pack their bags and head for foreign shores. The only regret when they are headed back home pain-free… waiting for so long to do it.
So why are people waiting? Three reasons I can think of:
1. Financial – Yes it is much cheaper, but what if it I still don’t have the cash?
2. Lack of knowledge – I didn’t even know that these options were available?
3. Fear – I have never been outside of the USA, I don’t know what to expect, it’s too hard.
The first 2 are easy. Financial assistance is available for medical care and some options will extend to offering assistance to medical travelers. One such option is mymedicalloans.com who offer assistance to New Zealand bound medical tourists.
The industry as a whole is doing a fine job at raising the profile of Medical Tourism and the PR surrounding it, means that the message is slowly but surely getting through. One of the most effective means of education is through word of mouth and the more happy patients going back to the USA, the more that seek out offshore options.
So coming back to fear – I certainly understand it. Medical treatment is scary and confusing enough on its own without adding the distance factor to it. But there are many ways that you can make your journey a whole lot less daunting with a few simple steps:
1. Research your destination
Find out all you can before you go about the country and customs you are going to so you know what to expect. Look at travel forums to get insider tips. Know how you are going to get from A to B.
Research the medical care at the hospital as well. Find out outcome information, number of surgeries the surgeon has performed. Nurse to patient ratio’s. Number of english speaking staff.
2. Talk to previous patients
Most good facilitators or international patient departments will be able to arrange for you to contact a patient who has agreed to talk to prospective patients. They will also be able to give you insider tips and reassurance of the quality and ease once you get there.
If you can’t talk to a patient then seek out credible testimonials. Good facilitators or treatment centres will have them readily available on their website.
3. Select an appropriate destination
There are so many Medical Travel destinations out there these days that you can pick and choose based on factors that are important to you. Do you want to choose a very safe destination? Is an English speaking destination important to you? Make a checklist of things you want in a destination and then start matching the available destinations to your wishlist. If you are a fussy eater, you don’t want to go to somewhere that has food tastes vastly removed to what you are used to.
4. Find a facilitator you can trust
You should feel comfortable with the facilitator you are using. These are the people that you are entrusting with your healthcare, if you can’t trust them then find a new one! You should be able to ask them anything, if they don’t know the answer right off, then they should be finding out for you. Some patients actually find that traveling abroad for healthcare using a good facilitator is easier than staying at home, after all the facilitator knows the system inside out and takes care of everything for you. How many people can say that about using facilities at home?
5. Take a companion
Medical Travel is much easier with somebody to share the experience with you, but choose carefully. Someone who is off shopping or playing golf the entire time is not helpful. It is common to feel a little blue after surgery no matter where you have it and having someone on hand who can sympathize and help cheer you up is incredibly helpful. If you can’t take a companion then talk to your facilitator about home care assistants, it is amazing how much difference a friendly face makes when you are recovering.
There are many more tricks of the trade that make the medical travel experience a whole lot easier but the underlying factor is that a GOOD facilitator can make the process easy and familiar. Never underestimate how valuable being greeted by someone you trust and 24 hour assistance can make to the ease of your journey. Even at home haven’t you ever wished that someone would just figure it all out for you? That is the Medical Travel difference… They do!
Related posts:
