Medical tourism

The CBS News 60 Minutes program reports on the offshore outsourcing of medical services from the U.S. to India and Thailand: "Vacation, Adventure And Surgery?".

A quintuple bypass surgery for $12,000 instead of over $100,000, a state-of-the-art facility, first class nursing care, and a vacation in Thailand. 

Prices, for comparable levels of care, are generally even lower in India.

Anne Bell works at the British High Commission in New Delhi. She just had a baby and says she’s glad she was here, and not in England: "There’s been no pressure to go home after the delivery. We’ve been welcomed to stay as long as we want. They’re looking after the baby. They’re looking after me, giving me enough time to get settled and get confident enough to go back home. Often in the UK, you might be out of the hospital within five hours if you’ve had a normal delivery."

And in the UK, she wouldn’t have had a private room and a private bath. Not to mention massages, and yoga, too. And the doctors? Indian doctors are known worldwide, they speak English, and they’re often the very same doctors you may have had in Europe or America, where many of them practiced before returning to India.

The downside?  "Don't forget: It's at least a 20-hour trip, there is malaria in parts of India, patients have complained of intestinal disorders - and if something goes wrong, you could end up suing for malpractice in an Indian court."

via Alex Tabarrok at Marginal Revolution: "Outsourcing People", who points out

"Many of the doctors interviewed by 60 Minutes worked in the United States before they returned to their home country.  Ten years ago these same doctors would not have left the United States.  These doctors are returning to their home countries precisely because they now have the opportunity to work in spanking-new hospitals with the latest technology..."

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