Medical Departures - Media Room

With more than 300,000 bookings to date, Medical Departures, and its sister site Dental Departures, form the world's #1 platform for facilitating global healthcare travel. Patients worldwide have realized more than $475 million in healthcare savings as a result.

This puts us in a unique position as a trusted resource for journalists, editors, and other members of the media seeking up-to-the-minute data on medical tourism data and developments.

Working with thousands of patients, doctors, dentists and other healthcare professionals every month, our on-the-ground perspective allows us unrivaled, data-driven insights into:

• Pricing and cost comparison data by country, city, procedure, and region
• Patient numbers, flow, and demographics
• Market size and growth on macro and micro levels
• The most popular medical procedures in each destination
• Patient expenditures by age, gender, nationality, etc.
• Patient satisfaction ratings
• Post-pandemic travel trends
• Quality assurance and patient safety data

What Are the Most Popular Destinations for Medical Travel?

For Americans and Canadians, the most popular countries for medical travel are Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia and Thailand.

For Europeans, particularly those in the United Kingdom, the most popular medical travel destinations include Turkey, Hungary, Croatia, Spain and Poland.

A number of other countries in Southeast Asia and North Africa region are known for offering excellent value for money coupled with high standards of medical care; these include Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Indonesia (Bali), Egypt, the UAE and Tunisia.

Most cost-driven medical tourists come from the United States, Canada, and Western Europe – where healthcare can be prohibitively expensive and waiting lists may be months or even years long.

How Much Can Medical Travelers Save on Cross-Border Care?

Patients booking through Medical Departures can expect to save:

• Up to 75% on plastic surgery, with the most popular procedures including breast augmentation, liposuction, hair transplants, abdominoplasty (tummy tuck), rhinoplasty (nose work), eye bag removal, facelifts and body lifts.
• For example, the cost of a breast augmentation procedure in London averages around $7700USD, whereas the price for the same treatment in Bangkok is around $4,800.
• Approximately 50% on basic, non-invasive beauty treatments such as laser skin rejuvenation, Botox®, dermal fillers, thread lifting, light therapy and chemical peels.
• For example, Botox that costs around $11 per unit in Australia costs approximately $5 per unit in Thailand.
• In the region of 60% - 70% on a number of non-cosmetic surgeries and treatments, such as bariatric surgery (sleeve gastrectomy, gastric bypass), orthopedic surgery (knee and hip replacements), sex reassignment surgery, and IVF treatment.
• For example, a total knee replacement in the USA can cost between $30,000 - $50,000; the same procedure at a top hospital in Mexico ranges from $7,000 to $12,000.

Note: complex, invasive procedures are performed in a hospital or specialized inpatient facility with a team of healthcare professionals composed of highly-qualified doctors, nurses and anesthesiologists.

Why Do Patients Use Medical Departures?

Medical Departures works with a network of more than 3300 doctors and dentists, and 2,700 medical and dental clinics and hospitals, in 37 countries. Any facility listed on our site is thoroughly vetted to ensure it meets high standards of quality, safety, and professionalism.

Our background checks include:

• Verifying specialists’ credentials, clinic accreditation, and certifications
• Assessing patient outcomes and satisfaction scores
• Confirming legal compliances
• Screening for potential malpractice records
• Authenticating professional licenses

How Can the Quality of Medical Care Be the Same?

Our partner medical facilities are subject to guidance from highly-regarded organizations such as the American Medical Association (AMA) and the International Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (IASPS), while many are fully accredited by agencies, such as the Joint Commission International (JCI).

Top facilities use the same caliber of advanced medical equipment and technologies as those used in the USA, the UK and Australia, and employ highly-trained professionals who have completed their training at reputable institutions both domestically and overseas.

More hospitals and clinics than ever have also received ISO 9001 accreditation, which helps ensure that best practices and guidelines on infection control, sterilization, and safety protocols are consistently followed.

Clinics use the same trusted brands that are used by doctors and dentists in Western hospitals and clinics: advanced medical technology, such as 3D computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), robotic surgery equipment and other state-of-the-art diagnostic tools.

How Can Global Medical Centers Charge So Much Less?

• Lower labor costs for doctors, nurses, and other support staff.
• More affordable medical education: for example, a medical degree in the US can cost double or triple a comparable education in Mexico or Thailand.
• Less restrictive business overheads: including more affordable rent, insurance, utilities, and construction costs.
• Materials used for medical procedures: implants and other prosthetics, medications and medical devices, usually cost far less.
• Financial incentives and subsidies to hospitals and specialized clinics are often provided by national governments, such as those in Turkey and Mexico, creating an impetus to stimulate medical travel.

Looking for Something Specific?

Feel free to contact us at mediainquiry@medicaldepartures.com for more detailed information: market trends, patient flows, comparative costs on popular procedures.

In addition, our design team can visually enhance your story with fully credited hi-resolution, web-ready images, infographics, charts and graphs using the authoritative data we collect.

For more ways to connect, please visit the Medical Departures’ main contact page.