Criterii și standarde economice în turismul medical actual

Abstract

Medical tourism, defined as "travel outside the country of residence, with the aim of obtaining medical care" is a contemporary reality, arising as a result of the phenomenon of globalization of tourism, on the one hand, and health care systems, on the other hand. In the past, the term referred only to the travel of patients from less developed countries to developed ones for medical treatments not available in the country of origin. Currently, three trends are emerging in medical tourism: the first refers to attracting patients for balneology procedures, the second refers to the provision of medical rehabilitation care, and the last trend is the one that offers specialized treatments of aesthetic surgery, dentistry, cardiac and orthopedic surgery. For the individuals interested in health services, the cost and quality of health infrastructure and medical personnel are the key factors involved in the decision to receive medical care abroad. In addition, they are associated with very high fees that patients cannot cover from health insurance, such as dental implants. Inevitably, the COVID 19 pandemic had bad consequences for medical tourism as well, through travel bans, the fear of contacting the disease and the deterioration of the quality of life of many patients. In conclusion, although a long period of time is needed for medical tourism to return to pre-pandemic standards; it represents an economically attractive alternative, both for the patient and for the countries providing these medical documents.