The phenomenon of Medical Tourism is rapidly spreading around the globe thanks to the easy availability of information on the internet and the increasingly low costs of travel. For many people in the US, Mexico has long been their destination of choice for medical care thanks to the high standard and low cost of the treatments available there.
The Mexican border with the USA is one of the world’s first and busiest Medical Tourism destinations. Tijuana, in the Baja California Peninsula, offers some of the best medical facilities in the Americas, with high tech eye-surgeries and some of Mexico’s top quality hospitals. The border areas are where a traveller is most likely to encounter English-speaking care, but if Spanish isn’t an issue Mexico also offers a number of other possibilities, including some highly respected hospitals in Mexico City.
Proximity to a large number of American patients has led to a proliferation of dentists, plastic surgeons and private clinics along Mexico’s northern border. Staff members have often completed training in the USA and many continue to update their training with US organizations. The Hospital Angeles group – the largest in Mexico – has an impressive facility in Tijuana, with over half its staff members US or UK Medical Board certified.
While hospital accreditation on the American model has been slow to gain momentum in Mexico, standards in testing and laboratory monitoring have been harmonized across the Canadian, US and Mexican area. Mexico’s “Entidad Mexicana de Acceditación" is a full member of the International Laboratory Accreditation Co-operation guaranteeing verifiable standards within accredited institutions. Even with the slow uptake of accreditation across Mexico, some private groups are jumping ahead of the curve. Both the Hospital Angeles group and Hospital Chistus Muguerza are in the process of completing Joint Commission International accreditation programmes.
Mexico presents an ideal location for dental and cosmetic surgeries. A steady flow of US citizens passes through the border to one of the highest densities of dental practices on earth. Lower costs and a large number of US qualified practitioners make for a hard to turn down saving over the prices north of the border. Cosmetic surgeons can also offer lower costs than their northern counterparts with some practices offering recuperation accommodation away from the bustle of busy urban centres.
If you are considering travelling for medical treatment, Mexico offers a chance to obtain high quality treatment at a fraction of the cost involved in the getting the same treatment in the US, and yet it is only a short hop away for most Americans.
Caelen King is founder and CEO of RevaHealth.com, a dental and cosmetic surgery search engine allowing visitors to search and compare treatments and prices around the world, including many dentists in Hungary.
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