What Are Medical Vacations?
When most people think about going on vacation, they often don’t think about a trip to the hospital. For more and more Canadians the whole point of a vacation is being inside a clinic. With medical treatments in high demand at home it’s becoming more common for patients to seek care in the United States or other countries but that doesn’t mean that you can’t enjoy the trip.
With advancements in technology there are more medical tourism destinations than ever to choose from. There’s no doubt that at least one of these destinations will be a place that you’ve always wanted to see. With that in mind, patients are pairing vacation days with the need to seek medical care outside of their home country.
Building Your Vacation as a Medical Tourist
The term medical tourism is becoming common in most households but seeking out medical procedures doesn’t have to be all technical, practical or stressful. In fact, it’s a known fact that undergoing periods of high stress can have a negative impact on overall health and wellness. The idea of incorporating a vacation period before procedures can help patients to relax and feel more comfortable in their environment. In some cases it might even be possible to take a tour of the medical facility and/or the medical team that you will be working with.
In the same way that scheduling a few vacation days ahead of a procedure can help to make you feel comfortable, additional time afterward can help you to relax and recuperate. This additional time can be beneficial for solo medical travellers as well as those that are travelling with a loved one or medical aid.
Patients should never plan their medical or surgical treatments based on a location but there is a dramatic upside to being able to plan a trip around a procedure. A destination should be chosen based on medical facility and the physicians performing the operation or procedure. Even with ample time for research it is always better to consult an experienced agency representative who is familiar not only with the benefits and risks of medical tourism but can connect patients with physicians and facilities as well.
When travelling for health care purposes it is important that the location doesn’t take precedence over the team of medical professionals that you will be working with. A medical tourism agency will be able to recommend reputable and reviewed facilities as well as physicians with international accreditation.
It is easy to think that leaving your home country will increase the risk associated with any procedure but there are many ways to mitigate these risks, namely working with a reputable agency! When working with an established agency patients can expect:
- Information Periods: As a patient it is important to research your options. An established agency will listen to your needs as a patient reconciling those needs with the availability of procedures, medical teams and destinations. During this period it is also possible to review possible coverage options with your existing health insurance plan. With the rise of medical tourism there has been a significant increase in insurance providers offering a range of coverage for those patients looking to leave their home county for medical care.
- Matching Patients with Medical Professionals: Medical tourism experts are able to match prospective patients with the right team in the right facilities to best suit their needs. Many host countries are known to specialize in certain areas of medicine including cosmetic surgery (plastic surgery), fertility treatments, treatments for deep vein thrombosis, and even dental care. Some of the reasons that Canadians choose to leave their home country include cervical spine surgery and lumbar spine surgery.
- Planning Periods: Once you have decided that you would like to move forward with your medical vacation it’s time to work with an expert to create travel plans. By understanding the full scope of procedures patients are able to build their travel plans accordingly. Reviewing the type of rehabilitation and preparation periods necessary for the desired treatment makes it possible to plan extra days before and afterward. Create a plan for your medical vacation including who will be accompanying you, how many days will you be away, what is the necessary recovery time, what is the total cost of the procedure, travel and incidentals.
- Post-Surgical Care: After the required rehabilitation period is complete it’s time for patients to return home. It is important to schedule a follow-up appointment with your family doctor to review how you are healing and ensure that everything is as it should be. It is a good idea to retain copies of medical records either in print or in a medical journal app that can be easily shared. In the event that there are complications following procedures it is important to be fully-informed for further rehabilitation or in extreme cases, emergency care.
Medical Tourism: The Benefits of Working With a Reputable Agency
There are plenty of online resources designed to protect consumers from scammers in retail and service spaces but they don’t cover the medical field. Researching physicians and facilities on your own means spending hours, days, weeks or even months reviewing specialities, destinations and any available reviews from patients. Even with all of this hard work it’s possible that public information is biased. When you choose to work with an agency you have all that information and access at your disposal.
Venture Surgical has built up a vast network of physicians, surgeons and medical teams across an array of countries and provinces. Medical tourism doesn’t necessarily mean having to travel internationally. For those patients that are waiting for care in British Columbia it’s possible to organize travel to another province. This eliminates some of the undue stresses of travelling, reduces costs and makes follow-up appointments much more simple.
Whether you are hoping to organize medical travel for yourself or are looking to help out a loved one just call the experts at Venture Surgical. Our teams are highly trained and experienced with a wide network of viable medical tourism destinations, available physicians and more, all at your disposal.
