Here's an excerpt:
For years, Canadians have crossed our northern border to access procedures not available in their government-only system, where the average wait in 2010 from seeing a primary care doctor to getting treatment by a specialist was 18.2 weeks. I don't imagine it will take long for those same patients and Americans to find their way to Istanbul or Bangkok.(Read the full text of "Medical Tourism: A New Rx For Timely, Affordable Care".)
While medical tourism is not appropriate for every situation or procedure, it is the wave of the future as patients look for affordable and timely care. Self-insured employers will surely look for better ways to cover their employees that don't jeopardize their businesses. It happened with the car industry back in the 1970s and is going to happen to U.S. health care.
Americans will find their way to the "best value" in health care. Sadly for American doctors and hospitals, that may soon be overseas.
