Medical tourism has been around since the Romans. In recent years however, growing numbers of people are traveling across borders in search of the benefits of treatment overseas. A recent survey carried out by AllMedicalTourism.com, the leading online portal for Medical Tourism, found that 85% would consider travelling overseas for treatment. When asked what their answer would have been 5 years ago, only 33% would have considered it a viable option then. Why the enormous change?

"We believe the growth in acceptance of medical tourism is due to a combination of factors; cheaper airline tickets, better global communications and rapidly rising standards of healthcare around the World" states Rob Passmore, CEO of AllMedicalTourism.com.

"The cost savings that people can achieve are also significant. We are seeing an average saving of 55% being made by our users, compared to receiving the treatment at home - a hip replacement in a JCI accredited hospital in, say, India could cost $7,000 compared to $45,000 in the USA."

Management consulting firm Deloitte supports this view. A recently published report on medical tourism states that they expected medical tourists from the USA alone to rise from 1.5m in 2008 to up to 10m in 2010. So what are the barriers to this growth?

"We believe the only limiting factor is providing patients with good, reliable information as they start their research into their overseas healthcare option. The need we identified was helping patients compare their options on a consistent basis. They didn't know where to start or who to trust - AllMedicalTourism.com provides that transparent and easy to use start point" adds Passmore.

source: Prweb.com