Increasingly, leaving the country for medical care is starting to look like a good option to many patients. If you want to see what the medical tourism future looks like, it's instructive to take a look at Texas, where patients can seek foreign medical care with comparatively little trouble. Many are going to Mexico, where prices typically are 40 percent lower for basic surgical procedures. These prices aren't as low as prices in Asian countries, but on the other hand, patients don't have to travel nearly as far to get their needs met.
In Texas, affluent patients based in the north end of the state typically have gone to Dallas, Houston or San Antonio for elective procedures. However, many now choose to get their care in Monterrey, Mexico, impressed by the low prices and high-quality care they're finding there. When they get to Monterrey--or other medical tourism hotspots like Santa Eulalia, Chihuahua and Village de Santiago, near Monterrey--they're finding not only cozy amenities but also welcoming communities.
To capture such patients, two north Texas-based hospital chains, Christus Health of Irving, Tex., and International Hospital Corp. of Dallas run Mexico-based hospitals. Christus Muguerza, a partnership of Christus Health and Monterrey based Muguerza, has identified 40 communities along the Mexican border where it plans to expand.
To learn more about this trend:
- read this Dallas Morning News article
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