Medical Tourism Ethical and policy implications

The demographic change that has put forth most senior citizens at the hedge of health care services acquisition. The epidemiological change that has led to the rise of chronic infections has equally contributed immensely to the increase in health care services thus heath care centers. Most health care facilities have been furnished in a manner that attracts both local and international patients and medical tourists to seek medications from them. Building of new facilities has led to the accessibility of even cheaper treatments which have attracted non-citizens or medical tourists. The demand in the health care sector is actually reflected on its growth which increases due to the level of increase in health product and services trade which occur across our borders ("WFPHA: World Federation of Public Health Associations," 2017).

Medical tourism" refers to the practice of traveling to another country in search of medical care. It's estimated that hundredth of thousands of US residents travel abroad seeking medical attention each year (Veselova, 2017). There are many factors that influence the decision to seek medical care abroad. Many people travel because they found treatment to be cheaper in other countries. Others may be immigrants to the United States and prefer to return to their home country for health care. Health care has undergone intense globalization. Because of this, patients have decided to access technologies and facilities in health care which are not available in their home country. However, this has grown tremendously where people travel to access medical treatment from nations with low or middle incomes.

They do this to avoid the high costs related to health or even longer delays in the process of treatment. Traveling to foreign countries seeking medical attention is considered to be a multi-billion-dollar spectacle and closely linked to cultural, economic, and ethical, health, and legal consequences. Developing countries get the cost advantage majorly from less expensive services. Accurate and complete information regarding the volume of medical tourism, services, destinations, and procedures has not been well documented because it's a completely new discipline in the global health sector. Medical tourism has been made possible by effective policies which have been instituted by proper policies and relationship of the respective Nations (Kelly, 2017). It has also been made possible in countries which are under the World Health Organization.

Patients who come from countries which are not under the organization are not allowed to exercise medical tourism. Medical tourism is known for generation of revenue for the health division of the terminus nation. It tends to be volatile hence cannot be predicted in any way. The development of medical tourism and the global patients offer fresh chances and opportunities where the individuals benefit. At the same time, similar problems and challenges also come through. They need to be well understood and the properly addressed. However, if an outflow of medical tourist is recorded, it could be a signal for policy deficiency (Rodrigues, Brochado, Troilo, & Mohsin, 2017). An economy should be worried about the increase of medical tourists to other countries. Countries recording increased outflow of patients to other countries for treatment should consider revising its domestic policies to ensure that patients get the treatment they need and can afford in their domestic medical facilities (Skountridaki, 2017).

Conclusion In conclusion, the rise of medical tourism in USA and some of the government’s endorsements has raised eye brows among the citizens about its potentiality in impacting the national health sector, how so much resources have been put aside for the development of the health sector whereas some other sectors are ailing. This paper has presented a conceptual framework that aid in the identification of the medical tourism implications in the health system with reference to USA (Allan, 2017). d. Marketing medical tourism. Medical tourism, 79-111. doi:10. 0079 Entanglements with Medical Tourism. 1016/j. tmp. 002 Kelly, P.  J. Public health nurses as policy advocates. , Brochado, A. , Troilo, M. , & Mohsin, A. Mirror, mirror on the wall, who's the fairest of them all? A critical content analysis on medical tourism.