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Medical tourism statistics

Submitted by
Chris Eales
Organisation
Premier Healthcare Professionals
Question
Is it possible to obtain any statistics on the type of procedures that are being sourced overseas, ie cosmetic, dental or clinical and the demographics on the patients that are traveling overseas for these procedures?
Answer

The straightforward answer is no! There is very little reliable data anywhere on the number of patients who travel overseas for treatment. And when it comes down to an accurate breakdown of what they actually go for, then there is even less. In the UK, Treatment Abroad has conducted research into 650 British patients who travelled for treatment.  Of these around 40% were dental patients, 25% were cosmetic surgery patients and the remaining 35% were mix of everything else.

With regards to the USA, there have been no definitive studies looking at the treatments and operations for which US citizens are going abroad.

With regard to the demographics of medical tourists, there is a black hole in terms of published data. Some of the bigger medical facilitators may have attempted this, but I doubt that they have applied any great sophistication to this e.g. use of geodemographic analysis tools.

Date submitted29/01/2010