Medical Tourism Set to Increase in the Next 5 Years

Medical tourism is set to increase by 2015 according to the opinion of nearly half of the global health leaders, with the current health systems competing for consumers lured by personalised care, access to the latest medical innovations and value for money.

According to the latest findings, key factors in support of this assertion about personalised medical treatment overseas include new diagnosing techniques, and the use of pharmacogenomics – the branch of pharmacology which deals with the influence of genetic variation on drug response in patients by correlating gene expression with the efficacy / toxicity of a drug.

It is also envisaged that people will soon become more involved in managing their own health, encouraged by the provision of a more friendly and tailored healthcare aided by new tools, technology and health information, according to the latest in the HealthCast series of reports on health industry trends published recently by PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Health Research Institute.

The change of healthcare business models, regulatory health reforms and realignment of financial incentives will be reflected in this trend of personalised medicine over the next five years.

As covered in previous articles, potential new medical tourism destinations such as Mexico and Colombia will undoubtedly take advantage of trends like the one described above, and will be able to participate in this global tendency seeking maximisation of treatment with the best value for money at overseas destinations.