Medical Tourists Are Saving Thousands of Pounds on Medical Costs by Travelling Abroad for Treatment
London, United Kingdom, July 23, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Treatment Abroad, the UK’s leading online health information guide for medical tourists has just released its 2009 Treatment Abroad PriceWatch survey. This study of prices available to medical travellers across 180 clinics and medical tourism operators in 39 countries reveals that patients can make savings of over 80% on some common medical treatments.
The aim of the www.treatmentabroad.com study is to provide visitors to the Treatment Abroad website with an overview of price differentials and to highlight where savings can be made. Nevertheless, price is not everything, especially in healthcare. Quality of treatment, surgical expertise, reputation, patient safety and communication must be weighed against potential cost savings.
For example, varicose vein treatment in Poland is on average 84% cheaper than in the UK and a trip to Cuba for a forehead lift could save on average about 87%. Other cosmetic and elective procedures are considerably cheaper overseas and savings of more than 85% can be made on some dental procedures with an average on all procedures surveyed – elective surgery, cosmetic or dental coming in at 55% cheaper than in the UK.
The data has been collected from hospitals, clinics, doctors and dentists overseas, from medical tourism agencies and from medical tourism web sites that target the UK market.
Treatment Abroad estimates that over 80,000 people left the UK for treatment last year and this number is expected to grow when the economy recovers from the global recession. Patients are choosing to travel abroad for a wide range of medical treatments which includes elective surgery, cosmetic surgery, dentistry and diagnostic services and infertility treatment.
Price is an important factor in where patients choose to travel for treatment but it is not the only reason why many UK patients are becoming medical tourists. Quality of treatment, surgical expertise, reputation, patient safety and communication are vital factors in patient choice but price will always remain one of the main drivers when patients are considering treatment options overseas.
Other factors that are influencing patients to leave the UK for treatment are concerns about post operative infection in UK hospitals, the length of NHS waiting lists and the comparative high cost of private healthcare in the UK.
Keith Pollard, Managing Director of www.treatmentabroad.com says; “considerable savings, compared to the average UK private treatment cost, can be made by choosing to have many of the common procedures overseas. At Treatment Abroad we are committed to providing visitors to our website with as much relevant and current information as possible so that they can make informed choices when researching treatment options overseas. The PriceWatch study will further enhance patient choice and easily help them compare prices for a wide range of treatments and procedures”.
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For further information and to receive a copy of Treatment Abroad PriceWatch 2009 please contact: Caroline Ratner at caroline@carolinecomms.com or call 020 8209 0120.
Editors Notes:
Prices in the PriceWatch study have been calculated by comparing the average cost of the operation or procedure in the UK but do not take into consideration travelling or post operative accommodation costs or for a travelling companion. For the procedures surveyed, the lowest prices found all offered average savings of over 55%.
Intuition Communication (www.intuition-communication.co.uk) is the publisher of some of the UK’s most visited healthcare information sites including:
· www.treatmentabroad.com - the UK's leading guide to health and medical tourism, covering over 50 destinations worldwide.
· www.privatehealthcare.co.uk is the UK’s leading online gateway to information about all aspects of private healthcare options in the UK.
· www.harleystreetguide.com - provides comprehensive information about this world famous area of medical excellence.
· www.surgerydoor.co.uk – a healthcare guide for information on UK health services.
· www.ohsdirectory.co.uk – a business to business portal providing information on occupational health services available across the UK.
· www.self-help.org.uk - a searchable database of over 1,000 self help organisations and support groups across the UK.
· www.canceradvice.co.uk – an online resource for cancer patients, their relatives and carers.
· www.imtjonline.com – the leading business to business journal for the medical travel sector.
· http://netdoctor.privatehealth.co.uk – private healthcare information on leading health information website.
A full list of sites can be found at:
· www.intuition-communication.co.uk/what-we-do/
The aim of the www.treatmentabroad.com study is to provide visitors to the Treatment Abroad website with an overview of price differentials and to highlight where savings can be made. Nevertheless, price is not everything, especially in healthcare. Quality of treatment, surgical expertise, reputation, patient safety and communication must be weighed against potential cost savings.
For example, varicose vein treatment in Poland is on average 84% cheaper than in the UK and a trip to Cuba for a forehead lift could save on average about 87%. Other cosmetic and elective procedures are considerably cheaper overseas and savings of more than 85% can be made on some dental procedures with an average on all procedures surveyed – elective surgery, cosmetic or dental coming in at 55% cheaper than in the UK.
The data has been collected from hospitals, clinics, doctors and dentists overseas, from medical tourism agencies and from medical tourism web sites that target the UK market.
Treatment Abroad estimates that over 80,000 people left the UK for treatment last year and this number is expected to grow when the economy recovers from the global recession. Patients are choosing to travel abroad for a wide range of medical treatments which includes elective surgery, cosmetic surgery, dentistry and diagnostic services and infertility treatment.
Price is an important factor in where patients choose to travel for treatment but it is not the only reason why many UK patients are becoming medical tourists. Quality of treatment, surgical expertise, reputation, patient safety and communication are vital factors in patient choice but price will always remain one of the main drivers when patients are considering treatment options overseas.
Other factors that are influencing patients to leave the UK for treatment are concerns about post operative infection in UK hospitals, the length of NHS waiting lists and the comparative high cost of private healthcare in the UK.
Keith Pollard, Managing Director of www.treatmentabroad.com says; “considerable savings, compared to the average UK private treatment cost, can be made by choosing to have many of the common procedures overseas. At Treatment Abroad we are committed to providing visitors to our website with as much relevant and current information as possible so that they can make informed choices when researching treatment options overseas. The PriceWatch study will further enhance patient choice and easily help them compare prices for a wide range of treatments and procedures”.
###
For further information and to receive a copy of Treatment Abroad PriceWatch 2009 please contact: Caroline Ratner at caroline@carolinecomms.com or call 020 8209 0120.
Editors Notes:
Prices in the PriceWatch study have been calculated by comparing the average cost of the operation or procedure in the UK but do not take into consideration travelling or post operative accommodation costs or for a travelling companion. For the procedures surveyed, the lowest prices found all offered average savings of over 55%.
Intuition Communication (www.intuition-communication.co.uk) is the publisher of some of the UK’s most visited healthcare information sites including:
· www.treatmentabroad.com - the UK's leading guide to health and medical tourism, covering over 50 destinations worldwide.
· www.privatehealthcare.co.uk is the UK’s leading online gateway to information about all aspects of private healthcare options in the UK.
· www.harleystreetguide.com - provides comprehensive information about this world famous area of medical excellence.
· www.surgerydoor.co.uk – a healthcare guide for information on UK health services.
· www.ohsdirectory.co.uk – a business to business portal providing information on occupational health services available across the UK.
· www.self-help.org.uk - a searchable database of over 1,000 self help organisations and support groups across the UK.
· www.canceradvice.co.uk – an online resource for cancer patients, their relatives and carers.
· www.imtjonline.com – the leading business to business journal for the medical travel sector.
· http://netdoctor.privatehealth.co.uk – private healthcare information on leading health information website.
A full list of sites can be found at:
· www.intuition-communication.co.uk/what-we-do/
Contact
Caroline Ratner
+442082090120
+442082090120
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