| A new kind of tourism is sweeping into Panama, but | | | | allure is clear. |
| these visitors are not just coming for sun and fun. | | | | Dr Richard Ford, medical coordinator of Pana-Health, a |
| Offering first-rate health care at cut-rate prices, | | | | group of doctors specializing in medical tourism to |
| Panama is attracting the latest kind of traveler: the | | | | Panama, estimates tourists spent in approximately $5 |
| medical tourist. | | | | million last year on procedures such as cosmetic |
| Medical tourism is a rapidly growing, multi-billion dollar | | | | surgery, in-vitro fertilization, orthopedic prostheses, |
| worldwide industry. Countries like India and Thailand | | | | dentistry and laser eye surgery. |
| have long been attracting patients from developed | | | | Despite the growing trade, the Panamanian |
| countries looking to escape the high prices and long | | | | government is not yet tracking health tourism numbers, |
| waits at home, providing high-quality health care at a | | | | but Dr Ford says they are on the rise, pegging 2006 |
| fraction of the price. | | | | figures at more than one thousand, a sharp increase |
| Panama is one of the latest countries to emerge on | | | | over previous years. |
| the health tourism scene, offering US-trained doctors, | | | | "[That] is about 35 per cent more than the previous |
| state-of-the-art infrastructure and equipment, plus a | | | | year and 80 per cent more than the year before," he |
| distinct advantage --- proximity to North America. With | | | | estimates. |
| as many as 45 million Americans uninsured, and | | | | While these numbers might seem small, Rudy Rupak |
| Canadians waiting up to two years for critical | | | | believes they are about to explode, with many health |
| procedures, many are looking south for alternatives. | | | | officials and policy makers in the US calling for |
| "The demand is very strong, and we haven't even | | | | Medicare to pay for procedures abroad, to relieve a |
| begun to scratch the surface," says Rudy Rupak, | | | | soon-to-be overburdened health care system. |
| president of Planet Hospital, a medical tourism agency | | | | Debra Lipson, a senior health researcher speaking at |
| researching qualified doctors and hospitals in countries | | | | an AARP (American Association of Retired Persons) |
| around the world to perform procedures for clients | | | | forum, said outsourcing medical care could amount to |
| who cannot afford, or wait, in their home countries. | | | | big savings in the US. |
| His company recently added Panama to its list of | | | | According to one study, she said, "the US could save |
| destinations, thanks to the newly-opened Punta | | | | $1.4 billion annually if only one in ten US patients |
| Pacifica hospital, an affiliate of the prestigious US | | | | receives treatment for 15 low-risk medical procedures |
| hospital, John Hopkins Medicine International. | | | | abroad." |
| "We look for doctors who are educated in the USA, | | | | Many of those who migrated from Latin America are |
| or other excellent institutions abroad such as in | | | | returning to their home countries to retire, she pointed |
| Canada, the UK or Europe," explains Mr Rupak, "as | | | | out, also taking advantage of 'more affordable aged |
| well as peer review, publications over the years in their | | | | care support and services'. |
| area of specialization, and patient interviews." | | | | "My husband's parents recently moved back to |
| "I see Panama as a strategic place, with a good | | | | Panama, after spending 15 years in the US," she |
| location, just a five or six hour flight from the US. But | | | | recounted. "They are still among the "young-old" -- not |
| the main factors are quality of doctors and the | | | | yet out of their sixties. But my mother-in-law has a |
| presence of a US hospital," he says. | | | | neurological condition that requires constant vigilance |
| Add to that a beautiful setting for recovery, | | | | and I sleep better at night knowing that she has reliable, |
| personalized care, short wait times and price tags | | | | affordable care. |
| 40% to 70% less than those in the US --- and the | | | | |