Due to the high costs of medical treatment and surgery in the United States, the waiting lists in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada and the lack of high tech medical procedures in many third world countries, medical tourism is expected to blossom into a ten billion dollar business world-wide. Recognizing this trend governments, large corporations, hospitals, and doctors are flooding the medical tourism market with choices, and prices are dropping in many countries world-wide. How can a person wanting to participate in medical tourism choose a doctor, hospital and country?

If the prospective medical tourist

• 1. Speaks at least one foreign language
• 2. Is a good Internet researcher
• 3. Has a good background in medicine or anatomy
• 4. Knows the in-country medical regulations and legal system of several countries
• 5. Can obtain personal references
• 6. Has many hours of free time

perhaps he/she can make an informed decision about which country, hospital and doctor to choose for their procedure. Still they are faced with the daunting task of getting through the medical bureaucracy to gather their information. Otherwise, the prospective medical tourist is left to marketers hired by medical providers to discover their information, unless they use an independent medical broker.

Not only is the independent patient advocate capable and knowledgeable in the above mentioned areas, but has and wants no loyalty to a particular doctor or institution, always leaving his options open to find the best solution for his client. A satisfied client is his prime concern, not the representation of a particular institution.

The independent patient advocate often can get the patient a price for their procedure lower than the patient can, because they know the prices being charged by the competition. This doesn't even take into account the hours spent getting a client ready for the procedure, nor the hours spent dealing with providers.

However not all are the same. The consumer involved in medical tourism should test the independence of the broker by asking for offers from two to three providers. Prices most often go up in accordance with the training and position of the doctor, the level of medical regulation in the country and the sophistication and profile of the hospital.

The patient advocate should be able to offer the CV of his physicians and inspection reports of the hospital. Additionally, the patient advocate should be able to speak to the dreaded question of what if something goes wrong. What will the doctor and hospital be able to do if something goes wrong and what are the legal remedies are important questions for any medical tourist. A mere pass on this question is not an acceptable risk to any client.