Inbound Medical Tourism: International Health Care Solutions

Inbound medical tourism" is a term that refers to those medical tourists traveling to the US for treatment. These medical travelers are motivated not by price, but by the highest levels of medical skill sets and technology. While the majority of medical tourism websites address those seeking savings overseas, InboundMedicalTourism.com provides information and guidance for those seeking the best treatment, regardless of cost. For these travelers, they are participating in inbound medical tourism from the United stated point of view.

Over the course of the last century, the United States has become a world leader in the area of technology. When applied to medical care, the US has gained a reputation for leading edge technological innovation and this is particularly true in the area of medical travel. Since the US has established some of the finest hospitals and clinics in the world, patients from all over the globe travel to the US for inbound medical tourism.

The primary reason for this inbound medical tourism is wealthy patients seeking the highest quality of care. Patients from the Middle East, Asia Europe and even Africa have made the journey to the US whenever they had the means and they required the highest quality of treatment.

The second popular reason for inbound medical tourism is patients abroad who are in need of highly specialized treatment that is available in America but not available in their home country. These procedures might include complex heart valve replacement, orthopedic surgery, transplant or other serious medical issue requiring the best and latest medical treatment. These inbound medical tourists are generally the wealthier members of their home countries.

Since these inbound medical tourists are from the wealthiest levels of society, they generally travel to the United States in order to seek treatment from the very best US facilities. Listed below is a selection of the best hospitals which tend to attract the wealthier inbound medical tourists.

According to the US News & World Report, the top nineteen hospitals in the United States include the following:

America's Best Hospitals

The 19 institutions that achieved high scores in at least six specialties.

1 Johns Hopkins Hospital
2 Mayo Clinic
3 Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center
4 Cleveland Clinic
5 Massachusetts General Hospital
6 New York-Presbyterian Univ. Hosp.
7 UCSF Medical Center
8 Brigham and Women's Hospital
8 Duke University Medical Center
10 Hosp. of the Univ. of Pennsylvania
10 Univ. of Washington Medical Center
12 Barnes-Jewish Hospital/ Washington University
13 University of Michigan Hospitals and Health Centers
14 University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
15 Vanderbilt University Medical Center
16 Stanford Hospital and Clinics
17 University of Chicago Medical Center
18 Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
19 Yale-New Haven Hospital

These hospitals achieved the highest rating in at least 6 different medical specialties.

There is an additional category of inbound medical tourists who travel to the United States – these inbound medical tourists travel annually or every couple of years for check ups and executive check ups at the top US hospitals like the Mayo Clinic, Johns Hopkins and the Cleveland Clinic. These facilities offer an exclusive full check up as well as an executive check up costing several thousands of dollars for inbound medical tourists.

Additionally, there are well know global spas and “health farms” such as The Canyon Ranch which offer inbound medical tourists a week or two of luxurious residence with a host of medical specialties on staff and available for the inbound medical tourist. These facilities offer excellent menus of healthful food and daily activities in yoga, pilates, racket ball, tennis, golf, cycling, hiking and just about any activity the inbound medical tourist might wish to participate in.

Inbound medical tourism is shrinking in relation to the rapidly growing outbound tourism market, nevertheless it does represent the most expensive segment of the medical community, and the inbound medical tourist is generally well able to afford these costs.