- ISBN: 978-0-9791079-2-4
- Now Available!
- Paperback, 410 Pages,
5-1/2" x 8-1/2" - Suggested Retail: $22.95
First Comprehensive Consumer Guidebook for U.S. Patients Seeking Affordable Healthcare Abroad
2007-01-17
A hot topic, “medical tourism” is often a misnomer. It’s not the vacation, but the significant savings, turning health travel into a fast-growing American trend.
Chapel Hill, NC, 17 January, 07 — In March 2007, Healthy Travel Media will publish Patients Beyond Borders: Everybody’s Guide to Affordable, World-Class Medical Tourism. Impartial, well researched and easy to navigate, the 336-page trade paperback gives potential health travelers all the resources they need to make safe, cost-effective decisions about traveling abroad for their healthcare.
Author Josef Woodman spent three years researching the book, after his father journeyed abroad for extensive dental work in 2002. Woodman, with a pioneering background in health technology on the Web, began to investigate contemporary medical tourism: interviewing patients, practitioners, administrators, government officials and specialists in the field. He conducted an extensive analysis of safety records, accreditations, comparative costs, and consumer trends, and became a health traveler himself.
“It’s no secret that informed Americans now have financial leverage when considering expensive medical procedures,” says Woodman. “Amidst an increasingly bleak US healthcare landscape, medical travel is a viable option for Americans who find themselves priced out of the domestic health market--those forced to choose between debt and discomfort, or facing long-term financial insecurity due to challenging medical conditions.”
As the number of uninsured and underinsured Americans continues to grow, travel abroad for treatment is rising dramatically—with international hospitals and clinics reporting 15-40% increases in the number of Americans seeking treatment. More than 150,000 Americans headed abroad for healthcare this year; and that number is expected to double in 2008.
However, not all international hospitals and medical facilities are equal, says Woodman. Standards and services can be uneven and most consumers don’t know how to find the best doctors and hospitals available to them. Patients Beyond Borders focuses on the most traveled, highly-recommended treatment destinations, including Brazil, the Caribbean, Costa Rica, the Czech Republic, Hungary, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Singapore, South Africa, Thailand and the United Arab Emirates.
More than 100 hospitals and clinics abroad now carry bona fide American accreditation and Woodman has compiled detailed listings on the best hospitals and clinics, standards, American and local accreditations, treatment specialties, health travel agents, and reviews of available procedures and costs. Patients Beyond Borders provides patients with a one-stop wealth of information and potential savings.
Woodman says that he has been overwhelmed by the initial response to the book. “I’ve received calls and emails from around the country from people considering health travel, lacking data and thirsty for an unbiased perspective. While medical travel isn’t for everyone, with diligence, perseverance and good information, traveling abroad for treatment is a legitimate, affordable and safe choice.”
Healthy Travel Media, an independent imprint based in Chapel Hill, NC, publishes books and other information on medical travel, treatment, wellness and related topics. Patients Beyond Borders will be available at Amazon and bookstores everywhere. Qualified members of the media are invited to request an advance review copy.