United States

Global patients flock to the United States seeking excellence in specialty care—especially in complicated or "last-resort" cases. Rarely can US physicians beat the price at a JCI-accredited hospital in Turkey or Thailand, but US specialists sometimes treat cases that are considered difficult-to-hopeless elsewhere in the world.

Furthermore, even the “average” US hospital typically offers technologies and surgical expertise considered too expensive or too specialized in many other countries. The US also offers a confidence factor: US medical schools are known for their rigor, and US physicians are subject to the most arduous system of legal accountability in the world.

Choosing a hospital and a physician in the United States depends largely on two factors: geography and medical specialty. The United States is a huge country, and an east-west trip across the nation’s vast expanse takes a long day by air (considering check-ins, security screens, and local transit) to cover a distance of nearly 4,000 kilometers (2,400 miles).

For that reason, travelers from the Pacific Rim, Australia, and Asia often seek treatment on the West Coast in cities from Seattle and Portland in the north to San Francisco and Los Angeles in the south. On the other hand, medical travelers from Europe, Africa, and South America often choose healthcare facilities on the US East Coast, from Boston and New York in the north to Florida in the south.

For example, although not a household name among US citizens, Baptist Health South Florida’s international program is one of the biggest in the United States. The hospital attracts large numbers of medical travelers from Central and South America, in part because of its convenient location.

Top Doctors and Diagnoses Attract International Patients

But geography may prove a secondary consideration when a particular medical specialty is required. In its 2010-2011 rankings of the best hospitals in the United States, US News and World Reports awarded its top spot for cancer care to the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in America’s heartland city of Houston, Texas. A close second was Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.

The top rankings in neurology and neurosurgery went to the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, with Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston running a strong third. For orthopedics, the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City earned the top spot, with the Mayo Clinic close behind.

Cleveland Clinic in Ohio ranked first in heart surgery, second in gastroenterology, and second in rheumatology. International patients are finding first contacts with specialists at these and other US institutions easier with the advent of econsults (see sidebar), which give patients—through their overseas doctors—access to the best medical advice the US has to offer, without ever leaving home!