| Ever heard of botched cosmetic jobs in Brazil or | | | | get recommendations from reliable sources to |
| crappy dental work in Mexico? Such situations are | | | | avoid scheduling an appointment with "Dr. Quack". |
| very real. Here are the 007 top secrets of | | | | Top Secret # 005: Not doing proper planning and |
| messing up your medical care overseas. | | | | preparation |
| Top Secret # 001: Not doing research | | | | Allowing time for surgery but not for recovery |
| Don't do any research and you will successfully fail | | | | and recuperation? That will require you to modify |
| in your quest to achieving safe and healthy | | | | your itinerary. As a medical tourist you should |
| medical treatment overseas. However, if you do | | | | prepare yourself to stay longer/shorter than |
| want to go abroad and get quality health care | | | | expected. If you have travel or tourism on mind, |
| while saving some bucks then consider doing | | | | allow time for that as well. A word on arranging |
| thorough homework and collecting enough | | | | your essential documents: Put together your |
| information. Some sources of information are: | | | | medical records and financial records, acquire |
| websites offering medical tourism services like | | | | passport and visa, and have the information of |
| Healthbase, news, blogs, articles, videos, | | | | your important contacts handy. Also, book your |
| testimonials, forums, etc. Satisfied medical tourists | | | | travel tickets and hotel rooms well in advance. |
| claim proper research to be a sure-fire way of | | | | Top Secret # 006: Working with a substandard |
| happy and healthy medical tourism. | | | | medical tourism agency |
| Top Secret # 002: Going abroad for a wrong | | | | There are new agencies cropping up each day. |
| procedure | | | | Some of them are there to genuinely help you |
| Your ambulance will not drive you to India during | | | | while others are affiliated with "Dr. Quack". A good |
| an emergency (or even otherwise). Reasonably, | | | | medical tourism agency like Healthbase will have |
| only non-emergency treatments can be | | | | partners that are certified by international or |
| considered for medical tourism but not all such | | | | domestic accrediting organizations. It will offer a |
| treatments fit the criterion as sometimes the | | | | variety of medical travel services, it will offer |
| travel costs can outweigh the possible savings | | | | numerous medical procedures in many countries, |
| achievable by going abroad. | | | | it will have patient testimonials on its website, it |
| Top Secret # 003: Choosing the wrong place | | | | will have been covered by media, and much more. |
| How about going to Thailand for your half-yearly | | | | Your research will help you identify the good ones. |
| dental cleaning? Superb idea? Not exactly. How | | | | Top Secret # 007: Failing to follow the right |
| about going there for dental implants? Maybe. And | | | | aftercare |
| for full mouth restoration? Definitely. Choose a | | | | Planning to play football the day after your total |
| wrong place and you will waste your money on | | | | knee replacement surgery? Ouch, that will hurt! |
| medical tourism instead of saving some. Wise | | | | Physical therapy, rest, diet, medication, etc. are all |
| medical tourists consider travel cost, lodging cost | | | | as important as the surgery. Your local doctor |
| and number of visits required for full treatment | | | | might be able to help you with your aftercare so |
| when calculating potential savings. | | | | always keep him informed. You might also need |
| Top Secret # 004: Choosing an unqualified doctor | | | | his help, for example, for removing sutures or for |
| Thanks to the power of the Internet, it's very | | | | taking X-Rays. |
| easy to choose a doctor qualified at accomplishing | | | | Remember to avoid the above 7 mistakes and |
| botched jobs. If you wish to not fall prey to | | | | your medical tourism or dental tourism abroad will |
| them, better do your homework properly. Check | | | | be happy, healthy and successful. |
| your doctor's credentials, ask people around and | | | | |