"Medical Tourism Primer for Physicians" -article review

I recently read an article entitled "Medical Tourism Primer for Physicians" from a web-site http://www.medicaltraveltoday.com/. The article is written by Laura Carabello. The introduction is what caught my eye:

"As healthcare in the United States has been changing rapidly over the past few decades, so has the manne in which healthcare has been provided, billed and paid for. There is an increasing need for Americans to reach beyond domestic borders to the international community for certain medical procedues, treatment, and care at more affordable costs. This impacts not only consumers and their physicians, but also employers, benefit plan payors, administrators, and other industrystakeholders-including America's hospitals. This article provides a framework for discussion points for physician-patient communications regarding medical tourism"

In the article, she provides costs comparisons, theorizes that more insurers will start taking advantage of global competition, discusses accreditation bodies such as Joint Commission, and other items of interest. It is a four page article, quick to read, with lots of information. It can be found at the following site.

http://www.medicaltraveltoday.com/MTTE08/Mar_Apr_2008_291-294.pdf