Globalization of Healthcare
Krystle James
Benedictine University
MBA 539: International Business
Tom Yu, Ph.D.
January 17, 2011
As the cost of insurance, health issues, and unemployment continue to rise, "45 million Americans are uninsured and many more are underinsured and face high co-payments for expensive procedures" (Hill, 2011, pg.3). I am originally from Southern California, where if you did not have some type of plastic surgery done you were considered to be of lower class. As breast augmentations and Botox became more and more popular in the 90's, Hollywood was known as the land of silicone, but at an extremely high price. My mother had many friends who wanted work done but could not afford the cost of going to a fancy doctor and started to research other alternatives. They discovered that a trend to travel to local states and even Mexico for half the cost was growing rapidly and becoming acceptable. Trends such as these have help contribute to medical procedures moving into other countries. American's realized that not only small procedures could be done but that they could go outside of the United States for more dangerous surgeries and procedures as well. It is well known that foreign students come to America to earn their degrees then move back to their respective country to be medical doctor performing these procedures. A trend is something that always starts out small (plastic surgery) then grows into something larger (surgeries and procedures for health issues). This specific trend has grown so big that it is now known as "medical tourism", which refers to the "thousands of Americans who travel to other countries each year in search of more affordable health care. Some go for elective surgeries, such as breast augmentations or dental work, while others pursue medically necessary procedures" (Davidow, 2006).
Krystle James
Benedictine University
MBA 539: International Business
Tom Yu, Ph.D.
January 17, 2011
As the cost of insurance, health issues, and unemployment continue to rise, "45 million Americans are uninsured and many more are underinsured and face high co-payments for expensive procedures" (Hill, 2011, pg.3). I am originally from Southern California, where if you did not have some type of plastic surgery done you were considered to be of lower class. As breast augmentations and Botox became more and more popular in the 90's, Hollywood was known as the land of silicone, but at an extremely high price. My mother had many friends who wanted work done but could not afford the cost of going to a fancy doctor and started to research other alternatives. They discovered that a trend to travel to local states and even Mexico for half the cost was growing rapidly and becoming acceptable. Trends such as these have help contribute to medical procedures moving into other countries. American's realized that not only small procedures could be done but that they could go outside of the United States for more dangerous surgeries and procedures as well. It is well known that foreign students come to America to earn their degrees then move back to their respective country to be medical doctor performing these procedures. A trend is something that always starts out small (plastic surgery) then grows into something larger (surgeries and procedures for health issues). This specific trend has grown so big that it is now known as "medical tourism", which refers to the "thousands of Americans who travel to other countries each year in search of more affordable health care. Some go for elective surgeries, such as breast augmentations or dental work, while others pursue medically necessary procedures" (Davidow, 2006).
