subject: Medical Travelers Choose From Top Mexico Hospitals In Mexico's Top Medical Cities [print this page] Whether you are a seasoned medical tourist or have only just begun to consider medical travel to Mexico, choosing the right hospital for a procedure can be a daunting task. With the wide variety of Mexico hospitals available and the many different doctors at each, it can be a very difficult process to select the ideal location.
Medical tourism in Mexico has become so widespread that some Mexican cities have begun to define themselves around their medical tourism. They boast some of the best Mexico hospitals and they are home to some of the top notch doctors and specialists in North America. These cities typically have doctors who help train new American doctors, working in medical schools such as Stanford and UCLA. Although you may still need to search for the city that offers the specialty you need, medical travel to Mexico is much easier to plan when you start your search with this list of locations.
The Evolution of the "Medical City"
Originally, medical cities arose because they were easily accessible for American medical tourists who would drive across the border. But as the benefits of medical travel to Mexico have become better -known, the number of men and women flying to Mexico hospitals rather than drive increased. While the original medical cities maintained their status as hotspots for medical travel in Mexico, new ones also began to emerge. Today, Monterey, Tijuana, Juarez, Mexico City, Mexicali, and Guadalajara are all medical cities, hosting elite hospitals with skilled surgeons and highly trained staff. And, following in footsteps of Brazil, resort cities such as Cancun and Puerto Vallarta are rapidly becoming favored destinations for quality, affordable elective procedures such as cosmetic surgery and bariatric surgery.
Today's medical city is a more highly developed version of the original medical cities that first made medical vacations in Mexico so economically efficient. They feature state-of-the-art Mexico hospitals, skilled surgeons and dentists that are only a short drive or flight away from the U.S., and feature hotels and other amenities that are useful for medical travelers. Some are also close to vacation hotspots, allowing patients who choose medical travel to Mexico to incorporate a real vacation.
Patients Save with Medical Travel to Mexico
Whether patients drive or fly, they flock to these medical cities for two simple reasons: savings and quality of care. The typical surgical procedure can be performed in Mexico hospitals for one-third of the typical cost in an American facility, and when the patient chooses the right location, a doctor with all the skill and experience of any American physician will perform the procedure. In fact, in many cases patients who take advantage of medical travel to Mexico report better service and care than they would have expected from an American doctor. In Mexico hospitals, doctors are able to be more patient focused than in the U.S.; with medical travel to Mexico, healthcare is truly about health, not about meeting the demands of big insurance companies.
Lower Overhead Lowers Patient Costs
One of the key factors that helps make medical travel to Mexico so efficient is the lower cost of living in Mexico. Compared to the U.S., Mexico hospitals pay less for everything. From utilities to equipment to salary, the cost of living is lower, which means that the baseline cost of any procedure will be lower as well. The hospital staff wages are lower, as is the cost of state-of-the-art technology and equipment, allowing for the same standards of care and service at a much lower cost to the patient.
American Insurance Doesn't Control Mexico Hospitals
In the United States, large insurance companies have a lot of control over hospitals and doctors alike. By deciding which facilities are "in network" and which aren't, large insurance companies can dictate whether a doctor or hospital loses thousands of patients. Because of this leverage, doctors and hospitals are very eager to please these large companies, who rarely have the best interests of the patients themselves at heart.
In contrast, Mexico hospitals are completely outside the reach of big American insurance companies (though ironically, many insurance companies are beginning to see medical travel as a solution for providing lower cost policies to U.S. members). Medical travel to Mexico allows American patients to freely select the hospital of their choice, based purely on recommendations and strengths of the individual hospital. The benefits of a free market system come into play, and prices are set fairly, rather than dictated arbitrarily by a big corporation. In Mexico hospitals, cost is determined based on what is reasonable to pay, and patients are charged accordingly. Doctors don't have to worry about restrictions imposed by insurance, and can instead focus on caring for patients. These differences make medical travel to Mexico hospitals cost effective, and also provide quality and service that surpasses many American facilities.
