Medical tourism has become increasingly popular in the last few years. However, It has financial, social and political ramifications that need further scrutiny. Some recommendations and guidelines for regulation have been suggested to make medical tourism a safer and ethical option for patients.
Medical Tourism: An Australian Plastic Surgeon's Perspective
1. Dr Tim Papadopoulos
Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon
President ASAPS
MEDICAL TOURISM SUMMIT
20-21 November 2014, Melbourne
DOES
MEDICAL TOURISM
TRIVIALISE
PLASTIC SURGERY?
2. Dr Tim Papadopoulos
Plastic & Cosmetic Surgeon
President ASAPS
MEDICAL TOURISM SUMMIT
20-21 November 2014, Melbourne
DOES
MEDICAL TOURISM
TRIVIALISE
PLASTIC SURGERY?
COSMETIC
55. 1. Accreditation review.
2. International accreditation of
destination facilities.
3. Informed patient consent.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
56. 1. Accreditation review.
2. International accreditation of
destination facilities.
3. Informed patient consent.
4. Continuity of care.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
57. 1. Accreditation review MTC.
2. International accreditation of
destination facilities.
3. Informed patient consent.
4. Continuity of care.
5. Addressing waiver of liability
forms.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
58. 1. Accreditation review MTC.
2. International accreditation of
destination facilities.
3. Informed patient consent.
4. Continuity of care.
5. Addressing waiver of liability
forms.
6. Privacy and conļ¬dentiality of
patient information.Leigh G Turner UM 2011
60. 7. Professional standard of care
and health services eligible
for marketing.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
61. 7. Professional standard of care
and health services eligible
for marketing.
8. Training and certiļ¬cation.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
62. 7. Professional standard of care
and health services eligible
for marketing.
8. Training and certiļ¬cation.
9. Medical travel and
complications insurance.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
63. 7. Professional standard of care
and health services eligible
for marketing.
8. Training and certiļ¬cation.
9. Medical travel and
complications insurance.
10.Contribution to compensation
funds.
Leigh G Turner UM 2011
66. āEARLY TO BED,
EARLY TO RISE,
WORK LIKE HELL
AND ADVERTISEā
B J Palmer Selling Yourself 1926
67. Commercialisation of cosmetic surgery
threatens our efforts to convince the public
that medicine is not a commodity or a trade.
68. Advertising and PR boost demand for cosmetic surgery.
Appeals to dominant cultural values of youth, beauty,
sexuality, status, happiness and control.
Exploitās peopleās anxieties and fantasies. It personalises
the problem of perceived appearance imperfections.
69. It emphasises positive outcomes and
downplays the pain and risks of medical
intervention.
70. Claims of expertise, ease, safety and desirable outcomes
are occasionally exaggerated to the point of
misrepresentation to increase sales.
Sometimes prospective patients are persuaded to expand
their perception of their appearance problemsā¦
71. This raises ethical questions about the exploitation of
vulnerable patients by those who have the ļ¬duciary
responsibility to act in patientās best interests.
Sometimes they are pressured to commit to surgery by
offers of discounts for an immediate decision or for
multiple procedures.
72. PROBLEMS WITH COMMERCIAL,
FREE-MARKET DELIVERY SYSTEM.
1. Deregulation of marketing has made cosmetic surgery a
lucrative business, dependent on marketing.
2. Minimal state regulation of surgery in private ofļ¬ce
facilities.
3. Lax oversight of individual doctorsā practices by their own
licensure boards.
75. Unlike a commercial trade, medicine
has a service ethic that prohibits the
exploitation of patients for proļ¬t.
76. Unlike a commercial trade, medicine
has a service ethic that prohibits the
exploitation of patients for proļ¬t.
The foundation of trust
characterises a good patient-
doctor relationship.
80. Doctorsā autonomy rests on their
experience and their ļ¬duciary
relationship with patients, a
relationship that is strained by the
emphasis on proļ¬t that is inherent in
commercialism.
81. āKnowing when to stop in
surgery is a hard lesson to
learn. Knowing when to
begin may be even
harder.ā
84. Patient Safety
Patients are more savvy.
Providers paid for selling services &
procedures, not necessarily improve health.
Facilitators promote these services.
88. Cosmetic surgery holidays revealed
a shocking 16.5% complication rate
with nearly 1 in 10 (9%) patients
needing assistance from the NHS
when arriving home.
Study Leeds University 2013
92. Singaporeās 1st case of drug resistant
TB (XDR-TB) arrived from Indonesia.
Ebola alert in Queensland with several patients quarantined
after arriving from West Africa with fever.
104. Commercialism is an āexcessive emphasis
on proļ¬tā and āexploit for proļ¬t.ā
Synonymous with āaverage or inferior
qualityā and refers to something that is
ādesigned for a large marketā and
āsupported by advertisers.ā
Websterās Dictionary
105. Advertising can be used to create a
perception of āneedā that can be
exploited for proļ¬t.
110. Commercialisation of cosmetic surgery threatens our
efforts to convince the public that medicine is not a
commodity or a trade.
but a few doctors have
exposed themselvesā¦
as proļ¬t driven.
112. Weāre not the
only ones.
Governments and medical
tourism companies have a
lot to answer forā¦
113. Whilst medical tourism provides
revenue source for national economies,
it may disrupt domestic public health
systems by redirecting scarce resources
to the private sector.
114. Globally thereās promise of exchange
opportunities and resources but also
perhaps the dissemination of problems
most notably infectious diseases.
115. Inadequate oversight and regulation
of this medical tourism industry makes
it more difļ¬cult to identify and address
such problems. Documentation of
medical travel is haphazard and
fragmentary.
120. INBOUND MEDICAL
TOURISTS 2011
?
?
?
?
?
12,800
Deloitte Access Economics 2011
0.23% of all tourists to Australia
(0.001% medical tourists worldwide)
14%annual growth rate
2005-2010$4K per patient
& stay 2 weeks (mainly East coast)
121. Specialise in body contouring
following bariatric surgery and
corrective plastic surgery after
complications arising from
procedures abroad.
122. We canāt compete on
price.
We need government
support.
Our quality of healthcare
is world class.
Deloitte Access Economics 2011
SCORECARD COMPARISON
123. We need to renew and reinvigorate our
campaign both here and abroad.
How and why Australia is a destination country
of choice for quality cosmetic surgery.
124. We should try and make Australia both
a departure and destination point for
medical travellers.
131. Please share this presentation.
Together we can improve medical tourism
globally.
Dr Tim Papadopoulos
twitter.com/readDrTim
linkedin.com/in/drtimpapadopoulos
facebook.com/DrTimCosmeticPlasticSurgeon
THANK
YOU.
Inspired by Jesse Desjardins