MEDICAL TOURISM IS BOOMING IN COSTA RICA.

Medical Tourism Is Booming In Costa Rica Costa Rica has been seducing foreign visitors with its volcanoes, beaches and rain forests. However, the trend of late is for foreign visitors to come to Costa Rica for cosmetic and medical surgeries and dental treatment. According to reports by the US networks, CNBC and ABC, as well as videos on YouTube, all promote Costa Rica as one of the "hottest" countries for medical and dental services. Visitors do their homework by surfing the internet for websites that offer all kinds of professional services that include plastic surgery for an extreme makeover, medical and dental treatment and buying real estate in addition to the perfect vacation spot. Some combine their vacation with their medical treatment. The reason for the medical tourism "boom" is simple, the same procedure in the United States can cost double to ten times what it costs in Costa Rica. The simple truth is that visitors find the cost of the medical and dental treatment costs much less in Costa Rica than in the United States and receiving equal of better services, as many of the professionals in Costa Rica have been schooled and/or trained in the US. The growth in medical tourism is not only from the growth of the internet and the number of websites promoting services, but also from the best form of advertising and promotion - the word of mouth, as Costa Rica is recommended to family and friends. Reports like the one features on ABC's 20/20, where they featured three women coming to Costa Rica for plastic surgery and then recuperating in places like Las Cumbres, have helped the industry get the word out. Christian Rivera, a plastic surgeon at the hospital La Católica and whose patients are mainly foreigners says that the low cost allows foreigners to have surgery that they could never afford in their home country. Rivera and his work has been featured on the Discovery channel. "They (the television crew) followed me around an entire day and filmed a step by step surgery performed on a woman", said the doctor. Many of the doctors and medical centres will be represented at the World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress being held in San Francisco, California, from September 9 to 12. According to Colombian doctor, Óscar Oeding, who is a specialist in hip and knee replacements at the Clínica Bíblica, more women than men come to Costa Rica for medical treatments, the majority being American seniors. Oeding added that there agencies in the US who specialize in putting patients in contact with doctors in the Costa Rica. In the US Medical Tourism, also known as Global Health. The World Medical Tourism & Global Health Congress websites says that Global Health is one of the fastest growing industries in Global Healthcare. As, the healthcare crisis worsens in the United States, Canada and Europe, the world realizes the potential of attracting international patients to overseas hospitals. And as the healthcare crisis worsens in the United States many US insurers, Employers, TPA's and health insurance agents are looking at innovative and creative ways to reduce healthcare costs. US Employers and Insurance Carriers are saving up to 90% off of the cost of their healthcare expenses by implementing medical tourism.