Globalization of health services :
Health care reform in the industrialized countries, enacted during the last two decades, is entering a new phase of consolidation and further development, now extending to the less developed countries. This marks a significant element of the more general phenomenon commonly referred to as "globalization."
In short, globalization has become a two-way street as both sides exploit each other's markets and economies, creating virtual world labor and market forces. The healthcare industry has been considered resistant to outsourcing and offshore services as compared to other industries.
Travel to another country for medical treatment has been called “medical tourism” and “cross-border healthcare”. Globalization of medical care is a multi-billion-dollar phenomenon, associated with economic, cultural, ethical, legal, and health consequences.
Healthcare globalization is eventually going to be about an easy flow of information, services, and knowledge across borders. For this to happen, it is essential to leverage advancements in information technology. Many hospitals and providers are making use of offshore healthcare services such as medical transcription, report writing, claims to process, and help desk services.
Major hospitals, these days, are using the services of highly trained radiologists from around the world to read their reports. In addition to this, telemedicine and remote consultation services are also being offered thanks to the advancements in information technology.
India, Thailand, China, Mexico, Latin America, the Caribbean, Europe, Singapore, the Middle East, and Pakistan are common destinations for medical tourists. Notably, there are many low- and middle-income destinations, plus a few high-income countries. In their home region of the World Health Organization (WHO), patients often seek care, but the population of the diaspora can combine medical treatment with family visits. Seventy percent of the patients who go to Singapore and Malaysia are from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries; those who go to Cuba are mostly from the Caribbean and Central America, and those who go to Jordan are mainly from countries in the Middle East. The issue of insurance portability is the main restriction on medical tourism. In several institutions treating medical visitors, high-quality medical professionals, mostly trained in the United States or the United Kingdom, are found; US medical schools are increasingly coordinating with global bodies Care of medical tourists; US medical schools are progressively cooperating in education efforts with international institutions. Meanwhile, lower service prices, including labor, present a considerable cost advantage for developing countries.
Full and reliable data on the volume, destinations, facilities, and procedures of medical tourism is not available. An additional 4 million foreign patients annually from one source. In 2005, Thailand received 1.28 million foreign patients, each approaching this amount by 2012 for India, Singapore, and Malaysia. It was predicted that the Asian market would produce $4.4 billion in 2012. An initiative to establish new fields, such as stem cell treatment and organ transplants, was launched in Singapore. It is misleading to provide transferred estimates of global medical tourism value (US$20-$60 billion). Guidelines have recently been published (2011) for consistent definitions and reporting methodologies for medical tourism and could permit more detailed reporting.
Collaboration between healthcare organizations across borders :
The future of healthcare lies almost completely in working across territories with healthcare organizations. Collaboration between private health centers, government agencies, pharmaceutical centers, – anti organizations, educational institutions, investors, and stakeholders can help provide those in need with reliable, affordable, and timely hospital care.
Healthcare can see providers offer their skills and expertise to help establish medical facilities in areas where they are most needed. In order to further educate professionals and put them into line with international medical practices, these experts will be able to bring their experience to medical schools and institutions. The future will see us bring in new devices, procedures, medicines, and processes to allow care improvements. They will expand services for telemedicine and exploit local expertise and skills.
The need for the hour is a combined and organized viewpoint on global health and the future seems to be moving toward the same. It is important to have a global health strategy that brings together all stakeholders to create a consensus on potential public health issues.
While globalization's benefits are immense, it definitely comes with its own set of setbacks to contend with. The cross-border movement of patients will involuntarily pass diseases between nations. Globalization is also going to make it even more difficult in developing countries for smaller players such as NGOs and small businesses to provide assistance. In addition, globalization could also widen the difference between the rich and poor in medical assistance. Since they will have to deal with legal and regulatory complications, the globalization of healthcare would create problems for policymakers. While healthcare globalization can cause a number of problems, the healthcare dynamics of the entire globe are certainly evolving for the better.
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