Member Article

Medical Tourism: Pioneer in the on demand economy

Medical tourism is an industry that has been greatly driven by the on-demand economy. Changing consumer behavior——those that have “money and little time“ or “no money and time“ continue to flock to medical tourism operators as a safe, low cost, and immediate option.

“The internet makes human desires more easily attainable. In other words, it offers convenience. Convenience on the internet is basically achieved by two things: speed, and cognitive ease. If you study what the really big things on the internet are, you realize they are masters at making things fast and not making people think.“

Twitter co-founder - Evan Williams

Managing Director, Loraine Reinsfeld from Gorgeous Getaways explains thatwhile the on-demand economy is largely associated to technology companies likeUBER, Airbnb and others, industry pioneers like medical tourism operators have been leveraging the internet for over 10 years to meet high consumer demands for cost effective, immediate cosmetic surgery holidays.

“Consumer behavior has always dictated the demand for cosmetic surgery holidays!“

Gorgeous Getaways, Loraine Reinsfeld

5 Easy Steps to Your Cosmetic Surgery Holiday

Fascinated that a cosmetic surgery consultation could be done over the internet, I decided to follow the process on their website. Surely, this must be much more complicated than booking a taxi (Uber), or renting an apartment (Airbnb)?

Step 1: Submitting an Enquiry

The first step to book with Gorgeous Getaways is to submit an enquiry. The enquiry form allows their team to determine what you are looking for and point you in the right direction. Upon submitting an enquiry you are sent an immediate email that lists surgeons options and pricing for your specific procedure. If you are interested in packages, they will send you a separate email just for packages.

Step 2: Sending Photos

The next step is to send photo’s. I questioned the confidentiality around this—- but was assured that this was all in complete confidence, and they meet all international health compliance standards. Once, I sent these, I received notification, that they had been passed on to the recommended surgeon for assessment. Sending photos is not mandatory, but they cannot guarantee pricing unless you send them, and I wanted to test the confidentiality and response time from the surgeon.

Step 3: Travel Confirmation

Within a day, I received a confirmed price and was surprised to find that there were so many available dates. I could fly to Thailand, or Malaysia and have any procedures done in a week. They confirmed the length of time I would need to spend in the destination, and estimate of all charges. If you decide to confirm your surgery treatment, you can complete the on-line booking form with includes completion of the medical questionnaire - once your date is confirmed, they will send you a link to these forms for completion.

I was not ready to book as I was only making an inquiry, but was told that to complete the cosmetic surgery holiday confirmation you will be required to pre-pay the accommodation portion of your cosmetic surgery procedures either by credit card or bank transfer. This is charged in Australian dollars (AUD).

The final 2 steps for scheduling and arriving in the destination are listed on their website - so I won’t go into detail but it does mention that a dedicated customer service manager will look after you for the entire duration, including all picks ups, medications, and follow-up consulting visits.

Well, I must say I was very impressed, I never thought that it could be so simple to book an affordable medical holiday over the internet in such a short time. I can now see why medical tourism is such a booming industry especially for cosmetic, or dental where the costs locally are so much higher and the waiting lists so much longer.

It is of course, buyer beware, and you must exercise caution in who you select as there are literally thousands of operators out there. Personally, I have a few years before seriously considering any cosmetic surgery but it’s great to see that these options exists especially for the on demand worker who “have the time and no money, or no money - but the time!

Photo credits: Gorgeous Getaways

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paula Redding .