In today's era, health care has become an important area, which needs attention. People from various parts travel to various countries, which offer excellent quality health care services. Medical tourism is not a new concept. People, over thousands of years have traveled far and wide to various countries to get themselves cured. They traveled for spiritual treatment also. The earliest recorded event of medical tourism dates back hundreds of years to when Greek pilgrims traveled from Mediterranean to the small place in the Saronic Gulf called Epidauria. Epidauria then became the original travel destination for medical tourism. The concept of medical tourism was initially coined by the travel agencies and the media as a catchall phrase to describe a fast growing industry where people travel to different nations to obtain medical services. The quality health care services, technology and most efficient physicians can be found in countries like United States, Canada etc. Cosmetic surgery treatment is more popular in countries like Bolivia, Columbia, Brazil etc. Argentina and Mexico are most sought after for plastic surgery.

Seeking medical treatment abroad may prove to be a beneficial experience for many. Medical tourism is related to this definition. Medical tourism is a better option than insurance. A person, who wants to seek medical treatment, must have a clear understanding of his medical condition. Self evaluation is a very crucial aspect in this area. If the person is not able to self evaluate himself, he can seek professional help. Several hospitals offer such services. One can just have surf on the internet. There are many websites dealing in these services. One must always care and think before twice before spending any amount of money. Otherwise it can remain just a shuffle of some paper around. There are some countries which are overburdened with patients. This makes the doctor's treatment to get late than expected. Delayed heart surgeries can be life threatening. Medical tourism can help a lot in getting rid of this problem.

The most important driving force for medical tourism is the quality. It is a common notion among the people that one can find good and high quality treatment facilities overseas. Underdeveloped countries often lack proper medical facilities. That's why people throng to other developed nations to get themselves cured. But this notion is not a reality. One can find good doctors and surgeons who can perform the same quality operations in any country. Doctors are even prepared to perform the treatment free of charge without even compromising the quality and attention.

Cosmetic and dental surgeries are the most sought after options which one can avail during medical tourism. There is a wide market of these surgeries abroad. Heart surgeries, knee surgeries, orthopedic surgeries also find a dominant place in this area. One can find quality and experienced professionals who can provide excellent health care services to the patient. Taking the help of medical treatment from abroad is not without risks. Once must be sure that subsequent visits could be made for the necessary treatment or the treatments for such medical conditions could be obtained through the local hospitals. There are several factors, which have to be taken care of while choosing a destination place for medical tourism such as high health care services and costs, quality, waiting for certain procedures, affordability and availability of international travel and latest technology used in the treatment. The ease and affordability of international travel and the advancement of technology and standards of medical service in many countries of the world are the dominant features, which have made popular the concept of medical tourism. Thus, many countries are attracting people all over the world through this field.