Why Medical Tourism in Costa Rica?

Reza jamili
Medical Tourism in Costa Rica Quietly Plays a Significant Role in the Country’s Economy

Costa Rica is among the smallest and at the same time the most developed countries of the Latin America. The country once exploited for its sugar and coffee reserves by the Spanish and subsequently subject to brutal banana republics, has now managed to turn it around and become as one of the most advanced states in Latin America.
According to the WHO, Costa Rica has the world’s 20^th efficient healthcare system in the world and second in Latin America.

Costa Rica which up until recent times still has been dependent on its historical resources notably sugar and coffee to run its economic sector, has put great emphasis on promoting tourism in conjunction with its world class medical talent in order to form a more dynamic economy.

History

Medical tourism in Costa Rica is a young industry. This sector began operating in Costa Rica back in early 2000s and at the same time in which Costa Rican Medical Overhaul was taking place. At this time Costa Rica began sending more and more medical students to the USA and upon their return, employing them en masse under their brand new medical tourism sector.

The Advent of Medical Tourism in Costa Rica

Stats and international rankings show that the Costa Rican project of healthcare improvement and subsequently becoming a viable medical tourism destination has been met with great success. Medical tourism is Costa Rica has seen consistent growth.

Hospital Catolica is one of the best in all of Mesoamerica

To exemplify, in 2008, Panama had 23 thousand incoming medical tourists, by 2011 this number jumped to 48 thousand and in 2016 Costa Rica had over 70 thousand medical tourists coming to the country, generating a profit of over 485 million dollars for the country.

Another major factor that contributes to the rise of medical tourism in Costa Rica, are the regulation of prices towards more affordability, which has made the country more and more attractive as a medical tourism destination to Americans. Medical Tourism in Costa Rica is increasingly cost effective for the lower economic echelons of the United States. For example, a knee joint replacement surgery in the famous Hospital La Catolica costs 12 thousand dollars, while the same operation costs an average of 44 thousand dollars in the US.

In this regard Costa Rica is comparable to Panama, both countries are small, and are rapidly developing, and they are both two quickly growing destinations of medical tourism. Both have excellent English speaking medical talents and both cater to American medical tourists in their marketing campaigns.

Top Costa Rican Medical Centers

Costa Rica has a total of 4 hospitals accredited by the Joint Commission International. At first glance this number might seem quite weak in comparison with major destinations of the region such as Mexico, Brazil, and the United States, however the reality is that due to the compact nature of medical tourism in Costa Rica and the small geographical extent of the country, there simply is no need of more top flight hospitals in the country.

San Jose is the largest city of Costa Rica as well as its capital and home to all the notable medical centers of the country

All four of these elite hospitals are locate in the Costa Rican capital and largest city of San Jose, the most famous of these being the CIMA hospital. The three other major hospitals are Clinica Catolica, Hospital Biblica and the Clinica UBINE.

These world renowned hospitals are exclusively run by the private sector of the Costa Rican health system.

Top Treatments to Look for in Costa Rica

The Costa Rican medical community is a competent and reliable force that excels in most medical treatments. Stats released by the country’s ministry of health shows that dental, gynecological, preventive services and plastic surgeries make up for respectively 42 percent, 22 percent, 16 percent and 10 percent of the treatments sought out by incoming medical tourists to the country.

Dentistry in Costa Rica is the most sought out treatment by medical tourists and the majority of foreign patients in the country are there for these needs. The primary reason for this is the lack of proper infrastructure in neighboring countries as well as cheap prices and the outpatient nature of dental treatments. Orthodontics, Cosmetic dental procedures, pediatric dentistry, mouth surgeries and prosthetics are the most well performed dental services in Costa Rica.

Gynecology is another set of treatments that are becoming more and more popular in Costa Rica due poor facilities of surrounding countries. Although Costa Rican laws are relating to abortion which prohibit such a practice, have contributed to the relative decline of the popularity of these services, they still remain a premier set of treatments of medical tourism in Costa Rica.

Cosmetic Surgeries in Costa Rica are a major source of medical tourism attraction for Costa Rica and all of the four aforementioned elite medical centers provide these services with the highest of qualities. However, due to the fraudulent potential of these treatments it is best if one consults with medical tourism facilitators before undertaking a trip for these treatments.