There has been a huge rise in the amount of medical tourists in recent years. Many people from the western world are travelling abroad to seek more cost effective medical treatment, and avoid the extortionate medical costs in their own country.

The cost of healthcare continues to rise in western countries, and the numbers travelling abroad is on the rise every year. In many sectors technology helps to reduce costs, but in the medical sector new technologies can waste a lot of money. As the use of technology in the medical sector increases, costs continue to rise.

In developing countries medical practices can set up at a lower cost, thanks to cheaper real estate and lower labor costs. This enables them to provide a high quality service at a much lower price than at home, even allowing for the cost of travelling to your destination.

Countries such as the U.S should only pay for innovations that are worth it, and focus technology on better organizing the health care system to bring down prices.

This info-graphic from PreTax Health outlines the rise in medical tourism across the world, and identifies how the healthcare systems in developed countries need to adapt.