Panama - A Medical Tourism x Stuart Ben

PR Article – Panama

Panama is a desired vacation destination for Americans as well as global tourists. In the colder months of the year, Americans will consider panama when looking to take a vacation "on the beach" and flee the cold. If it is all-inclusive vacations in which tourist can come and spend a whole week in a luxurious resort that everything is available for no extra charge or a vacation in the beautiful capital of Panama City, there is plenty to do in this beautiful Central American country.


So it may surprise you to hear that there is a third type of vacation that people have been taking to panama in recent years. More and more tourists have been entering the country for the main purpose of undergoing a medical treatment, any medical treatment.


Yes, it is called medical tourism and Panama has become a major medical tourism destination. As Panama has realized the potential of the medical tourism industry for its inbound tourism, it has invested funds and helped its own health system evolve into a modern medicine sector, up to par with American hospitals and the American healthcare system.



Medical Tourism

Before we go into the medical tourism industry in Panama, let us answer the basic question of "What is medical tourism". It is documented that people have been traveling for medical purposes for centuries as the modern medical tourism industry as known to us today, has developed in the past couple of decades.


As travel means have improved immensely and the internet has brought everything and everyone closer together, patients have been exploring this option in order to gain an advantage in their medical treatment options, traveling across national borders to undergo surgery. The first cause pushing patients to this option is improper medical insurance or none at all, leading to the fact that patients must pay a lot of money to go through surgery, sometimes driving them into bankruptcy. Medical tourism offers them the same standard of treatment for half the price. Another cause is long waiting lists as sometimes patients are forced to wait for surgery for long periods of time and can go through the same procedure in a different country in a matter of weeks instead of months or even years. And the last cause can sometimes be due to better and more advanced medical technology and research in another country's healthcare system.


Considering the proximity between North America and Panama isn't so large (just a few hours by plane) combined with the advance medicine being practiced in the country, it is no surprise that Panama has become a popular medical tourism hub, mainly for Americans.



Medical Tourism in Panama

As stated above, the Panamanian government has realized the potential of this industry and has been helping private medical institutions with funds, as the medical system prides itself offering the same quality of treatments as offered in the US for half the price. This has contributed to the fact that the Panamanian healthcare system evolved into an advanced western-like health system, attracting many medical tourists.


Although Panama's official language is Spanish, English is spoken and understood throughout the country. In addition, global medical tourist will find it very comfortable that medical staffs employed in most privately owned hospitals and clinics have been trained in America.


Panama has many private state-of-the-art hospitals, surgery centers and medical clinics that employ top doctors in Latin America and, providing the best medical care under the highest standards available. It should be known that patients have the option of spending there hospitalization and recovery process in first class accommodations, as private hospitals offer private suites with the person accompanying them for very low prices.  


Finally, one of the main advantages is that after the patient finishes the medical part of the trip, they are free to enjoy a vacation in the beautiful country, choosing a relaxing vacation at the beach or explore the country's nature side.  



Medical Tourism Services in Panama

Medical tourists travel to Panama for just about any medical treatment they wish to go through. However, there are several medical treatments that are more common than others. The first type of popular medical tourism treatments is dental surgery (dental implants, LUMINEERS, dental crowns and more). As this is an important part of our external appearance and is also a fairly minimal medical procedure, many patients come to panama and visit these state-of-the-art dental clinics.


Staying with surgeries that help your external look, many patients choose to undergo cosmetic surgery in Panama as these surgeries are expensive and not covered by insurance. Regularly, the recovery for these kinds of procedures is not as tough as others and patients travel for just about any plastic surgery, starting from breast augmentation and enlargements to complete facelifts and tummy tucks.


In addition to these, many patients visit Panama in order to undergo open heart surgery and orthopedic joint replacement surgery. These are arguably the most popular treatments in the global medical tourism industry as these are necessary procedures and very expensive in western countries.


In addition to all treatments mentioned, medical tourists can undergo surgery in any other medical field they choose, including gastroenterology, ophthalmology, organ transplants, urology, neurology, neurosurgery, oncology, rheumatology, endocrinology, pediatrics, dermatology, dentistry, gynecology, psychiatry, General Medicine & General Surgery.


There are many private hospitals in Panama, which cater to medical tourists from around the world. "Hospital Punta Pacifica", affiliated with Johns Hopkins Medicine International (only one in Latin America), is just one of many advanced medical centers that provide western standard medicine.


If you are looking into receiving medical treatment abroad, be sure to check Panamanian hospitals in your medical tourism research. Good luck.


This Article has been written by Stuart Ben, A professional medical tourism facilitator. You can read more about medical tourism in Panama here: Hospitals in Panama : TicketMed