Surgical Tourism: The Role of Cardiothoracic Surgery Societies in Evaluating International Surgery Centers

摘要

IntroductionRobert M. Sade, MDProJeffrey P. Jacobs, MD, and Michael D. Horowitz, MD, MBAHow to Do ItWhy to Do ItEthical JustificationConConstantine Mavroudis, MD, and Allison Siegel, MAEstablishing GuidelinesThe Present State of Overseas CredentialingChallenges for International Cardiothoracic Surgery CentersThoracic surgery societiesQuality international databaseCultural familiarityThe global economy and the United States economyMedical errors and legal recourseSummaryConcluding RemarksRobert M. Sade, MDReferencesCTSNet classification:4IntroductionJump to SectionIntroductionRobert M. Sade, MDProJeffrey P. Jacobs, MD, and Michael D. Horowitz, MD, MBAHow to Do ItWhy to Do ItEthical JustificationConConstantine Mavroudis, MD, and Allison Siegel, MAEstablishing GuidelinesThe Present State of Overseas CredentialingChallenges for International Cardiothoracic Surgery CentersThoracic surgery societiesQuality international databaseCultural familiarityThe global economy and the United States economyMedical errors and legal recourseSummaryConcluding RemarksRobert M. Sade, MDReferencesRobert M. Sade, MDJump to SectionIntroductionRobert M. Sade, MDProJeffrey P. Jacobs, MD, and Michael D. Horowitz, MD, MBAHow to Do ItWhy to Do ItEthical JustificationConConstantine Mavroudis, MD, and Allison Siegel, MAEstablishing GuidelinesThe Present State of Overseas CredentialingChallenges for International Cardiothoracic Surgery CentersThoracic surgery societiesQuality international databaseCultural familiarityThe global economy and the United States economyMedical errors and legal recourseSummaryConcluding RemarksRobert M. Sade, MDReferencesPatients have crossed international borders for medical care at least since the 19th century, but the pattern has changed over time. Formerly, relatively wealthy patients from developing nations traveled to medically sophisticated countries seeking high-quality medical care. In recent decades, the cost of health care, measured in dollars in this country and in longer waiting times in such countries as Canada, has increased markedly, so the pattern has changed: less-affluent patients from developed countries travel to Third World countries for high-quality care, often comprising complex surgery that is readily available at relatively low prices.Such travel has earned the name “Medical Tourism.” The most common cardiac surgery services include coronary artery bypass, cardiac valve replacement or reconstruction, percutaneous coronary angioplasty and stenting, and therapies that are not available in this country, such as stem cell therapy for heart failure [