Canada's turbulent medical tourism industry [L'industrie turbulente du tourisme médical au Canada]

摘要

Medical tourism companies based in different parts of Canada—operating with distinct business models, and exhibiting varying degrees of business savvy and marketing sophistication—failed despite widespread claims about the rapid growth of medical travel and the emergence of a global marketplace for health services. While proponents of medical travel were touting the arrival of the mobile medical consumer, 2 Canadian medical tourism companies specializing in "dental tourism" came and went; 1 Canadian company ceased marketing heart and liver transplants performed in Colombia; and 22 additional Canadian medical tourism companies disappeared from the medical travel marketplace—13 in Ontario, 7 in British Columbia, 4 in Quebec, and 1 in Alberta. The one business established with the purpose of both sending Canadians abroad and attracting US citizens to medical facilities in Canada ranks among the defunct medical tourism companies.