Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Bariatric Tourism: Bidirectional and in the United States

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The SAGES Manual of Bariatric Surgery

  • 1599 Accesses

Abstract

Bariatric tourism is defined as the travel of an individual to another region to pursue a bariatric operation. This chapter will focus on bariatric tourism related to the United States. As such, bariatric tourism can be considered as outbound (outside the United States), inbound (into the United States), or intrabound (within the United States). Bariatric tourism presents a complex clinical, societal, and international issue that is multifaceted both at the patient level and at the population level. The decision for a patient to pursue bariatric care outside of their healthcare region can have multiple implications for their own safety as well as the well-being of the populations they visit. In addition, the management of the bariatric meditourist poses a unique clinical challenge for surgeons who are tasked with managing complications. We present the known literature on bariatric tourism, including the estimated scope of the issue, current guidelines, the outcomes and international standards of care, cost considerations, and ethical issues.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 109.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 139.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Excerpted with permission of Elsevier from American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Position Statement on Global Bariatric Healthcare. Clinical Issues Committee. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2011;7(6):669–71.

References

  1. Medical tourism. What is medical tourism. Gainesville, FL: American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery; 2014.

    Google Scholar 

  2. Lunt N, Smith REM, Green ST, Horsfall D, Mannion R. Medical tourism: treatments, markets and health system implications: a scoping review. Paris: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; 2011.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Milstein A, Smith M. Will the surgical world become flat? Health Aff (Millwood). 2007;26(1):137–41.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Whiteman RG. Medical tourism and bariatric surgery. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2011;7(5):652–4.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. Medical tourism: consumers in search of value. Washington, DC; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Johnson TJ, Garman AN. Impact of medical travel on imports and exports of medical services. Health Policy. 2010;98(2–3):171–7.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Youngman I. Medical tourism statistics: why McKinsey has got it wrong. Int Med Travel J. 2009; Accessed online at https://www.imtj.com/articles/recent-report-industry-makes-some-serious-errors

  8. Statement on medical and surgical tourism. Bull Am Coll Surg. 2009;94(4):26–7.

    Google Scholar 

  9. Wapner J. American Medical Association provides guidance on medical tourism. BMJ. 2008;337:a575.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  10. American Society for M, Bariatric Surgery Clinical Issues C. American Society for Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery position statement on global bariatric healthcare. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2011;7(6):669–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Lunt N, Horsfall D, Hanefeld J. Medical tourism: a snapshot of evidence on treatment abroad. Maturitas. 2016;88:37–44.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  12. Birch DW, Vu L, Karmali S, Stoklossa CJ, Sharma AM. Medical tourism in bariatric surgery. Am J Surg. 2010;199(5):604–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  13. Gangemi A, Young A, Elli EF. A rare sequela after a case of early bariatric surgery tourism. Surg Obes Relat Dis. 2015;11(1):e1–3.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Kim DH, Sheppard CE, de Gara CJ, Karmali S, Birch DW. Financial costs and patients’ perceptions of medical tourism in bariatric surgery. Can J Surg. 2016;59(1):59–61.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  15. Turner L. News media reports of patient deaths following ‘medical tourism’ for cosmetic surgery and bariatric surgery. Dev World Bioeth. 2012;12(1):21–34.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Who is JCI. Oak Brook, IL: Joint Commission International; 2017. Available from: http://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/about-jci/who-is-jci/.

  17. Dunn P. Medical tourism takes flight. Hosp Health Netw. 2007;81:40–2.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  18. Kagan I, Farkash-Fink N, Fish M. Effect of Joint Commission International Accreditation on the nursing work environment in a Tertiary Medical Center. J Nurs Care Qual. 2016;31(4):E1–8.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Chen M, Zhou Q. Pharmaceutical interventions by collaboration between staff pharmacists and clinical pharmacists and implementation of Joint Commission International Accreditation Standards on medication use may optimize pharmacotherapy in geriatric patients. Clin Interv Aging. 2016;11:1575–7.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  20. Jafary FH, Ahmed H, Kiani J. Outcomes of primary percutaneous coronary intervention at a joint commission international accredited hospital in a developing country – can good results, possibly similar to the west, be achieved? J Invasive Cardiol. 2007;19(10):417–23.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Glinos IA, Baeten R, Helble M, Maarse H. A typology of cross-border patient mobility. Health Place. 2010;16(6):1145–55.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Laugesen MJ, Vargas-Bustamante A. A patient mobility framework that travels: European and United States-Mexican comparisons. Health Policy. 2010;97(2–3):225–31.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Medical Tourism DEDI. The answer? Front Health Serv Manag. 2007;24:35–40.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Carabello LA. Medical tourism primer for U.S. physicians. J Med Pract Manage. 2008;23(5):291–4.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Snyder JC, Silva DS, Crooks VA. Unpacking the financial costs of “bariatric tourism” gone wrong: who holds responsibility for costs to the Canadian health care system? Can J Surg. 2016;59(6):369–70.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  26. Hanefeld J, Horsfall D, Lunt N, Smith R. Medical tourism: a cost or benefit to the NHS? PLoS One. 2013;8(10):e70406.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  27. Mattoo A, Rathindran R. How health insurance inhibits trade in health care. Health Aff (Millwood). 2006;25(2):358–68.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  28. Sheppard CE, Lester EL, Chuck AW, Kim DH, Karmali S, de Gara CJ, et al. Medical tourism and bariatric surgery: who pays? Surg Endosc. 2014;28(12):3329–36.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  29. Snyder J, Crooks VA. Medical tourism and bariatric surgery: more moral challenges. Am J Bioeth. 2010;10(12):28–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  30. Perry L. Blue Shield initiates quality focus in Baja California with new cross-border HMO. Blue Shield of California; 2000.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Wachter RM. The “dis-location” of U.S. medicine--the implications of medical outsourcing. N Engl J Med. 2006;354(7):661–5.

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  32. Bose A. Private health sector in India: is private health care at the cost of public health care? BMJ. 2005;331(7528):1338–9.

    PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  33. Lunt N, Hardey M, Mannion R. Nip, tuck and click: medical tourism and the emergence of web-based health information. Open Med Inform J. 2010;4:1–11.

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Gastrointestinal Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Alabama School of Medicine, Portland, OR, USA

    Abhishek D. Parmar

  2. Department of Surgery, Bariatric Services, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Farah A. Husain

Authors
  1. Abhishek D. Parmar
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Farah A. Husain
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abhishek D. Parmar .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Foregut and Bariatric Surgeon, Division of Gastrointestinal and Minimally Invasive Surgery, The Oregon Clinic, Portland, Oregon, USA

    Kevin M. Reavis

  2. Long Island Jewish Forest Hills Hospital, Department of Surgery, Hofstra-Northwell School of Medicine, Forest Hills, New York, USA

    Allison M. Barrett

  3. Institute Chief, Digestive Disease Institute, Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates

    Matthew D. Kroh

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG, part of Springer Nature

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Parmar, A.D., Husain, F.A. (2018). Bariatric Tourism: Bidirectional and in the United States. In: Reavis, K., Barrett, A., Kroh, M. (eds) The SAGES Manual of Bariatric Surgery. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71282-6_43

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71282-6_43

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-71281-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-71282-6

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation