If you have received medical services in a developed country, you are well used to feeling like you are no more than a chart number. From the time you get to a waiting room for the first doctor's visit, you have probably had the distinct impression that no one is noticing more than your insurance card in your wallet.

Medical tourism facilities offer the patient attentive care from the moment they enter the country! There are hundreds of testimonial cases of patients who have received treatment at facilities all over the world, and each one touts the level of attentiveness they have received. Countries have intentionally designed their facilities to cater to the tourist, and to make them feel pampered.

From the first contact from a potential patient, the staff in foreign facilities aim to make the patient feel comfortable and at ease. Fluent translators are provided to ensure that there are no gaps in communication. Communication itself takes the priority place. There is usually a constant flow between the patient, insurance companies, homeland doctors and the facility abroad that will be doing the treatment. The high level of communication ensures that all records are transmitted and received prior to the travel occurring, and that all details are finalized.

Many medical tourism facilities greet the patient upon arrival at the train station or airport. Several medical tourists have reported that they have been given transportation to their accommodations, making the entrance to the country much easier. There has been no need to try to read maps or to find someone who speaks the same language so that directions could be obtained.

Upon arrival at the medical facility, medical tourists are pleased to find out that the hospital rivals a five star resort. The facility has been constructed with an attention to detail. It is open and airy, friendly and inviting. The stark white and green walls of the hospitals in the homeland have been replaced with color and beautiful art displays. There are plants everywhere. Many facilities offer indoor swimming pools and fitness centers. Each room or suite of rooms has been meticulously decorated to appeal to the most hard to please tourists. Fresh flowers and fruit are waiting on the tables, plump pillows are plentiful and comfortable furniture is scattered around the room. There are books, magazines and instructions in the patients' language, neatly piled on end tables and a translator standing by.

After a short rest, many report that they were shown to the facility dining room which more resembled a world class restaurant than a hospital cafeteria. Because of the ongoing communication prior to the arrival of the patient, dietary workers are already aware of food allergies, likes and dislikes. Throughout the stay, the scene is repeated , as waitstaff bring food that will nourish both the body and the soul and enhance the recovery process.

During the time preceding the medical procedure, the ever attentive support staff and doctors meet with the patient to review the medical records, tests and information. All questions are answered thoroughly and time is taken to put the patient at ease. If there is a traveling companion, that person is included in the entire process.

When the time of the procedure is at hand, again the patient is treated attentively and with compassion. Translators are nearby at all times, to ensure that there are no gaps in communication. The traveling companion is kept comfortable and informed throughout the wait time. Once the procedure is completed, both the patient and the traveling companion are given a full account of the outcome of the procedure and clear instructions as to the recovery process.

Most facilities offer the initial recovery time to be spent in close proximity with fully trained and qualified support staff and nurses nearby. Several medical tourists have reported that they were comforted to know that as soon as they rang the bell, someone appeared, to attend to them. In the United States, understaffed facilities result in a bell going unanswered for nearly an hour and in rare instances, longer than that!

There are options available for many tourists, regarding the final phase of their recovery time. Many facilities offer the patient a choice of staying on in the facility or going to a nearby recovery facility. These recovery facilities are often located on beautiful beaches, or in view of a choice tourist destination. Once the patient is feeling better, he is able to take advantage of the "vacation" portion of his medical tourism package. Granted, most will not feel the same as they would if they had not just undergone a medical procedure, but the reality is that the recovery is enhanced by the vacation environment. Throughout the final recovery phase, there are trained staff available to attend to every need. Follow-up doctor's visits are also done, to ensure that the necessary recovery is being made with no complications.

The bottom line is that countries specializing in medical tourism can offer a patient what developed countries cannot, and that is the attentive and often individualized care that all patients desire. The doctors and staff at the foreign facilities create an atmosphere that resembles a vacation package resort, to make it best possible experience that one might have, considering that the purpose is to have a medical procedure done.

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