Medical tourism is when a patient from one country travels to another to attain better medical care. This is mainly determined by the accessibility, affordability and availability of medical resources in various locations worldwide. Patients from lower-income countries often travel to more developed nations to access advanced medical resources and specialised treatments. In contrast, individuals from wealthier countries may seek medical services in less developed regions due to the availability of high-quality care at significantly lower costs. Like any other phenomenon, medical tourism too has its pros and cons. This article explores various medical tourism concepts, the reasons and factors influencing them, their positive and negative aspects and the latest trends – the methods used for searching for keywords like medical tourism in Google Scholar and PubMed search engines.
Nadella et al. (2025) studied this question.