Understanding the Health and Safety Risks for British Columbia’s Outbound Medical Tourists

When patients choose to go abroad to privately purchase medical care they are engaging in ‘medical tourism’, which isthe most commonly used name for this practice. Several studies and reports suggest that there are a number of healthand safety risks to patients who choose to purchase private medical care abroad. Much of our existing knowledgeabout the health and safety risks of medical tourism for patients is, however, limited due to a lack of comprehensiveresearch and reporting. Acknowledging this and the reportedtrends of Canadians’ increasing involvement in medicaltourism, a consultative meeting was held in September, 2011with individuals whose professional roles relate to patientsafety, health, and risk management. This meeting, held in Vancouver, British Columbia, aimed to learn more aboutthe types of concerns that these professionals have observed or believe exist in principle as a result of British Columbians’ involvement in medical tourism