Are there implications for quality of care for patients who participate in international medical tourism?

Medical tourism is now an established feature of the international healthcare landscape and is a burgeoning commercial industry attracting increasing numbers of people willing to fund their own treatment overseas. Although medical tourism spans the full spectrum of health services, most travel is restricted to a limited range of medical procedures, including cosmetic surgery, dental procedures, orthopedic surgery, cardiac surgery, fertility treatment, and organ and cellular transplantation [1,2].