From October 2013, European Union member states are obliged to adopt the new European rules allowing patients to search for health care abroad at the costs of the national authorities. The so-called cross-border care Directive (2011/24/EU) facilitates therefore patient mobility in the European Union (1). But only in case a certain treatment option is not (timely) available, or not equally effec...

BACKGROUND Given the dramatic increase in type 2 diabetes in the United States, the development of effective strategies to prevent and control this potentially devastating illness is more important than ever. In the Southwest, diabetes is a far too common and rapidly growing problem among Mexican Americans living near the U.S.-Mexico border. A project designed to address this problem enabled fa...

Introduction While the popularity of international care is rising, complexity compromises patient safety. To identify risks and propose solutions to improve care, this study explores experiences healthcare workers with handovers in a European border region. Methods A cross-sectional survey design was used reach out 3000 workers, working for hospitals or emergency services three neighboring coun...

Patients are crossing national borders in search of affordable and timely health care. Many medical tourism companies are now involved in organizing cross-border health services. Despite the rapid expansion of the medical tourism industry, few standards exist to ensure that these businesses organize high-quality, competent international health care. Addressing the regulatory vacuum, 10 standard...

INTRODUCTION The objective of this study was to examine correlates of ever having had a Papanicolaou (Pap) test among women who recently delivered a live infant and who resided near the US-Mexico border. METHODS This cross-sectional study included women who delivered a live infant in Matamoros, Mexico (n = 488) and Cameron County, Texas (n = 453). Women were interviewed in the hospital before...

Approximately 11.5 million people reside in the 42 counties and 39 Mexican municipalities located along the U.S.-Mexico border, and 86% of those people reside in 14 pairs of sister cities, metropolitan areas divided by the international border (1). Border residents share similar resources and environmental problems: issues of great concern include air quality, water quantity and quality, and an...

This article analyses how and why the residents of Northwest Russia—holders users unified Schengen multiple-entry ‘C’ visas issued by state Finland—care for their balancing trips to Finland against wider Area, according rules that require such balancing. Applying concept productive work reproductive labour, drawing on in-depth interviews with visa-dependants in Russia, I show visa policies oper...

Citizens are increasingly crossing borders within the European Union (EU). Europeans have always been free to travel to receive care abroad, but if they wished to benefit from their statutory social protection scheme, they were subject to their local or national legislation on social protection. This changed in 1991 with the European Court of Justice defining healthcare as a service, starting a...

OBJECTIVE To identify the main strengths, weaknesses, and challenges of the Ecuador-Peru "peri-border" health care program and to analyze the legislative, managerial, and organizational arrangements adopted to integrate the two country's national health systems in the border area. METHODS A descriptive, qualitative case study was carried out using three complementary methods: literature revie...