OBJECTIVES To determine what proportion of El Paso (Texas, United States of America) residents access health care services in Mexico, which services they use, and why they cross for care. METHODS A cross-sectional, telephone survey of El Paso County residents was conducted from October-November 2007 to determine use of health care services in Mexico. At total of 2 560 telephone interviews wer...

Cross-border reproductive care (CBRC) is a growing worldwide phenomenon, raising questions about why assisted reproductive technology (ART) patients travel abroad, what harms and benefits may result, and what duties health-care providers may have in advising and treating patients who travel for reproductive services. Cross-border care offers benefits and poses harms to ART stakeholders, includi...

in this commentary, we establish a relationship between medical sociology and the study of medical tourism and cross-border healthcare by introducing ronald andersen’s behavioral model of healthcare use, and linking this model to the recent empirical study of kovacs et al. on patients travelling to hungary for orthopedic treatment. finally, we plead for more measurement in the field of patient ...