Second in its series of interviews profiling the evolution of the medical tourism industry across the world is an interview with Fredrik Öhrn, Division Manager of International Business at Phyathai Hospitals Group in Bangkok, Thailand.

Starting Thursday, March 29, HealthAbroad.net is releasing a series of interviews profiling the evolution of the medical tourism industry across the world. These interviews incorporate the views and opinions of people involved across the spectrum of the industry and explore the challenges and realities faced by operators and patients in different parts of the world. The first in this series is an interview with Dr. Tsheppo Maaka, the Managing Director of Seroloko Health Tourism and an Executive Director with Medical Tourism Services of South Africa (MTSA).

Mixing Pleasure and Health for Low-cost, High-quality Care, Livemint.com, 17 May 2007
Summary: With spending on healthcare in America topping $2 trillion, Americans are looking at overseas care as an alternative even for complex procedures like heart surgery.

Trips Take Aim at High Health Costs, The Chicago Tribune, 7 May 2007
Summary: Smaller American companies are cutting costs by sending employees abroad for cheaper medicare as national debate over healthcare in America remains inconclusive.

More Americans Seeking Lower Health Costs Overseas, Citizen-Times.com, 6 May 2007
Summary: An American travels to India for low cost and high quality dental care.

Medical Tourism Creates Global Competition, The Columbian, 10 April 2007
Summary: Medical tourism is on the rise despite of certain drawbacks.

The Argument for Medical and Dental Tourism, The Houston Chronicle, 7 April 2007
Summary: Medical tourism and dental tourism. Now there is a book that says as much.

Come to India if You Want to Smile, IBNLive.com, 20 March 2007
Summary: Dental surgery in India attracts many medical tourists

"Treated" in India Catching On in the West, The Times of India, 27 January 2007
Summary: Cut-price surgery performed by proven world class doctors is attracting Western patients.  

Investing in India- Growth of Private Medical Care in Good Health, The Financial Times, 09 January 2007
Summary: India's private health care sector is booming and investors and medical tourists are licking their lips.  

Ailing Alaskans Are Lured Abroad by Medical Costs One-Tenth of Those in the US, The Anchorage Daily News, 07 January 2007
Summary: Americans from as far as away from Alaska are going abroad for cheaper medicare

Tourist Rx: Traveling Overseas For Inexpensive, Quality Care, The Miami Herald, 07 January 2007
Summary: For surgeons in India, dentists in the Philippines, medical tourism is taking off.

Healthy Living- Medical Tourism, KUTV.com, 21 December 2006
Summary: Low cost medical treatments strike a chord with uninsured Americans.

High Costs Send Patients Overseas For Care, The Charlotte Observer, 10 December 2006
Summary: Americans, individuals and companies are exploring foreign options for cheaper medical treatment.

"Medical Tourism" Industry Grows Rapidly, Forbes.com, 27 October 2006
Summary: Comprehensive background brief on medical tourism by the Oxford Analytica

US Group Wants Medical Tourists Barred, IBNLive.com, 16 October 2006
Summary: Citing issues of liability in case of medical negligence and quality standards in India, the United Steel Workers' Union (USW) wants to stop Americans medical tourists from visiting the country. 

Basking on the Beach, or Maybe on the Operating Table, NYTimes, 15 October 2006
Summary: Cheap medical treatment, American-trained doctors and internationally accredited hospitals are enticing people and companies towards medical tourism.  

Health Tourism on the Horizon, Hi-Mag.com, October 2006
Summary: The European Commission is mulling what allowing patients access to cross-border healthcare actually means in practice.

Need Care, Will Travel, Contra Costa Times, 9 October 2006
Summary: Once considered a niche for plastic surgery, medical tourism has expanded to include more necessary medical procedures and uninsured and penny-wise Americans are dialing in.

Indian Healthcare Industry Poised To Grow as $60 billion by 2012, Pharmabiz.com, 6 October 2006
Summary: India's presently $23 billion healthcare industry will more than double itself as the country attracts foreign patients with cheap and high quality medical treatment.

Some Americans Heading Overseas for Less-Expensive Medical Treatment, The Baltimore Sun, 6 October 2006
Summary: Uninsured Americans are turning to foreign destinations in greater numbers for cheaper medical treatments.

Sun, Sea and Surgery, ITP.net, 2 October 2006
Summary: The lack of high quality healthcare at home and the post 9/11 security clampdown has turned many Arab nationals towards Thailand, Singapore and India for medical treatments.

Medical Tourism Meets Healthy Opposition, Marketplace Radio, 13 September 2006
Summary: American businesses eager to cut costs, are considering sending employees abroad for medical treatment but strong opposition to the move is starting to emerge.

EU Healthcare "Must Brace For Revolution", The Financial Times, 4 September 2006
Summary: A single market, including that for health services, is giving a fillip to medical tourism.

India's Healthy Appeal: Modern (And Cheap) Services Promoted, Intl. Herald Tribune, 30 August 2006
Summary: The Indian Government launches an aggressive marketing campaign to promote itself as a medical tourism destination.

A Cut Below: Americans Look Abroad For Health Care, ABC News, 29 August 2006
Summary: As medical costs soar, more Americans are going overseas for surgery.

Wealth For Health, Rediff News, 28 August 2006
Summary: Interview with Executive Director- Finance of Apollo Hospitals Group, one of the leaders and promoters of medical tourism to India.

Risky Scalpel Tours Cut Into Taxpayers Pocket, The Sydney Morning Herald, 27 August 2006
Summary: Remedial surgery for botched cosmetic surgery overseas is costing Australian taxpayers thousands of dollars.

Companies Explore Overseas Healthcare, The Christian Science Monitor, 16 August 2006
Summary: American companies are tapping into cheaper global healthcare to cut costs.

Healing Journey: More Americans Go Abroad For Cheaper Healthcare, The Arizona Republic, 10 August 2006
Summary: A growing number of American people and companies are exploring medical tourism to cut costs.

Tourism hits visa hurdle, The Times of India, 8 August 2006
Summary: Even as medical tourism grows in India, acquiring a medical visa remains a difficult and slow moving process.

Medical Tourism Agencies Take Operations Overseas, CNNMoney.com, 31 July 2006
Summary: Clever businesses are helping cost-conscious patients have complex surgeries overseas.

U.S. Employers Looking Offshore for Healthcare, LA Times, 31 July 2006
Summary: As costs rise, workers are being sent abroad to get operations that cost tens of thousands more in the U.S.

Sending Patients Packing, USA Today, 27 July 2006
Summary: Companies that help arrange such travel are eyeing a far bigger market: U.S. employers who want to save money on their health care costs.

Cost-saving Surgery Lures "Medical Tourists" Abroad, The Seattle P-I, 24 July 2006
Summary: Comprehensive article on medical tourism with pros and cons and cost comparison. Must read.

Healthcare Tourists Lift Bangkok's Dusit, 20 July 2006
Summary: Thailand's biggest publicly traded hospital operator, says that patient numbers are growing as more tourists and Thais increasingly turn to private health care.

Surgery Tourism, 3 July 2006
Summary: Would you travel out of the country for a major medical procedure?  More people are going outside the U.S. for elective surgery. But is it safe? The debate goes on.

Health In A Suitcase, The Times, 1 July 2006
Summary: Investigative piece on the risks of treatment abroad through unregulated agencies.

Outside View: Medical Tourism's Allure, 1 July 2006
Summary: The advantages of medical tourism outweigh the disadvantages when you consider the cost, the service and the location.

U.S. Senate Weighs Risks and Attractions of Medical Tourism, Voice of America, 29 June 2006
Summary: As Americans, especially uninsured ones, travel outside to seek medical treatment the U.S. Senate Committee on Aging stops to wonder what the noise is about. 

Indian Medical Care Goes Global, Al Jazeera, 18 June 2006
Summary: In-depth article on burgeoning medical tourism industry in India.

Medical Tourism Set To Get Major Boost, Gulf Times, 17 June 2006
Summary: India's fast growing medical tourism industry is set to get a further boost with two companies coming together to market the entire range of medicare facilities overseas.

Dubai launches $ 100 million medical facility, DNA India, 11 June 2006
Summary: Dubai Healthcare City (DHCC) has made its first move in becoming a regional gateway for foreign patients by launching a multi-specialty clinical facility, to attract 1500 healthcare professionals from the world over. 

85 Bogus Doctors Arrested in Thailand Last Year, 6 June 2006
Summary: The Thai Health Ministry is cracking down on quacks eager to make a fast buck as medical tourism booms.

Surgery With A View, Sydney Morning Herald, 1 June 2006
Summary: Chronicles the visit of an Australian to India for dental surgery and the boom in medical tourism as governments battle to provide services.

Outsourcing Your Heart?, TIME Magazine, 21 May 2006
Summary: Elective surgery in India? Medical tourism is booming, and U.S. companies trying to contain health-care costs are starting to take notice.

Where Britons Go, What They Pay, The Telegraph, 17 May 2006
Summary: A sweep of countries- Belgium, Spain, Hungary, India and South Africa, which have become the top medical destinations for Britons.

Barbados: Tourism Gains With Stem Cell, Nation News, 14 May 2006
Summary: SUN, SEA, SAND. Now add stem cell. This may soon be how Barbados' tourism is promoted. This comes in the wake of the thousands of dollars earned last year by hotels and the hospitality sector from patients and their loved ones who came here for stem cell treatment at the Institute of Regenerative Medicine (IRM) in St John.

Costa Rica: A New Destination for Medical Care, MSNBC, 11 May 2006
Summary: Imagine a place where you receive the best care in the world from some of the best doctors in the world, while having access to some of the latest medical technology. It’s a short plane ride from the U.S. and it’s about half the cost.

Going Abroad for Medical and Dental Care: Research Quality, Not Just Price, Before Crossing Border, Marketwatch, 05 May 2006
Summary: Hip replacement in Thailand. Bariatric surgery in India. Root canal in Hungary.
It hardly seems like an ideal vacation agenda. But as health-insurance costs rise and more Americans lose or get priced out of comprehensive benefits, a small but growing number of people are heading overseas in pursuit of low-cost, high-quality medical and dental care, and some tack on a vacation as they recuperate, travel and health experts said.

India Offers Both Best, Worst of Health Care, Voice of America, 03 May 2006
Summary: Most of India's billion-plus people struggle with a public health care system that is overburdened in cities and virtually nonexistent in villages. On the other hand, private health care is booming, and the country's state-of-the art hospitals and highly skilled doctors even attract patients from countries where health care costs are much higher. The challenge before India is to make such top quality care accessible for the majority of its people.

Wait-list Weary Canadians Seek Treatment Abroad, 25 April 2006
Summary: A Canadian company that arranges cardiac, orthopedic and cosmetic surgery in India, France and other countries says wait lists at home are driving Canadians' demand for its services.

HealthAbroad.net goes live, 24 April 2006
Summary: HealthAbroad.net has been launched with the aim of filling the breach between Western patients and healthcare service providers at the top medical tourism destinations across the world. HealthAbroad.net steps into the existing information vacuum to cater not only to treatment-seekers but also to academics, researchers, media and industry watchers. The website provides a wealth of information on trends and developments in the medical tourism industry which makes it the first stop for anyone connected to or interested in this industry.

Asian Medical Tourism to Become Multi-Billion-Dollar Industry, The Dominican Today, 10 April 2006
Summary: Asia's medical tourism industry is expected to generate over 4.4 billion dollars a year by 2012, with India, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia and South Korea the top destinations, Abacus, a leading travel firm said.

Taiwan's Tourism Bureau Says Health Tourism Poised to Take Off, The Taipei Times, 20 March 2006
Summary: Taiwan, although a late entrant to the health tourism sector, is poised to attract Chinese people residing in mainland China, Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore and the US for medical treatment.

Hospitals Eye Insurance Tie-Ups to Boost Tourism, Economic Times, India, 31 March 2006
Summary: In a new development, corporate hospitals in India are tying up with insurance companies abroad in order to encourage western medical tourists to come to India for medical treatment.  

Controversy in India Over Medical Tourism, Intl. Herald Tribune, 2 December 2005
Summary: Some Indian doctors and industry watchers are beginning to grow angry at the government's focus on developing medical tourism while the health of a large portion of India's population is neglected.

Thais Tap Demand For Outsourced Medical Care, Intl. Herald Tribune, 28 July 2005
Summary: Top Thai hospitals are tapping into demand created by patients from the US and Europe escaping high medical costs and unending waiting lists.

Medical Tourism Growing Worldwide, 25 July 2005
Summary: A conversation with futurist Marvin Cetron, founder and president of Forecasting International, who links the growth of medical tourism to some 220 million Baby Boomers across North America, western Europe and Australia who constitute a market for inexpensive, high-quality health-care. 

Tourism For Health, Intl. Herald Tribune, 24 May 2005
Summary: A growing number of people from Western Europe and even the US are becoming medical tourists, traveling by plane to faraway countries to get cheap medical care.

Medical Tourism Gives Healthy Boost to India, The Times of London, 11 February 2005
Summary: Medical tourism, experiencing double digit growth offers huge opportunities for India.

Is Health Tourism the Future, The Guardian Newspaper, UK, 1 February 2005
Summary: Profile of an elderly British medical tourist who flew to India for a heart-bypass to avoid the long wait and high cost of UK's NHS.