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Welcome to Espana!
If you want to locate me in Spain, find a tapas (or Pinxos in San Sebastian) bar, a paella restaurant or a place that has Flamenco dancing. The availability of Spas can be a distraction for me in this country.
Spain is one of the friendliest countries I have visited in the EU. This is not true simply because I have family here, but I have spent time on my own, independent of family influence. My Spanish language skill is sufficient to eat, sleep, navigate by taxi, shop, acquire medical care and use an ATM. What else could I want or need?
As my family includes licensed Spanish physicians, I can attest to the fact that Spain has many medical tourism opportunities and excellent medical care. Spain boasts an extensive health and medical care system equal to those in most European countries and often better.
In recent years, with the rapid development of Spanish tourist destinations, there has also been an emergence of high-end healthcare clinics, many of whom are contracted with government health programs in Norway, Sweden and other countries, as well as private health insurance plans in those countries. In addition, other citizens of the European Union are able to access care high-quality medical care at reduced rates for that which they pay out of pocket when the services are not part of the general package of health coverage afforded to EU citizens.
Where many patients might also have to wait long lines for care in their home countries, the Spanish system is able to assist quickly and offer quality care without the wait. Those arriving from outside Europe also find that current technologies and high-quality medical care is available at excllent savings compared with the US. Many expatriates head for destinations across Spain to have their medical attended, even despite the fact that the US government coverage (Medicare) does not offer reimbursement for services received outside the US. The most common procedures accessed in Spain are hip replacements and coronary bypasses, while cosmetic and obesity surgery and dental treatments are also popular there.
The complexities of Visa planning are not an issue in Spain. If you have a valid passport and a normal casual traveler, you need not pay for advance visas, as one must do in mainland China or other locations. Because the Spanish system is so universal and inclusive, promotion of medical tourism is not as prevalent as in other countries such as India and Thailand. Those who come to Spain for medical care can walk into any hospital and will receive the same level of service as they would in many other international hospitals which have been designed specifically as businesses to increase economic growth and target rich medical tourists. Many hospitals will organize your trip for you, from flights and accommodation to post hospital care and recuperation vacations. This eliminates extra charges and/or commissions for independent facilitators, and may point to one fo the reasons for the less frequent promotion by independent facilitators who market via the Internet.
As an example, Grupo Hospital de Madrid is a nationally recognized, award-winning healthcare provider and the biggest private hospital organization serving the residents of the Autonomous Community of Madrid, Spain. With more than 900 professionals, the Group owns four hospitals with a total of 669 tertiary acute care beds. Hospital de Madrid’s mission is to offer state-of-the-art health care to patients, based on personalized and humanized attention given by health professionals with top clinical skills and supported by the best technical advances. This particular hospital is the first in Spain to offer Laser Assisted Liposuction with SmartLipo MPX.
An interesting feature in Spanish Hospitals is their transparency in quality data. They publish it on the hospital websites for all to see.
