Best medical care

[GTM]

Alot of posts regarding health care premiums but what about the heath care itself.
Do you think the quality of health care and doctors is determined by location.

Are MD's at John Hopkins or NY Hospital generally better than doctors in a small town in the midwest. If so why?
If you need surgery would you feel comfortable going outside the US (with costs not being a factor).

I hear health care is excellent in Panama, Costa Rica, Argentina but it is also cheap.
I have to wonder if the hospitals have the equipment and facilities that US hospitals have and the doctors are trained at the same medical schools how can costs be so low.
It cannot be all because of malpractice insurance in the US can it.

 

[astromeria]

It cannot be all because of malpractice insurance in the US can it.

Of course not! Anyhow, I expect there's a bell curve representing medical competence--not sure if it skews higher in major metropolitan areas. If it does, my guess is that severely incompetent doctors don't last as long when interfacing with more of their brethren as they do in urban hospitals/practice groups. Presumably the curve skews higher for research skills at major hospitals, but that's not identical to clinical skills.

Whether the "average" foreign doctor is equivalent to their American counterpart, I don't know, but I bet plenty of them are better than the average American doctor. My husband was impressed with the doctor he saw in Delhi (who came to our hotel room), and I was impressed with the pharmacists I saw in France and Italy. I have no problem seeking medical care abroad.

 

[thefed]

I know a girl who flew to Guatemala to get butt cheek implants. And although I havent given them an intimate inspection, it looks like they did a mighty fine job!

 

[Leonidas]

One of my uncle's lived in Mississippi and when he finally reached the point that he could retire he found out that he had unknowingly had diabetes for years. His kidneys were shot and he had to take regular dialysis treatments which required a fistula implant to provide the hookup to the dialysis machine.

A few months after the surgery they traveled to another state so my aunt could visit her college roomate. He had made arrangments to get dialysis there but there were complications with his fistula and he went to the hospital to get it remedied. The doctors decided on immediate surgery to replace the device.

During consultation the surgeon noted that the fistula was a recent implant and asked my uncle how long he had been back in the United States and what country had he lived in when the device was implanted. The doctor was incredulous when told the work had been done in Mississippi and said that he was certain it had been done in some third world country because the particular device/procedure had not been used in this country in a decade or more.

My uncle used to tell that story and laugh about what he told the surgeon. "Doc, I love my home state but I have to admit that progress tends to come a little slower there."

 

[REWahoo]

The doctor was incredulous when told the work had been done in Mississippi and said that he was certain it had been done in some third world country because the particular device/procedure had not been used in this country in a decade or more.

DOG51, are you listening?

Better check around to see if an improved medical device is on the market other than what your doc has been treating you with. No doubt they've developed an advanced varitey of hybrid leech by now.

 

[justin]

I would definitely take my chances with those top hospitals in India, Thailand, Mexico, etc. before I would take my chances with rural hospitals in America (even ignoring the cost savings).

Of course if you need emergency medical care, you take what you can get.