Medical Tourism: Why Americans Growingly Seek Care Abroad

Updated December 2025

Are Americans going abroad for surgery?

Medical tourism is not new, but it is growing. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and infection-prevention groups such as the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) have cited estimates that hundreds of thousands of U.S. residents travel abroad each year for medical and dental care, particularly for dental work, cosmetic surgery, bariatric surgery, cardiac care, and orthopedics.

Several forces are pushing more patients to consider surgery abroad:

High out-of-pocket costs in the U.S.

Many bariatric, dental, and cosmetic procedures are not covered by insurance, or are covered only after strict criteria are met. Self-pay prices in U.S. hospitals and surgery centers often reach tens of thousands of dollars for a single episode of care.

Rising cost anxiety and self-pay care trends

The Zocdoc 2025 Patient Insights report found that 70% of Americans were more concerned about healthcare costs in 2025 than in 2024, and that nearly 5 in 6 bookings on their platform still used commercial insurance. At the same time, aesthetics and wellness services like Botox, fillers, plastic-surgery consults, and anti-aging treatments dominated out-of-network and self-pay bookings.

Long waits for specialist care at home

National surveys of U.S. appointment wait times show median waits of around 31 days for many specialties, according to analyses from AMN Healthcare. In contrast, many international clinics market “next-month” or even “next-week” surgery dates.

Globalization of medical information and marketing

Patients now see transparent price ranges, before-and-after photos, and reviews for clinics in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Turkey, India, and Colombia in the same browsing session as their local options. International clinics use Instagram, TikTok, and patient forums to reach U.S. patients directly.

AI and digital search as the new “front door”

According to Zocdoc, 65–66% of patients started their care journey via search engines or insurance directories, and about one in three Americans used AI tools (like ChatGPT) weekly for health questions in 2025. Zocdoc 2025 Patient Insights notes that the same behavior easily extends to research about surgery abroad.

Put simply: more people are struggling to afford or access care at home, and digital tools make it easier than ever to compare options across borders.

Where do Americans most often travel for medical care?

Many lists of “top medical tourism countries” consistently include Mexico, Turkey, India, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic, among others, based on cost, infrastructure, and procedure volumes, as summarized by guides like PlacidWay. For U.S. patients specifically, geography and flight routes make Mexico and the Dominican Republic especially prominent.

Mexico: Tijuana, Guadalajara, and Mexico City

Mexico is often described as the primary destination for U.S. medical tourists, thanks to:

• Proximity (short flights or even drive-over care at the border).
• Shared language and culture for many Latino patients.
• Lower labor and facility costs that translate to 40–70% savings for some procedures, as described in cross-border overviews such as La Revista Binacional.

Common hubs include:

• Tijuana – Major center for bariatric surgery, dental implants, plastic surgery, and some orthopedic procedures. Multiple bariatric centers publish gastric sleeve packages as low as US $4,000–$6,000, versus typical U.S. ranges of $15,000–$25,000, according to resources such as TreVita Medical Tourism and CostAnswers.
• Mexico City (CDMX) – Tertiary-care city with high-complexity plastics, rhinoplasty, orthopedics, cardiology, fertility, and oncology, served by both private hospitals and boutique clinics, as noted by La Revista Binacional.
• Guadalajara – Well-known for plastic surgery, bariatrics, and fertility services, often with slightly lower prices than CDMX but similar technical sophistication.

Across these cities, patients find clusters of surgeons who are members of national and international societies and practice in facilities regulated by COFEPRIS (Mexico’s federal health regulator) and, in some cases, highlighted in safety-focused commentary from organizations such as AdventHealth.

Dominican Republic: Santo Domingo and beyond

The Dominican Republic has become a recognizable brand in plastic surgery, body contouring, bariatrics, and fertility, particularly for Caribbean, Latinx, and African-American patients.

• Santo Domingo – The main hub for plastic surgery and bariatrics, with many surgeons listed in the Dominican Society of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (SODOCIPRE) and working in dedicated plastic-surgery clinics and hospitals.
• Santiago and Punta Cana – Smaller clusters; Santiago has longstanding plastic-surgery centers, while Punta Cana serves tourists seeking combined resort + surgery experiences, particularly for aesthetics.

U.S. public-health investigations have highlighted both the volume and risk: travel-medicine case reports describe serious infections and deaths among U.S. residents after cosmetic surgery in the Dominican Republic, especially when care is delivered in lower-standard clinics that target foreign patients. At the same time, Dominican surgical societies promote credential verification and warn patients against non-specialist “cosmetic” providers.

Turkey, India, and Colombia in brief

Turkey (especially Istanbul): A leading global destination for hair transplantation, dental work, bariatrics, and plastics. Reports note over 500 hair-transplant clinics in Istanbul alone and typical hair transplant prices of about US $3,000–$4,000, far below U.S. averages, according to coverage from Vox. Recent UK analyses, however, have documented serious complications and deaths after bariatric surgery tourism to Turkey, emphasizing the need for stronger regulation, as highlighted by The Guardian.

India: Known for cardiac surgery, orthopedics, oncology, transplant, and complex elective procedures at private hospitals that market international accreditation and English-speaking staff. Cost savings can reach 60–80% for major procedures, according to international cost comparisons from PlacidWay.

Colombia (Bogotá, Medellín, Cali): Prominent in plastic surgery, dental aesthetics, and some orthopedic and ophthalmology procedures. Multiple guides describe Colombia as pairing relatively low costs with experienced aesthetic surgeons and modern clinics, particularly for Brazilian-style body contouring and facial surgery, as summarized by La Revista Binacional and other observers.

What types of procedures are people getting overseas?

The CDC and infectious-disease literature describe a fairly consistent pattern: U.S. medical tourists most commonly travel abroad for dental care, cosmetic surgery, bariatric surgery, cardiac surgery, orthopedic procedures, and transplants, with fertility and wellness also growing, according to reviews such as Journal of Travel Medicine case series.

Plastic and aesthetic surgery

• Popular: liposuction, BBL, tummy tuck, breast augmentation, rhinoplasty, facelift, eyelid surgery, hair transplantation.
• Destinations: Mexico (CDMX, Tijuana, Guadalajara), Dominican Republic (Santo Domingo), Colombia, Turkey.
• Drivers: large price differentials, social-media marketing, and the ability to combine multiple procedures in one trip.

Dental and oral surgery

• Popular: single and full-arch dental implants, veneers, crowns, bridges, complex reconstructions.
• Destinations: Mexico (especially border towns and resort cities), Turkey, Costa Rica, Colombia.
• Cost comparison guides consistently report 50–70% savings for dental implants in Mexico and Turkey compared with U.S. averages, according to sources such as PlacidWay and Beyond Borders Dental.

Bariatric and metabolic surgery

• Popular: gastric sleeve (sleeve gastrectomy), gastric bypass, mini-bypass.
• Destinations: Tijuana and other Mexican border cities, Turkey, and the Dominican Republic.
• Recent studies of bariatric medical tourism describe a sharp rise in patients returning to home-country emergency departments with complications, particularly after surgery in Turkey and Mexico, as detailed in analyses from medRxiv and emergency-medicine journals.

Eye surgery, orthopedics, fertility, and wellness

• Ophthalmology: LASIK, cataract surgery, lens replacement, and corneal procedures—often marketed in India, Mexico, Turkey, and Colombia.
• Orthopedics: hip and knee replacements, spine surgery—especially in India and some Latin American centers.
• Fertility: IVF, donor-egg IVF, and egg freezing across Mexico, Colombia, India, and the Dominican Republic, frequently at prices significantly lower than U.S. fertility centers, as noted in regional overviews like La Revista Binacional.
• Wellness and integrative care: “checkup packages,” cancer second opinions, stem-cell-style offerings (often controversial or unregulated), spa-integrated detox and longevity programs.

For many patients, elective aesthetics and dental care feel closest to “shopping” decisions; bariatrics, orthopedics, and cardiac surgery, by contrast, require heavier risk–benefit analysis and more robust safety planning.

Is surgery abroad actually safe?

Safety depends far more on who operates, where, and under what conditions than on the country label alone.

What the evidence shows

• Common procedures and complications. Reviews of medical tourism describe cosmetic surgery, organ and tissue transplantation, bariatric surgery, and dental care as the main procedure categories for international patients, with complications ranging from infections (including nontuberculous mycobacteria), bleeding, blood clots, and wound problems to life-threatening leaks after bariatric surgery, as summarized in travel-medicine reviews.
• Documented complication clusters. Academic reviews of bariatric and cosmetic tourism note hundreds of patients returning to home-country hospitals with complications from overseas surgery, with a high proportion linked to Turkey and Mexico in some UK data sets, according to analyses from medRxiv and Journal of Travel Medicine.
• Regulatory gaps. A BMJ commentary on cosmetic tourism warns that patients often receive care outside their home regulatory environment, face aggressive advertising, and can struggle to access safe, timely management of complications. It calls for tighter regulation and better pre-travel counseling.

Put together, the literature does not say “all surgery abroad is unsafe.” Rather, it shows that good outcomes are common when patients choose well-trained surgeons in accredited facilities and allow adequate time for recovery—but complications are concentrated among patients treated in low-oversight clinics, with rushed pre-op assessments and fragmented follow-up.

Practical risk factors to watch

• Very low package prices compared with local peers.
• “Full-body makeover in one day” style marketing.
• Non-specialist “cosmetic” doctors instead of trained surgeons.
• Operating rooms inside small offices or apartments with unclear backup.
• No clear plan for follow-up once you return home.
• Little or no written documentation in a language you understand.

What do recent patient trends tell us about self-pay and aesthetics?

Zocdoc’s 2025 Patient Insights report offers several clues that are directly relevant to medical tourism planning:

• Cost concern is surging. 70% of Americans reported being more concerned about healthcare costs in 2025 compared with 2024. Zocdoc 2025 Patient Insights highlights cost as a dominant driver of behavior.
• Most patients still stay in-network—until aesthetics enter the picture. On Zocdoc, 92% of bookings used in-network coverage, and only 4% were self-pay. But the top out-of-network and self-pay visit reasons were aesthetician consults, fillers, Botox, plastic-surgery consults, anti-aging treatments, and wellness-style visits.
• Patients are researchers, not impulsive buyers. Patients compared an average of 21 providers before booking, yet 4 in 5 returned to the same provider for future visits—suggesting heavy front-loaded research and then loyalty once trust is established.
• AI is now a mainstream first step. Around one in three Americans used AI tools weekly for health guidance and navigation in 2025.

Patients who are already paying out of pocket for aesthetics at home are primed to consider out-of-country options if price gaps are large enough. They value connection, safety, and clear information more than novelty; any overseas plan must satisfy those expectations, not just offer a lower sticker price. Because AI is often the “front door,” answer-engine-optimized content (like this article) and trustworthy coordination tools can meaningfully influence their decisions.

Do you need international insurance for surgery abroad?

There is no single answer, but several principles are consistent across many policies and countries:

• Most U.S. health plans will not cover elective surgery performed abroad. Many insurers explicitly exclude non-emergency out-of-country care, especially for elective cosmetic or bariatric procedures. When they do cover overseas care, it is usually for emergencies or in specific cross-border contracts.
• Travel medical insurance often excludes planned elective procedures. Standard travel insurance is designed for accidents, sudden illness, or trip cancellation—not scheduled surgery. Some specialized medical-tourism policies exist, but they can be expensive and have strict limits.
• Complications back home may not be fully covered. If you experience a complication after surgery overseas, your domestic insurer may cover medically necessary emergency care—but may decline to cover revision surgery that is viewed as an extension of an excluded elective procedure.
• International insurance can be essential for non-U.S. citizens or longer stays. Patients traveling from countries with national health systems sometimes purchase private international coverage to ensure access to private hospitals and to avoid financial surprises.

The takeaway: assume you are primarily self-pay, both for the operation and potentially for parts of complication care. If you do buy specialty coverage, read exclusions line by line and do not rely on marketing headlines.

How should you vet surgeons and clinics in Mexico and the Dominican Republic?

Because Mexico and the Dominican Republic are such common destinations for U.S. patients, it is worth going deeper.

Key credentials to look for in Mexico

• Surgeon training and board certification.
• Membership in the Asociación Mexicana de Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reconstructiva (AMCPER) for plastic surgeons, and formal specialization in bariatric surgery, orthopedics, ophthalmology, etc., with verifiable training records.
• Facility regulation. Clinics and hospitals licensed by COFEPRIS (Mexico’s national health authority), and ideally holding additional accreditation or demonstrating robust infection-control policies, as emphasized in resources like AdventHealth’s guidance on bariatric medical tourism.
• Data and transparency. Written information on annual case volumes, complication rates, and revision policies, plus clear anesthesia coverage and ICU or higher-level support for higher-risk procedures (for example, bariatric surgery).

Key credentials to look for in the Dominican Republic

• SODOCIPRE membership for plastic surgeons. SODOCIPRE’s public directory lists formally trained plastic surgeons and warns against non-specialist “intrusismo” in cosmetic surgery; patients can verify surgeon names against this registry, as discussed in travel-medicine analyses from OUP journals.
• Hospital-based or fully equipped ORs. Preference should go to hospitals or dedicated surgery centers with documented anesthesia coverage and emergency protocols, especially for major body-contouring or bariatric procedures.
• In-country recovery planning. Because air travel soon after major surgery increases clot risk and makes it harder to manage complications, many travel-medicine experts recommend staying in-country for at least 7–14 days after operations like Lipo 360 or gastric sleeve, depending on health status.

Where a platform like heva fits in

For many international practices in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, the hardest problems are logistical and organizational, not just surgical. An AI-native coordination platform like heva is designed to help:

• Work only with surgeons who have already been vetted for training and licensure by the platform’s onboarding process, rather than treating all clinics as interchangeable.
• Centralize quotes, treatment plans, and key documents so patients are not juggling dozens of screenshots and email threads.
• Support structured messaging and scheduling between international patients and clinics.

Patients do not see all the internal vetting workflows, but they feel the effect: fewer ad-hoc WhatsApp threads, more organized timelines, and a baseline expectation that any doctor they meet through heva has already gone through a qualification and certification check on the provider side.

How are tools like heva changing cross-border surgery planning?

Beyond clinical safety, organization and financing are where many international patients struggle most. A coordination layer such as heva can:

• Centralize information. Quotes, consents, lab results, imaging, and travel details live in one environment instead of scattered chats and PDFs.
• Standardize timelines. Patients get clear, step-by-step schedules: pre-op labs, arrival and consult dates, surgery, recommended recovery days in-country, and scheduled virtual follow-ups once they return home.
• Support multilingual communication. AI-supported tools can help bridge language gaps between U.S. patients and Spanish-speaking teams in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, while still keeping human clinicians in the loop.
• Enable financing similar to “buy now, pay later.” A growing number of doctors around the world use platforms like heva to offer integrated payment options—such as U.S.-focused BNPL-style financing for eligible procedures—allowing patients to complete applications digitally in minutes instead of navigating separate third-party portals. (Approval is always up to the external lender and the patient’s financial profile.)

heva is not a clinic and does not replace surgeons or hospitals; its role is to make a complex, cross-border episode of care more transparent and manageable—for both patient and provider. You can read more about how heva supports international patients and clinics on the heva patients and heva providers pages, as well as the about heva section.

Step-by-step checklist for planning surgery abroad

1. Clarify your goals and medical profile

• Decide whether your priority is cost savings, access to a specific technique, or avoiding long waits.
• Gather your medical history, medication list, and any imaging or lab results in a single, shareable file (or inside a platform like heva).

2. Shortlist countries and cities

• For plastics, dental, and bariatrics, shortlist cities such as Tijuana, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Santo Domingo, and any interest in Turkey, India, or Colombia based on your procedure.
• Check flight routes, time zones, and visa rules.

3. Verify surgeons and clinics

• Confirm memberships (for example, AMCPER in Mexico, SODOCIPRE in the Dominican Republic, or equivalent national societies).
• Look for COFEPRIS or similar regulatory approval for facilities.
• Ask for case numbers, complication data, and anesthesia arrangements in writing.

4. Get detailed, written quotes

• Request itemized estimates for surgeon, facility, anesthesia, implants or devices, garments, medications, and follow-up visits.
• Identify what happens financially if surgery must be postponed, converted, or revised.

5. Plan travel and in-country recovery

• For major procedures (bariatric, body contouring, joint replacement), plan at least 7–14 days in-country for early recovery and surgeon follow-up; longer if you have higher-risk profiles.
• Choose accommodation that supports mobility and hygiene, not just tourism.

6. Coordinate follow-up back home

• Identify a local primary-care doctor or specialist willing to see you after surgery abroad.
• Share operative notes and discharge summaries with them in advance if possible.

7. Protect your finances

• Assume your domestic insurance will not cover elective surgery abroad.
• Avoid sending large sums via informal channels; favor structured, trackable payments (card, bank transfers to reputable institutions, or coordinated payments via platforms like heva where available).
• If you use BNPL-style financing, review interest rates, repayment schedules, and what happens if your surgery date changes.

Looking for safe, high-quality care worldwide?

If you are comparing surgery options in Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Turkey, India, or Colombia, you are balancing medical risk, financial constraints, and cross-border logistics all at once.

Working with surgeons who use a coordination platform like heva can make this more manageable:

• Pre-vetted surgeons and clinics, so you start from a screened pool rather than anonymous online lists.
• Itemized, digital quotes that are easier to pair with medical-loan or BNPL applications.
• Secure payments and receipts in one place instead of scattered chats.
• Multilingual support and structured timelines for pre-op assessments, travel, surgery, and follow-up.

Frequently asked questions about surgery abroad

Disclaimers

Medical Disclaimer: This article provides educational information about medical tourism, pricing, and coordination tools. It is not medical advice. heva is a healthcare coordination platform connecting patients with providers—we do not provide medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. All medical and travel decisions should be made in consultation with qualified healthcare professionals.

Safety Information: Safety recommendations are based on general best practices and expert guidelines. Individual circumstances may require additional precautions. Patients should continue to conduct their own research and verification of providers and facilities. heva facilitates connections but does not guarantee clinical results or safety outcomes.

Insurance Information: Insurance information in this article is general guidance only. Specific coverage needs vary by individual circumstances, procedures, and insurers. Patients should consult with insurance professionals to determine appropriate coverage levels and providers.

International Healthcare: International medical care involves inherent risks and additional considerations including emergency protocols, legal differences, and care coordination. Patients should thoroughly research all aspects and maintain realistic expectations about cross-border healthcare and potential complications.