Puerto Rico News: Island Touting Itself As Medical Tourism Destination

On Tuesday Puerto Rico released a new strategy to present itself as no longer just a typical tropical island, but a medical tourism destination. Puerto Rico plans to focus on attracting the Hispanic population of the Caribbean, and the East Coast of the United States with services such as dental treatment, liposuction and other weight loss surgeries. The most appealing aspect of Puerto Rico becoming a medical tourism destination is the discounted price tag, the island is offering this services at prices as much as 60% lower than prices in the continental United States.

"Puerto Rico has a privileged situation in this market," said the secretary of Economic Development and Trade, Alberto Baco. During the presentation, Puerto Rican officials stated that the plan to become a medical tourism destination began to develop after commissioning a study, which concluded with positive results. The study revealed that medical costs on the island are between 40% and 60% lower than in the mainland U.S. In addition to the study, officials revealed that the new industry would produce 3,000 jobs while providing healthcare to nearly 30,000 patients in as quickly as 3 years. In addition to the job growth, Fox News Latino reported that an estimated $200 million in revenue would be gained in that time period.

"It's a new sector in Puerto Rico, which is going to create business: It's going to require more hotels, like those in Bayamón and Manatí, which are receiving many people," Baco said.

But to accomplish all of this, Puerto Rico will first have to draw the attention of potential patients and make itself known as a comparable healthcare destination, if the island is going to be able to compete with Latin America. Though nearly half the cost of healthcare services in the U.S., Puerto Rico’s prices are still above the average found in Latin America. However, the island has a big advantage in terms of being a top of the line medical destination, proximity and training of the U.S. Baco stated that people who travel for medical services are not just looking for a discount, but also high quality care.

"It's true that we're more expensive than Latin America, but we're a U.S. jurisdiction, which means that we offer more security and guarantees," he said. "When you're going to have surgery, your main concern is going to be the training of the doctor," Rivera said. "The majority of our doctors have studied in the U.S. and our hospitals are accredited, and certified by Medicare, just like those in the U.S."