The idea of traveling around the world for medical treatment has captured much attention and imagination. As the debate on health care reform heats up in the United States, few weeks go by without a story about an under- or uninsured patient going to India or Thailand for heart surgery or hip replacement. Although medical travelers have many motives, lower-cost procedures and discretionary cosmetic operations represent only small segments. Most of these people seek the world’s most advanced technology, better quality, or quicker access to medical care.

To create a rigorous and credible fact base about the nascent medical-travel market, McKinsey studied more than 20 medical-travel destinations; analyzed primary data on the number, type, and origin of medical travelers; and conducted interviews with providers, patients, and intermediaries in 20 countries. We place the current market at 60,000 to 85,000 inpatient¹ medical travelers a year—numbers far smaller than others have reported.

These smaller numbers hinge in part on our strict definition of medical travelers: people whose primary and explicit purpose in traveling is medical treatment in a foreign country. We excluded from our study patients who receive care on an emergency basis (such as ordinary tourists who become sick), “wellness...