There is a risk factor involved in any surgery whether one undergoes such a procedure in the home country or travels to other countries. As a medical tourist, one may think, how risk factors associated with health care in developing countries can be reduced. It is true that developing countries may not have enough regulations or enough enforcement of regulations. It may also be the case that hospitals in medical tourism destinations may have different standards for patient care. Now a medical tourist has lot of choices across the globe.

Here are some ideas, how one can reduce the risk associated with medical tourism.

• First and foremost, talk to your doctor in the home country to make sure that you are healthy enough to travel to get needed medical procedure.

• There are lot of options available now, search for a hospital in the country/countries of your choice, you may use TourNCare's Find Hospital feature where you can search by specialty and country.

• Verify if a chosen hospital is accredited by Joint Commission International

• Joint Commission International accredited first hospital 10 years ago and it is internationally respected organization.

• To read more about international accreditations and how a hospital is accredited, please read this wiki pedia article.

• Having a medical facilitator always helps, if you are going through a medical facilitator, ask them if it is possible to talk to few patients, some patients may be kind enough to talk to you(it may be tough because of confidentiality issues, but it does not hurt to ask).

• Check if TourNCare has any members who underwent the similar procedure you need to get or had been to the country you are considering for medical tourism, read their experiences, ask them a question.

• Choose a country close to your culture, speaks your language and if possible to home country. Less time in flight means less risk of clots.

• If possible, pick a time when the weather in the destination country is most suitable for you.

• Get all the vaccinations needed for destination country before you travel.

• Make sure that you have at least one person close to you is accompanying you, preferably physically fit enough to help you and exposed to other cultures and countries and provide you with needed emotional support.

• Be flexible in your vacation plans, plan to stay longer if needed, a open ticket may be a good choice.

• Read about latest happenings in the country you are visiting and any travel advisory. Read about any travel warnings published by U.S state department.

• Drink only bottled water bought in a reputable store when you are outside the hospital and avoid any food sold on streets or in ordinary restaurants.

• Check with the hospital what kind of latest technology do they use for any follow up with doctor or surgeon like web meetings etc.. after you are discharged from hospital.

• If you are covered by some kind of insurance, they may have an agreement with one or more hospitals in the country of your choice, insurance companies in general only pay for medical treatment availed in a hospital accredited by organizations like Joint Commission.