Medical tourism embracing cryptocurrencies

Medical institutions, mostly in countries like United States, Canada, and some parts of Europe, are starting to accept cryptocurrencies, the most famous example being Bitcoin, as a form of payment.

Cryptocurrencies are defined as “digital currencies that operate independently of a central financial institution and use encryption methods to regulate the generation of currency units and confirm the transfer of funds between users,” according to Medical Tourism Magazine.

For a safe virtual payment, the technology implements ‘blockchain’, a record that authenticates the transfer of currency publicly.

“The protected nature of blockchains has the potential to be a superior way to access healthcare throughout the world,” said Peter Sasaki, a managing member of CGS Associates and an expert in cryptocurrency and blockchain technology to Medical Tourism Magazine. “It’s not just about the price and potential appreciation of a cryptocurrency. It’s more about the security available because of blockchains.”

Besides medical institutions, many individual medical providers have also started accepting cryptocurrencies, such as Columbus Medical Center, located in Columbus, Georgia, and Northorthopaedics, a Lithuanian clinic.

Another medical provider is Vinci Hair Clinic in London, who decided to embrace cryptocurrencies as it has helped solve certain shortcomings with international transactions for both the patients and service provider. For example, the Bitcoin can be converted to the British Pound (GBP) almost immediately.

“We have had customers who faced problems with fund transfers due to currency and banking restrictions. We have had to cancel surgeries because clients were not able to transfer funds to the UK in time,” Ken Fryer, the clinic’s spokesperson, told Medical Tourism Magazine.

With the use of cryptocurrency and blockchain technology, healthcare has become affordable, convenient, and secure for patients across the world. It has also helped lower the costs of quality healthcare by eradicating currency exchange rates between countries, especially for medical tourists from less developed countries.

Due to these benefits, cryptocurrency and blockchain technology will continue to be utilised by medical tourists to send payments.

This story was originally published in the Global Health and Travel issue of August-September 2018.