ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a review of the state of medical travel at a global scale and the ways in which academic research has grappled with some of the main issues concerning travel and the delivery of care, and outlines some gaps and areas for future research. The financing of travel might also generate particular medical travel flows as some patients might be paying for procedures out of pocket, while others might be sent abroad by their own governments with all expenses paid. Availability of treatment or procedures also plays a role in decisions to engage in medical travel. One of the guiding assumptions of medical travel is the inevitable development of this industry as a result of globalization, where health is not seen as a public good, but as a commodity that can be managed through international trade agreements.
