Modern medicine focuses on planning, management and efficiency just as much as it focuses on science and research. Preoperative (pre-op) procedures are an important part of the surgical spectrum as they allow physicians to efficiently manage the treatment process. How are these pre-op procedures handled prior to the arrival of medical tourists in Costa Rica?

In most cases, pre-op procedures are listed on documents that patients review along with their health care professionals in preparation for surgery. The goal is to educate patients and improve the overall treatment by reducing risk and improving efficiency. Depending on the procedure and on the patient, pre-op checklists can be short or lengthy, and they may include diagnostic testing and general advice.

The standardization of pre-op tests and procedures has come under fire in the United States. Patients and advocates feel the “assembly-line effect” when their doctors reach into a filing cabinet and hand them a printed page with dozens of lab tests and ominous warnings about what they should and should not do before surgery. Such lengthy pre-op lists are often criticized as being wasteful in the sense that some items are unnecessary and may have been included just to milk more money out of the insurance companies, which in turn pass on those costs to patients in the form of premiums, deductibles, co-payments, etc.

In Costa Rica, pre-op checklists tend to be significantly shorter in many cases, and they are only standard in principle. Physicians make decisions that are based on the best outcome for the patient according to individual circumstances. When it comes to working with medical tourists, they approach pre-op care differently. Over-treatment and wastefulness for the sake of itemizing medical bills is a serious ethical violation of the rules set by the Colegio de Medicos y Cirujanos (National Board of Physicians and Surgeons in Costa Rica).

Thanks to advances in mobile and Internet cloud technology, some level of counseling, consultation and even diagnostic testing can be performed remotely. Many doctors in Costa Rica embrace technology, but others can be more traditional and prefer to conduct treatment face-to-face, particularly with elective surgery procedures. For prospective medical tourists, the key is to check with their facilitators as to their preferences in treatment style.

Select medical tourism providers in Costa Rica help patients coordinate all facets of treatment, particularly preoperative procedures. Conference calls, handling medical records and pictures, reviewing recent laboratory tests that may have been performed in Canada or the United States; these are all handled by the top health travel facilitators.

There are two important things to keep in mind when preparing for affordable surgical procedures in Costa Rica:

1. Patients should try their best to be in a good physical condition prior to their arrival, especially if they will undergo a procedure that requires general anesthesia. When possible, yoga exercises with plenty of deep breathing are recommended; actually, this recommendation extends to everyone, not just medical tourists in Costa Rica.
2. Patients should also prepare for their return home by coordinating with friends and loved ones. It is mostly ideal to recover and convalesce in Costa Rica, but should some of the convalescence period take place at home, it is important to look into certain comfort details such as making sure the entire home is immaculately clean and fresh upon arrival. Other details to consider: Stocking the fridge and kitchen cabinets with healthy and easy-to-prepare food, set fresh-cut flowers in the bedroom, program a Netflix playlist, arranging for visits from well-wishers, planning a future vacation to Costa Rica (one that does not involve surgery), etc.

See https://drreichesurgeon.com for information on oral pathology and orthognathic surgery
Costa Rica Eye Surgeon – cosmetic, reconstructive, blepharoplasty at CIMA Hospital