Globalization of Health Care
Principles of International Business (BUS301.90)
Post University

Abstract For leaders in business and those few economic elite members, globalization is virtuous. Low-cost labor overseas facilitates production facilities in locations where labor and healthcare costs are low, and sell the finished goods in nations where wages are high. With the exception of the United States, almost all wealthy nations provide universal health care. These provisions are challenging due to increasing costs, as well as social, political, economic, and cultural environments.
Globalization of Health Care Numerous global industries have resulted in offshore operations; the medical industry has become not dissimilar. With modern developments in technology in recent years, outsourcing of medical procedures has become a reality. The internet has vastly expanded the realm of possibilities for the medical industry, and has made it possible to transmit large amounts of information to countries; such as India, where it is then processed and returned. The United States has some of the highest costs for medical care globally; which has led to its’ citizens to search for economic alternatives. Outsourcing medical procedures to medical professionals in nations with lesser pay would undoubtedly benefit consumers; however, the United States holds a higher standard of care than those where treatment standards may not take precedence. This process would then take some control out of the hands of consumers. An article produced by the Dean of Harvard School of Public Health states, “careful regulations on access to prescription antibiotic drugs in one country, for example, may be subverted when its neighbors allow the unrestricted purchase of antibiotics” (Frenk, 2014). Frenk later goes on to give another example of how, “American citizens from all over the