The dramatic recent changes in market demand for foreign medical services among US hospitals (“medical tourism”) highlight the need for a comprehensive reevaluation of U.S. international healthcare strategy. First Covid, then geopolitical disruptions, then immigration restrictions – it’s a coup-contra-coup injury to IPS departments throughout the country. These disruptions make exigent the need to shift from a narrow focus on medical tourism (the movement of patients across borders for treatment) toward a more diversified, resilient approach encompassing all four modes of health services trade defined by the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS).

This reframing is driven by the realization that US hospitals engaging in the treatment of foreign patients are encountering volatility in global markets, rising political and economic uncertainty, and intensifying competition—not just from traditional rivals, but also from countries previously considered source markets, which are now investing in their domestic capacity and promoting themselves as destinations for medical travelers.