Medical tourism is a term that denotes the practice of providing medical services outside the country of residence, combining holidays abroad with obtaining highly qualified medical care. Medical tourism does not necessarily involve the receipt of medical services in another country.

At present, the global market of medical services with its infrastructure (medical management, accreditation bodies, medical tourism agencies and tour operators, specialists in medical travel) has already been formed. Even in a financial crisis, medical tourism is developing and has an increasing impact on national health systems and the activities of insurance companies, which increasingly prefer to pay for treatment of clients to foreign clinics. In the context of global economic competition, the phenomenon of medical tourism makes medicine develop at a rapid pace due to modern technologies and better patient care.