Attracting medical tourists to Canada is a risk, and we need to understand the impact on our health care system before jumping in, argues Dr. Matthew Stanbrook, Deputy Editor, with Dr. John Fletcher, Editor-in-Chief, CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) in an editorial.

"Alarm at the notion of any private component to health care is perhaps a uniquely Canadian perspective, in contrast to the US and Europe, which have long solicited international patients for profit," Stanbrook writes.

Hospitals in Canada are not-for-profit corporations funded mainly by taxes and some charitable donations. Four major teaching hospitals in Toronto, Ontario, have created pilot programs for international patients. Other regions in the country are also considering getting into medical tourism.

"[These programs] have sparked a debate about whether they represent an innovative solution essential to sustaining our hospitals, or usher in the end of single-payer public health care in Canada."

The hospitals argue that these programs offer high-quality health care to patients who cannot receive it in their home countries and help bring in badly needed new revenue.

"If our health care system has the capacity to provide private care to patients, perhaps such capacity should be used to treat Canadians who are waiting for the same interventions," writes Stanbrook. "Medical tourism must not become a mechanism that allows governments to evade their responsibility to fund the health care system adequately and efficiently enough to meet the needs of Canadians."

Stanbrook and Fletcher urge that accurate information is needed to understand the impact of medical tourism and that the Ontario government should commission an independent, transparent high-quality study. Other cities and provinces should be cautious until evidence indicates that medical tourism will not negatively affect health care delivery for Canadians.