Bottom line up front: The sweet spot is high-ticket, moderate-to-long recovery procedures — the dollar savings are large enough that travel costs barely dent the total, even on a two-to-three week trip.
| Category | Typical net savings after travel costs |
|---|---|
| Cardiac surgery | Very high — largest dollar gap of any category |
| Joint replacement (knee/hip) | High |
| IVF (per cycle) | High |
| Spinal fusion | High |
| BBL / cosmetic surgery | Moderate to high |
| Dental implants (multiple) | Moderate to high |
| Single dental crown or LASIK | Lower, but still typically positive |
Why higher-ticket procedures win this comparison
Travel and lodging costs are largely fixed regardless of procedure cost — a $1,500 flight-and-lodging package barely moves the needle against a $20,000 savings gap on cardiac surgery, but represents a much larger share of a $600 savings gap on a single dental crown.
Where to go deeper
See colombiamedical.co for the full procedure-by-procedure cost comparison, and colombianivf.com specifically for fertility-cycle savings math.
The Takeaway
If you're deciding whether medical tourism is worth it for a specific procedure, the size of the base savings gap — not the percentage — is the number that should drive your decision.