That said, investors are still clinging to the promise of big returns fueled by patients losing their health benefits because of high unemployment, the aging population requiring more units of care and exploding costs of healthcare. If you think the medical travel industry is set to explode, there are some areas of investment to consider:

Foreign Healthcare infrastructure

Foreign Travel and hospitality infrastructure

Tools and support companies

Supporting global healthcare insurance and travel products

Firms in the medical travel supply chain

Expatriate retirement health cities and communities

Like other industry sectors, gold, for example, you can invest in the product itself, the people who create the product, or investments that pools risks, like mutual funds or exchange traded funds.

Look for companies in markets where the supply of care does not meet the demands of a growing middle class, that provide products and services delivering low, cost high volume care, and that provide platforms and infrastructure designed to reduce transaction costs for billing and collecting and value-based information.

For example, take continuity of care. By providing global information and communcation technology networks, patients can now get a preoperative consultation and postoperative tele-care wherever and whenever they need it. While in some cases this does not meet the standard of care, in several instances, like cosmetic surgery or procedures that involve mostly postoperative wound care, telemedicine image and data devices are perfectly acceptable to monitor wounds and healing.

BOTTOM LINE: Entrepreneurs will rapidly fill markets in global healthcare referrals and care where there is an unmet need.