InterContinental Hotels Group and the Medical Tourism Association (MTA) are joining forces to help international patients who travel to Latin America for medical care. This is the association's first initiative into Latin America with a major international hotel company.

The program helps Americans traveling overseas for medical care find accommodations in brand-name hotels where they will be comfortable, according to Jonathan Edelheit, MTA president. “Medical tourists travel to Latin America for lower costs and high-quality healthcare; they don't need to sacrifice one to get the other,” says Edelheit.

Patients and insurance companies looking for ways to manage healthcare costs have drastically increased medical-related travel to the area. The alliance helps patients arrange for medical care, airport pick-up, transportation and pre- and post-procedure hotel rooms for patients and families.

The program, which links some of the top medical insurance companies in the U.S., offers special rates and packages from IHG hotels, airlines, doctors and some of the region's best hospitals. A growing number of Americans travel to Latin America for plastic surgery, joint replacement, heart-bypass surgery and dental procedures.

Panama, Costa Rica and Brazil offer topflight facilities, like the Clinica Biblica Hospital in Cost Rica and Panama's Hospital Punta Pacifica.