Trade in health services is increasingly capturing media and policy attention in CLMV countries. Health services are traded through four modes under the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), including: cross-border supply, consumption abroad, commercial presence, and natural movement of healthcare professionals. These modes provide opportunities for additional revenues for healthcare services providers, retention and repatriation of skilled health workers, increased remittances,

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... s with medical centres outside the region, access to medical technology, equipment, and practices, stimulating private sector innovation, and additional health benefits for local populations. However, they also pose threats with respect to such issues as malpractice, cracks of domestic regulation, unsecured confidentiality of medical information, exploitation of foreign health workers, equity and brain drain. This paper reviews the current trade patterns of healthcare services and identifies barriers to these patterns, which include perceived quality of health workers, mutual recognition of professional credentials, non-portability of insurance coverage, lack of standards for electronic medical records, concerns about patients' privacy and confidentiality, and difficulties in cross-jurisdictional malpractice liability.