Medical Tourism Industry : Its Framework and Impact on the Global Healthcare (original) (raw)
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MEDICAL TOURISM IN GEORGIA: CURRENT BARRIERS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
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Medical Tourism Industry Challenges In The Context Of Globalization
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Medical tourism is not a new concept, even though there is still no international consensus on the name of this phenomenon that is manifesting itself for thousands of years. It is defined by moving patients in various countries to obtain medical care and combined with certain tourist facilities. Increased flow of patients seeking treatment abroad is a global phenomenon linked to economic growth which generates income revenue and a high level of education. Internationally, medical tourism increases by 20% per year, global market for medical tourism at present is estimated to be about 100 billion dollars. This study tries to highlight a conceptual analysis of medical tourism, the targeting of medical tourism flows and major destinations and the proposed tourism development strategies based on the experience of several countries medical.
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Medical tourism is a modern concept, but not a new tourism practice. Even there is still no international consent on the definitions and measurement of this trend, its importance in the development of a tourism destination started to be taken into consideration. In accordance with tourism segment classification depending on journey reasons recommended by World Tourism Organization, one of the main groups is for "medical treatment/health". Being part of health tourism, medical tourism is often called medical travel because it includes the act of travelling to different countries for medical reasons. An increasing significant element in medical service trade is patient circulation at cross-border level with a view to obtaining necessary health services; this circulation generated a new phenomenon, namely medical tourism. Studying the scientific literature we find new medical tourism trends in connection with globalization and liberalization. The countries that decided to promote this niche tourism are aware of the huge economic benefits brought by this. Analyzing published data by tourism medical organizations associated to indicators of economic development, we find two aspects: the success of a medical tourism destination is influenced by the economical level of the receiving countries, but, at the same time, it is also a growth factor for developing economies if it is included in their national strategy. We intend to find the answer of several questions: trends in medical tourism development are involving only medical service trade, or a combination of specific activities of many sectors? Is the medical tourism acting in favor of developing economies? This study aims to notice the development trends of the medical tourism based on the published figures and on the experience of major destinations and to highlight the importance of the medical tourism for the developing economies.
The Current Trends And Opportunities In The Industry Of Medical Tourism
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The industry of medical tourism is a non-regulated domain and due to this, it has certain risks. The existing information is variable and fluctuating because there is no unique trustworthy authority that could provide information. The travels performed with the aim to benefit from medical services are not something new but they manifest within a new, growing and globalized context. The aim of this study is to identify the current status of Romanian Health Tourism in the light of the data collected from the specialised bodies, to evaluate the developments and to make recommendations on what should be done in the future. The study is supported by a general analysis of the literature in the field of medical tourism. The study integrated policy analysis, desk-based work, and economic analysis to estimate preliminary costs. The results obtained highlight Romania’s advantages on this special market – of the medical tourism, the activities that need to be performed for a better visibi...
MEDICAL TOURISM IN GLOBAL MARKET
In a global economy, medical tourism gets increasingly into spotlight. It represents a state when people living in one country travel abroad to receive a medical, dental, surgical or aesthetic care. Several various organizations, like Medical Tourism Index or Medical Tourism Association, engage in medical tourism by assessing top destinations for medical tourism, thus helping patients to choose on the basis of various indicators. The area of medical tourism in a global economy becomes an attractive business, especially for countries able to offer equal or better quality of health care for a smaller price. Free movement of goods and services, under the auspices of the World Trade Organization and its General Agreement on Trade in Services, has accelerated the liberalization of trade in medical services. Therefore, medical services have become more tradable and mobility of cross-frontier patients has increased, causing the term " medical tourism " to emerge after this agreement. The paper Medical Tourism in Global Market will address analysing the present state of tourism for health care and also anticipated future development, considering this area of business now worth 439 billion US dollars with 25 percent growth anticipated in next ten years. According to findings of Oxford Economics and VISA, it is expected that, alongside medical tourism, other sectors beside health care will grow – e.g. 340 new international airports in a period of decades, while the market of medical tourism can grow up to 3 trillion dollars by 2025.
Identification of Factors for the Development of Medical Tourism in the World
International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 2021
The overall objective of the given paper was to study the relationship of inbound medical tourism destinations with international tourism, economic development of recipient countries, the development of national healthcare systems and the institutional features of their environment, in terms of protection of the rights and freedoms of both business and citizens. In order to achieve this objective, the authors used methods of grouping, as well as correlation and regression analysis. The conducted study revealed that the formation of medical tourism destinations in countries with high social and economic development occurs in a balanced and unidirectional manner; simultaneously, one can see that the countries with “new economic development” form a sufficiently powerful and competitive market for medical tourism. All these countries have one thing in common: namely, there is a link between medical tourism and healthcare funding, international tourism and development of political and ci...
Background: Medical tourism is now targeted by many hospitals and governments worldwide for further growth and investment. Southeast Asia provides what is perhaps the best documented example of medical tourism development and promotion on a regional scale, but interest in the practice is growing in locations where it is not yet established. Numerous governments and private hospitals in the Caribbean have recently identified medical tourism as a priority for economic development. We explore here the projects, activities, and outlooks surrounding medical tourism and their anticipated economic and health sector policy implications in the Caribbean country of Jamaica. Specifically, we apply Pocock and Phua’s previously-published conceptual framework of policy implications raised by medical tourism to explore its relevance in this new context and to identify additional considerations raised by the Jamaican context. Methods: Employing case study methodology, we conducted six weeks of qualitative fieldwork in Jamaica between October 2012 and July 2013. Semi-structured interviews with health, tourism, and trade sector stakeholders, on-site visits to health and tourism infrastructure, and reflexive journaling were all used to collect a comprehensive dataset of how medical tourism in Jamaica is being developed. Our analytic strategy involved organizing our data within Pocock and Phua’s framework to identify overlapping and divergent issues. Results: Many of the issues identified in Pocock and Phua’s policy implications framework are echoed in the planning and development of medical tourism in Jamaica. However, a number of additional implications, such as the involvement of international development agencies in facilitating interest in the sector, cyclical mobility of international health human resources, and the significance of health insurance portability in driving the growth of international hospital accreditation, arise from this new context and further enrich the original framework. Conclusions: The framework developed by Pocock and Phua is a flexible common reference point with which to document issues raised by medical tourism in established and emerging destinations. However, the framework’s design does not lend itself to explaining how the underlying health system factors it identifies work to facilitate medical tourism’s development or how the specific impacts of the practice are likely to unfold.
Medical Tourism – Health Care in the Global Economy
Explore the growing trend of medical tourism where citizens of highly developed countries travel to less developed areas of the world to receive medical care, bypassing services offered in their own communities. Trends Although physician executives are certainly aware that some patients bypass their hospital, clinic or ambulatory surgery center on the way to the airport to have care in other cities, they may be somewhat surprised to learn that an increasing number of patients are traveling to a wide variety of destinations around the world for medical, surgical and dental care. Driven by a number of forces outside typical medical referral systems, these " medical tourists " seek modern health care at affordable prices in countries at variable levels of development. Medical tourism is different from the traditional form of international medical care where patients typically journey from less developed nations to major medical centers in highly developed countries for advanced medical treatment.