Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1 Health Services Administration, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Faculty of Management and Medical Information, Isfahan, Iran
2 Student Research Committee
Abstract
Introduction: Medical tourism for any study area is complex. Materials and Methods: Using
full articles from other databases, Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), Science Direct,
Emerald, Oxford, Magiran, and Scientific Information Database (SID), to examine systematically
published articles about medical tourism in the interval 2000-2011 paid. Articles were obtained
using descriptive statistics and content analysis categories were analyzed. Results: Among the
28 articles reviewed, 11 cases were a kind of research articles, three cases were case studies
in Mexico, India, Hungary, Germany, and Iran, and 14 were case studies, review documents
and data were passed. The main topics of study included the definition of medical tourism,
medical tourists’ motivation and development of medical tourism, ethical issues in medical
tourism, and impact on health and medical tourism marketing. Conclusion: The findings
indicate the definition of medical tourism in various articles, and medical tourists are motivated.
However, most studies indicate the benefits of medical tourism in developing countries and
more developed countries reflect the consequences of medical tourism.
Keywords
Manage 2006;27:1093‑100.
2. Caballero‑Danell S, Mugomba C. Medical tourism and its
entrepreneurial opportunities: A conceptual framework for entry
into the industry. Rapport nr: Master Thesis 2006;91:2007.
3. Rerkrujipimol J, Assenov I. Medical tourism in Thailand and its
marketing strategies. Available from: http://www.conference.
phuket.psu.ac.th/PSU_OPEN_WEEK_2008/data/tourism/4_13.
Pdf, [Last accessed on 2008 May 28].
4. Sadr Momtaz N, Agharahimi Z. Medical tourism industry in Iran:
Strategies for development. Health Inf Manag 2011;7(Special Issue
4):524‑30.
5. Ramirez de Arellano AB. Patients without borders: The emergence
of medical tourism. Int J Health Serv 2007;37:193‑8.
6. Bovier P. Medical tourism: A new kind of traveler? Rev Med Suisse
2008;4:1196, 98‑201.
7. Suthin K, Assenov I, Tirasatayapitak A, editors. Medical tourism:
Can supply keep up with the demand. APac‑CHRIE and Asia Pacific
tourism association joint conference 2007. Beijing, China; 2007.
8. Jabbari A. Designing a model for Iran medical tourism [Dissertation].
Tehran: School of Management and Medical Information, Iran
University Medical Sciences, Iran; 2009.
9. Hall CM. Health and medical tourism: A kill or cure for global public
health? Tourism Rev 2011;66:4‑15.
10. Jensen JM. Silver city health tourism in the early Twentieth century
a case study. N M Hist Rev 2009;84:321‑61.
11. Piazolo M, Zanca NA. Medical tourism: A case study for the USA
and India, Germany and Hungary. Acta Polytechnica Hungarica
2011;8:137‑60.
12. Moghimehfar F, Nasr‑Esfahani MH. Decisive factors in medical
tourism destination choice: A case study of Isfahan, Iran and fertility
treatments. Tourism Manage 2011;23:1431‑4.
13. Lunt N, Carrera P. Medical tourism: Assessing the evidence on
treatment abroad. Maturitas 2010;66:27‑32.
14. Turner L. “Medical Tourism” and the global marketplace in health
services: US patients, international hospitals, and the search foraffordable health care. Int J Health Serv 2010;40:443‑67.
15. Cohen E. Medical tourism in Thailand. AU-GSB e-journal;2008;1(1):24-37.
16. Cohen E. Medical tourism in Thailand. Depatment of Socioloy and
Anthropology, The Herbew University of Jerusalem, Los Angeles,
Mount; 2007. p. 24‑37.
17. Hay B. From a medical tourism hospital to a National Health
Service hospitak in eight easy years! A case study of the
Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow. Scotland: Medical Tourism
Conference, January 2010, Centre for Cross Cultural Understanding
Masterclass NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences,
Netherlands.
18. Horowitz MD, Rosensweig JA, Jones CA. Medical tourism:
Globalization of the healthcare marketplace. Med Gen Med
2007;9:33.
19. AI Khalid AK, Sequeira RP, Damanhori AH. Polypharmacy associated
with medical tourism: A critique on drug therapy. Int J Clin Pharm
2011;33:61‑5.
20. Hopkins L, Labonte R, Runnels V, Packer C. Medical tourism today:
What is the state of existing knowledge? J Public Health Policy
2010;31:185‑98.
21. Bauer JC. Medical tourism: Wave of the future in a world of hurt?
Healthc Financ Manage 2009;63:36‑8.
22. Courtney L, Valverde L. Potential impacts of medical tourism on
health care in Costa Rica. Institute de Investigaciones Sociales,
Universidad de Costa Rica, Costa Rica 2010. p. 1‑10.
23. David SM, Zo R, Warren SM. MEDTOUR: A scale for measuring
medical tourism intentions. Tourism Rev 2011;66:45‑56.
24. Unti JA. Medical and surgical tourism: The new world of health care
globalization and what it means for the practicing surgeon. Bull Am
Coll Surg 2009;94:18‑25.
25. Robert SB, Wen‑Tsann Y, Mei‑Tsen L. Sustainable medical tourism
in Costa Rica. Tourism Rev 2011;66:107‑17.
26. Chinai R, Goswami R. Medical visas mark growth of Indian medical
tourism. Bull World Health Organ 2007;85:164‑5.
27. Tomas M, Vincent P, Herman M. The discourse of medical tourism
in the media. Tourism Rev 2011;66:31‑44.
28. Hazarika I. Medical tourism: Its potential impact on the health
workforce and health systems in India. Health Policy Plan
2010;25:248‑51.
29. Weiss EM, Spataro PF, Kodner IJ, Keune JD. Banding in Bangkok,
CABG in Calcutta: The United States physician and the growing
field of medical tourism. Surgery 2010;148:597‑601.
30. Birch DW, Vu L, Karmali S, Stoklossa CJ, Sharma AM. Medical
tourism in bariatric surgery. Am J Surg 2010;199:604‑8.
31. Rad NF, Som AP, Zainuddin Y. Service quality and patients’
satisfaction in medical tourism. World Appl Sci J 2010;10:24‑30.
32. Snyder J, Crooks V, Turner L. Issues and challenges in research
on the ethics of medical tourism: Reflections from a conference.
J Bioeth Inq 2011;8:3‑6.
33. Gopal R, editor. The key issues and challenges in medical tourism
sector in India (A Hospital perspective). Conference on Tourism in
India – Challenges Ahead, 15‑17 May 2008, IIMK. p. 331‑5.
34. Ching‑Chi L, Hilary du C, Tze Ngai V. Macao’s potential for developing
regional Chinese medical tourism. Tourism Rev 2011;66:68‑82.
35. Piazolo M, Zanca N, editors. The Economics of medical tourism
a case study for the USA and India. Keleti Faculty of Economics,
Óbuda University, India; 2010.