The Medical Tourism Industry

Medical Tourism: A Boon for Healthcare industry

Introduction

Medical tourism, a new phenomenon, is the future of health services. It is the ultimate out-sourcing in international business (Lee & Spisto, 2007; Marlowe & Sullivan, 2007; Nath, 2007; Horowitz & Rosensweig, 2007).

Medical tourism involves travel for the purpose of receiving medical, dental, or surgical care (Medical Tourism Association), and represents a rapidly growing market within the healthcare, tourism, and hospitality industries. Medical travelers are motivated to seek care outside of their area of residence by many factors, including more advanced technology, quicker access, higher quality of care, or lower costs for care in the destination locality (Ehrbeck,Guevara, & Mango,

Statement of Objective

This thesis will explore recent research which challenges common myths and misconceptions about the market for medical tourism. Current global trends affecting the industry and trends within the industry will be explored in order to identify some of the risks and opportunities facing medical tourism destinations and providers. Cases and examples will be provided to demonstrate some of the factors which have led to successful medical tourism destinations, and to demonstrate how medical tourism providers are solving some of the current problems facing the industry today.

The research objectives of this thesis are:

1) to determine the primary factors that motivate foreign patients to travel abroad for medical services;

2) to define the role that stakeholders play for developing the medical tourism sector;

India, which is targeting several markets in the Middle East and North America, is attempting to dominate the global medical tourism market by offering international patients intensive medical treatments including hip replacements, open heart surgery, laser eye surgery, and other advanced medical services (Connell, 2 2006). As a result of this, India has predicted that revenues from the medical tourism sector will exceed $2 billion, making it the best medical tourism destination in the global market in terms of advanced medical technology and skilled doctors (Connell, 2006)

With this increasing globalization of medical tourism services come some significant questions: what are the factors that play a primary role for motivating patients to travel abroad searching for adequate medical services? What are the roles of stakeholders to develop a medical tourism sector? And what are the main drivers for developing a sustainable medical tourism facility? Answering these questions is vital for the research to describe further the development of medical