Medical tourism

Provides an outline of the current research around medical tourism, especially its impact on Australians. Background Medical tourism is a burgeoning industry in our region. It involves patients traveling outside of their home country for medical treatment. Objective This article provides an outline of the current research around medical tourism, especially its impact on Australians. Discussion Patients are increasingly seeking a variety of medical treatments abroad, particularly those involving cosmetic surgery and dental treatment, often in countries in South-East Asia. Adverse events may occur during medical treatment abroad, which raises medico-legal and insurance issues, as well as concerns regarding follow-up of patients. General practitioners need to be prepared to offer advice, including travel health advice, to patients seeking medical treatment abroad. &nbsp

Why do patients engage in medical tourism?

Medical tourism is commonly perceived and popularly depicted as an economic issue, both at the system and individual levels. The decision to engage in medical tourism, however, is more complex, driven by patients¿ unmet need, the nature of services sought and the manner by which treatment is accessed. In order to beneficially employ the opportunities medical tourism offers, and address and contain possible threats and harms, an informed decision is crucial. This paper aims to enhance the current knowledge on medical tourism by isolating the focal content of the decisions that patients make. Based on the existing literature, it proposes a sequential decision-making process in opting for or against medical care abroad, and engaging in medical tourism, including considerations of the required treatments, location of treatment, and quality and safety issues attendant to seeking care. Accordingly, it comments on the imperative of access to health information and the current regulatory environment which impact on this increasingly popular and complex form of accessing and providing medical care

Medical Malpractice Overseas: The Legal Uncertainty Surrounding Medical Tourism

Mirrer-Singer explores some of the legal uncertainty surrounding medical tourism specifically in ways medical tourists can seek relief in US courts for malpractice committed abroad and explains why courts probably lack jurisdiction over foreign physicians who have allegedly committed malpractice. Among other things, he discusses theories under which US firms in the medical-tourism business could be held liable for the foreign provider\u27s negligence

How much for your kidney? The rise of the global transplant tourism industry

The term 'Transplant Tourism' is becoming commonly used to describe any form of travel that serves in the attainment of new organs; this practice is utterly condemned by the medical community and the World Health Organisation. Medical Tourism involves tourists travelling to, 'obtain medical, dental and surgical care while simultaneously being holidaymakers' (Connell, 2006, p. 1094). British Medical Journal (2008) highlights that Medical Tourism is a billion dollar industry, where companies advertise health services and attract patients for a fraction of the price they would have paid at home (Turner, 2008a). However, the typically legitimate Medical Tourism industry's reputation is being tarnished by its association with Transplant Tourism. Human organs used in transplantation can be obtained in two ways: live organ donation or cadaveric organ procurement (Lamb, 1990). In general, recipients prefer having living donor transplants over deceased ones, as the former offer them a better chance of survival (Steinberg, 2004). There is a worldwide struggle to meet the demand for organs; the gap between supply and demand has stimulated global organ trade and transplant tourism. Transplant Tourism has been overlooked within tourism literature and hoping to begin a debate, this note investigates the concept of Transplant Tourism, outlining why it cannot, in general, be considered a legitimate part of the Medical Tourism industry

Key drivers of medical tourism in Malaysia / Suseela Devi Chandran ... [et al.]

Globalization has transformed medical tourism into a booming revenue generating industry in many Southeast Asian (SEA) countries. One of the sub-sectors of tourism that contributed significantly towards their economic development was medical tourism. Medical tourism has attracted medical tourists from other parts of the world to the SEA region seeking medical attention and care. Among the SEA countries that are sought after for medical tourism in Malaysia. Medical tourism is rapidly expanding niche area and Malaysia has successfully claimed its position as one of the most preferred medical tourism destinations. The country has now emerged as the 3rd preferred medical tourism destination among SEA nations that offers competitive medical care and facilities. Thus, the objective of this paper is to examine the key drivers behind the impressive landscape of medical tourism development in Malaysia. This paper offers a discussion on the development of medical tourism in Malaysia based on the globalization theory that underpins this study. How globalization acts as a catalyst towards the development of medical tourism in Malaysia is also discussed in this paper

Health Equity Impacts of Medical Tourism in the Caribbean: The Need to Provide Actionable Guidance Regarding Balancing Local and Foreign Interests

Medical tourism is a practice where individuals cross international borders with the intention of privately purchasing healthcare. Caribbean countries are increasingly entering into the medical tourism market, which presents both opportunities and dangers. Our previous fieldwork shows that medical tourism requires host countries to balance the interests of private developers and domestic actors, including those accessing healthcare locally. Discussions with stakeholders in Jamaica, Cayman Islands, Barbados and St Lucia demonstrate concrete instances of this problem. Firstly, medical tourism can enhance training and employment opportunities for domestic health-workers. In doing so, it may exacerbate the inequitable distribution of these workers between the public and private sectors. Secondly, the expansion of private medical services can provide locals with more care options. These facilities may also crowd out existing local operators and price out local consumers. Thirdly, medical tourism is hailed as potentially cross subsidizing and strengthening the local public health system. It may also heighten health inequities and distract local attention from the needs of the public health sector. Caribbean stakeholders are aware of the promise and dangers of medical tourism. However, they lack clear advice from medical tourism researchers about how to navigate these issues, and specifically balancing local and foreign interests. We call on researchers to shift focus from highlighting the theoretical problems associated with medical tourism to providing concrete guidance to stakeholders in a position to decide whether or not to pursue medical tourism development and to shape this development when it takes place

Understanding the Impacts of Medical Tourism on Health Human Resources in Barbados: A Prospective, Qualitative Study of Stakeholder Perceptions

Background Medical tourism is a global health practice where patients travel internationally with the intention of receiving medical services. A range of low, middle, and high income countries are encouraging investment in the medical tourism sector, including countries in the Caribbean targeting patients in North America and Europe. While medical tourism has the potential to provide economic and employment opportunities in destination countries, there are concerns that it could encourage the movement of health workers from the public to private health sector. Methods We present findings from 19 semi-structured interviews with stakeholders across the public health care, private health care, government, allied business, and civil society sectors. These interviews were conducted in-person in Barbados and via phone. The interview transcripts were coded and a thematic analysis developed. Results Three themes were identified: 1) Stakeholder perceptions of the patterns and plans for health human resource usage by current and planned medical tourism facilities in Barbados. We found that while health human resource usage in the medical tourism sector has been limited, it is likely to grow in the future; 2) Anticipated positive impacts of medical tourism on health human resources and access to care in the public system. These benefits included improved quality control, training opportunities, and health worker retention; and 3) Anticipated negative impacts of medical tourism on health human resources and access to care in the public system. These impacts included longer wait times for care and a shift in planning priorities driven by the medical tourism sector. Conclusions Stakeholders interviewed who were connected to medical tourism expansion or the tourism sector took a generally positive view of the likely impacts of medical tourism on health human resources in Barbados. However, stakeholders associated with the public health system and health equity expressed concern that medical tourism may spread inequities in this country. The mechanisms by which observed negative health equity impacts in other countries will be avoided in Barbados are unclear. Continued study in Barbados and comparison with the regulatory frameworks in other countries is needed to help enhance positive and mitigate negative impacts of medical tourism on health human resources in Barbados. These findings will likely have import for other Caribbean nations investing in medical tourism and beyond

The Determinants of the Medical Tourism Supply Chain of Thailand

The present study emphasized the integration of medical tourism supply chain   practices among organizations, its antecedents as well as consequences in the medical tourism industry. The study has used the survey-based methodology and employed SEM-PLS as a statistical tool to answer the research questions raised in the study. The findings of this study confirmed the significance of mutual dependency in medical tourism supply chain, and also reported that there is lack of commitment as well as trust within the medical tourism supply chain   members’, which has not identified completely in earlier researches. In the meantime, medical tourism supply chain   information sharing, and coordination also found to be the significant contributory factors in improving the performance of organization. However, certain level of integration and collaboration is still missing in medical tourism supply chain, due to certain deficiencies. Thus, medical tourism is an important sector and business for the tourism industry in Thailand, which needs to enhance SC operations to outperform its competitors and for achieving competitive advantage. The study provides guideline to researchers, policymakers and researchers and argues that the drivers of medical tourism supply chain i.e. mutual dependency, commitment and trust must be focused as those organizational areas which require more efforts to enhance medical tourism supply chain relationships