Medical Tourism

School of Tourism Studies – MGU

Components of Health Tourism

Healthcare Tourism

Physical Health

(provided by qualified

Medical Practitioners)

Psychological Health

(provided by non-medical

professionals/Organizations)

Curative Enhancement

Medical Tourism Therapeutic

(healing)

Promotive(Emotional/Spiritual/

Mental Wellbeing

Wellness Tourism

Diagnostic Elective Enhancement

Surgical

Evolution of Medical Tourism

Outbound

Inbound

Intra-bound

Well thought-out and planned activity rather than an impulsive activity as in

the case of other tours. E.g a leisure tour activity can be included or

excluded without making any major change in the itinerary

Not associated with the attribute of willingness to spend – brings in travelers

who may not be willing to spend but may be driven to spend

Non-Seasonal/ all year round

Distinguishing Features of Medical Tourism

Types of Medical Tourism

Reasons

Source Countries

Rapidly ageing Population in USA, Europe and Japan

Rising Healthcare Costs

Rising tide of uninsured and underinsured

Corporations loosing competitiveness and Governments going into deficit budget

Individuals having to shoulder most of their healthcare costs.

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Destination Countries

Emergence of world class facilities in developing nations like India and Thailand with costs only up to 10% of the cost in US or UK.

No waiting period

Governments keen to tap the market and facilitating services for medical tourists.

Reasons Patients seek care at Medical

Tourism Destinations

1. Low cost

• No insurance/inadequate insurance

– Particularly patients from United States

• Plastic and cosmetic surgery

• Cosmetic dentistry/extensive dental reconstruction

• Bariatric surgery (weight loss) and subsequent body contouring

• Gender reassignment procedures

• Treatment of infertility

Avoid waiting lists

• Countries with National Health Service

– Particularly patients from Britain and Canada

Procedure not available in home country

• Newly developed procedures not approved by regulatory agencies

– Stem cell therapy

– Joint resurfacing

– Artificial disc replacement (multi-level)

• Procedures unavailable or restricted by society and/or legal system

– Organ transplantation

– In-vitro fertilization with donor eggs

• Rich elite from underdeveloped countries

4. Perform Surgeries of confidential Nature

• Infertility treatment, Cosmetic Surgeries, Surrogacy etc

5. Tourism and vacations

• Luxurious accommodations and excellent service

Medical Tourism Products

SURGICALDIAGNOSTIC

MAJOR

ENHANCEMENT

MINOR

Alternative Therapy

X-ray, MRI

Scan,

Ultrasound

Scans etc

Medical Tourism System

Procedure / Work Flow

Tourist inflow - outflow

Source: Ehrbeck et al. (2008).