Article
Medical Tourism: Globalization of the Healthcare Marketplace
Global Perspectives Program, Goizueta Business School, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA.
MedGenMed: Medscape general medicine 02/2007; 9(4):33. Source: PubMed
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Available from: Michael D Horowitz, Data provided are for informational purposes only. Although carefully collected, accuracy cannot be guaranteed. The impact factor represents a rough estimation of the journal's impact factor and does not reflect the actual current impact factor. Publisher conditions are provided by RoMEO. Differing provisions from the publisher's actual policy or licence agreement may be applicable.
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- "Medical tourism is the term commonly used to describe the process that involves patients leaving their country of residence with the intent of accessing medical care [1]. Medical tourism is a global, multi-billion dollar industry that is predicted to grow exponentially in the next five-ten years [2]. This expected growth is being facilitated by increased use of the internet allied with the ubiquitous nature of accessible, low cost air travel. "
Article: Stem cell tourism – A web-based analysis of clinical services available to international travellers
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ABSTRACT: Methods A web based search utilising five search terms was employed. The first twenty pages of each search result were screened against 340 variables. Results 224 out of 1091 websites advertised stem cell clinics. 68 eligible sites covering 21 countries were evaluated. The top five clinical indications for stem cell therapy were multiple sclerosis, anti-ageing, Parkinson's disease, stroke and spinal cord injury. Adult, autologous stem cells were the most commonly utilised stem cell, and these were frequently sourced from bone marrow and adipose tissue and administered intravenously. Thirty-four per cent of sites mentioned the number of patients treated while one quarter of clinics provided outcome data. Twenty-nine per cent of clinics had an internationally recognised accreditation. Fifteen per cent of clinics stated that their therapies posed no risk. Eighty-eight per cent of clinics claimed treatment effectiveness, with 16% describing their curative potential. Over 40% of sites did not specify the number or duration of treatments. Fifty-three per cent of clinics requested access to patients' medical records, and 12% recommended patients discuss the proposed therapy with their doctor. No clinic recommended that travellers consult a travel medicine specialist or receive vaccinations prior to their intended travel. One quarter of sites discussed contraindications to treatment, with 41% of sites detailing follow up patient care. -absp Conclusions There is potential for stem cell tourists to receive misleading or deficient information from online stem cell clinics. Both the stem cell tourist and travel medicine practitioner should be educated on the potential risks associated with stem cell clinical services advertised online.Travel Medicine and Infectious Disease 10/2014; 12(6). DOI:10.1016/j.tmaid.2014.09.008 · 1.67 Impact Factor -
- "While there appears to be a wide variety of medical tourism flows, including travel between both countries of similar and different levels of economic development, information available to medical tourists demonstrates a concerted effort on behalf of low and middle income countries to entice persons to travel from developed to developing countries for medical care [7,8]. This recent trend of travel from more developed to developing countries has become a focus for research on the impacts of medical tourism on global health equity [9]. Discussions by researchers about growing health inequities globally have identified the growth of the medical tourism industry as potentially one cause of these inequities [10]. "
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ABSTRACT: Medical tourists, persons that travel across international borders with the intention to access non-emergency medical care, may not be adequately informed of safety and ethical concerns related to the practice of medical tourism. Researchers indicate that the sources of information frequently used by medical tourists during their decision-making process may be biased and/or lack comprehensive information regarding individual safety and treatment outcomes, as well as potential impacts of the medical tourism industry on third parties. This paper explores the feedback from former Canadian medical tourists regarding the use of an information sheet to address this knowledge gap and raise awareness of the safety and ethical concerns related to medical tourism. According to feedback provided in interviews with former Canadian medical tourists, the majority of participants responded positively to the information sheet and indicated that this document prompted them to engage in further consideration of these issues. Participants indicated some frustration after reading the information sheet regarding a lack of know-how in terms of learning more about the concerns discussed in the document and changing their decision-making. This frustration was due to participants' desperation for medical care, a topic which participants frequently discussed regarding ethical concerns related to health care provision. The overall perceptions of former medical tourists indicate that an information sheet may promote further consideration of ethical concerns of medical tourism. However, given that these interviews were performed with former medical tourists, it remains unknown whether such a document might impact upon the decision-making of prospective medical tourists. Furthermore, participants indicated a need for an additional tool such as a website for continued discussion about these concerns. As such, along with dissemination of the information sheet, future research implications should include the development of a website for ongoing discussion that could contribute to a raised awareness of these concerns and potentially increase social responsibility in the medical tourism industry.Philosophy Ethics and Humanities in Medicine 12/2013; 8(1):19. DOI:10.1186/1747-5341-8-19 -
- "A medial tourism is one of the fastest growing sectors in the tourism industry (Heung et al., 2011). This expansion of medical tourism presents various opportunities for health-related industry as well as tourism industry in diverse areas of the world, including developing and developed countries (Hall, 2003; Horowitz et al., 2007). In addition, this growth in developing countries has brought some changes in the nature of healthcare services offered in a medical clinic/hospital and its physical amenities (Centran et al., 2010; Heung et al., 2011). "
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ABSTRACT: Despite the rapid growth of the medical-tourism industry, research about medical hotels, which are an essential part of the industry, remains rare. The present study attempted, first, to identify the possible benefits that international medical tourists perceive in a medical hotel and examine what roles those benefits play in generating perceived value and behavioral intentions, second, to investigate the mediating impact of value, and finally to examine the theoretical associations among study variables across Chinese, Japanese, and Korean traveler groups. The results of the study indicated that perceived benefits were generally associated with perceived value and behavioral intentions, that value had a significant mediating impact, and that national culture had a significant moderating role in the proposed relationships. In addition, among the components of perceived benefits, hospitality product played a prominent role in the Chinese group, and the impact of medical service was vital in the Japanese and Korean groups.International Journal of Hospitality Management 12/2013; 35:100-108. DOI:10.1016/j.ijhm.2013.05.011 · 1.94 Impact Factor
