Why do medical tourists travel to where they do? The role of networks in determining medical travel

Hanefeld, Johanna; Lunt, Neil; Smith, Richard; Horsfall, Daniel

doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.05.016

Cited by 137 publications

(101 citation statements)

References 25 publications

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“…One of these hospitals (Acibadem Health Group) is declared among "ten hospitals worth to trip" in the world forbes.com (Van Dusen, 2007). Cultural factors, language and social ties may influence medtourist decision but referral is the most important factor (Hanefeld et al, 2015); and referral is a form of eWOM.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

eWOM, revisit intention, destination trust and gender

Abubakar

İlkan

Al-Tal

et al. 2017

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

256

168

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This article investigates the impact of eWOM on intention to revisit and destination trust, and the moderating role of gender in medical tourism industry. Result from structural equation modeling (n=240) suggests the following: (1) that eWOM influences intention to revisit and destination trust; (2) that destination trust influences intention to revisit; (3) that the impact of eWOM on intention to revisit is about 1.3 times higher in men; (4) that the impact of eWOM on destination trust is about 1.2 times higher in men; and (5) the impact of destination trust on the intention to revisit is about 2.3 times higher in women. Implications and future research directions are discussed.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

eWOM, revisit intention, destination trust and gender

Abubakar

İlkan

Al-Tal

et al. 2017

Journal of Hospitality and Tourism Management

256

168

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…15,16,17 Many countries are making legal and tactical plans to serve their booming medical tourism industry. 4,18 As mentioned earlier, it has also become an importance source of income for many countries. These countries have been continuing to investment heavily in all aspects of medical tourism (e.g., IT, social, human resources).…”

Section: Medical Tourismmentioning

confidence: 96%

Examining the Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing Strategies on Medical Tourism

Lai¹,

Chen²,

Lin³

2016

ITMR

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Medical tourism is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world as many patients are looking to access healthcare services that are not available to them in their home countries. Many hospitals and healthcare centers are now offering numerous products and services in order to fully reap the benefits from it. However, little research which examines the effects of relationship marketing on the medical tourism exists. Hence, the aims of this study are to: (1) examine the relationship between the relationship marketing strategies and the medical tourism industry; and (2) help medical tourism operators to identify some of the key issues that exist within the industry. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten senior Taiwanese tour guides who had extensive experience in dealing with the medical tourism industry. The results indicate that relationship marketing was one of the crucial factors which had an impact on the willingness of tour guides to make necessary travel arrangements for medical tourists. The environment of health examination center, the ability of its doctors to diagnose a patient's condition, and the professional image of its doctors could also affect the effectiveness of the relationship marketing on medical tourism as well as the efforts in arranging a follow-up visit to the health examination center. The findings can provide senior executives of health examination centers and travel agencies with a more realistic insight in dealing with issues and challenges arising from the medical tourism.

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“…[1][2][3][4] The diversity of reasons why patients travel for treatment include: access to care unavailable in homestates, financial incentives, impacts related to health-care privatization, perceptions related to quality of care and others. 5,6 A network-based study of the push and pull of medical travel shows that the role of networks is critical to understand choice of treatment, provider, and destination. Importantly, the choice of destination and provider appears to be largely the result of informal networks (web fora, personal recommendations, and support groups), although distance, costs, expertise, and availability of treatment all are factors influencing patients' decision to travel.…”

Section: Medical Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Importantly, the choice of destination and provider appears to be largely the result of informal networks (web fora, personal recommendations, and support groups), although distance, costs, expertise, and availability of treatment all are factors influencing patients' decision to travel. 5 Reliable data are scarce on the number of persons traveling abroad to receive health care. 6,7 Estimates included in a US Centers for Disease Control report suggest that 60,000-750,000 Americans travel annually, 8 while other sources suggest that upward of …”

Section: Medical Tourismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Combating the threat of stem cell tourism through patient education and government regulation

Gharaibeh¹,

Anderson²,

Deasy³

2016

IEH

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Advances in stem cell research and media publicity of stem cell potential have raised the hopes of patients with severe disabilities and conditions which lack a cure. While stem-cell-based therapies are the clinical standard of care for a few hematological conditions, stem cell tourism continues to rise worldwide. This rise is driven in part by patients' need for alternative treatment for difficult conditions and increased online access to health information. Unfortunately, clinics around the world are exploiting patients' hopes by offering supposed stem cell therapies, without credible scientific rationale, oversight, or patient protections. Occurring particularly in Asia and South America, treatments which are illegal in most countries are being offered for what are often considered incurable conditions. A survey of health organization websites showed that while 71% of these websites provided information about stem cell treatment/ research, only 18% of those sites included a direct warning or caution about stem cell treatments abroad. A number of professional organizations have published guidance documents to shine a light on the dangers of stem cell tourism. Comprehensive government regulations exist in the US, Europe, and several other countries, so that approvals for stem cell treatments occur only after extensive safety testing has occurred. In this review, we discuss issues related to stem cell treatments, including the patients' needs for educational resources, and we describe the process of regulatory approval for cell therapies using the US system as an example.

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Why do medical tourists travel to where they do? The role of networks in determining medical travel

Cited by 137 publications

References 25 publications

eWOM, revisit intention, destination trust and gender

eWOM, revisit intention, destination trust and gender

Examining the Effectiveness of Relationship Marketing Strategies on Medical Tourism

Combating the threat of stem cell tourism through patient education and government regulation

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