Traveling abroad to receive medical care is becoming an increasingly popular trend and is a phenomenon that is rapidly developing into a thriving healthcare industry. Patients are more than ever availing themselves of high quality, affordable and easily accessible health related services found outside of their home country’s borders. Both patients and destinations are benefiting from this, with the patients able to receive timely care at reasonable prices without compromising on the quality of their treatment and the destinations generating revenue from supplying the services that the health tourists utilise.
The purpose of this survey is to communicate expert views on aspects of medical tourism, as there are many issues relating to it that are frequently flagged up by industry professionals and require attention. These concern the industry’s status, its terms, trends, opportunities, challenges and potential for improvements. As an example, 94% of those surveyed agreed that the industry has yet to reach its full potential, so it is vital to address the important issues act as barriers to its growth. It is intended that the knowledge gleaned from the survey will be utilised to inform interested parties about the latest trends and developments in the field.
The survey was also formulated with the aim of understanding of current topics, which will provide important content for a forthcoming guidebook on medical tourism. This consumer-dedicated publication will provide valuable information for those wanting to know more about medical tourism and will hopefully give the medical tourism industry a significant boost that will help it to realise its full capabilities.
We are grateful to all of the experts, industry professionals and other valued responders who took time to complete the survey questionnaire. In doing so, they provided significant insights into current issues associated with medical tourism. We are hopeful their contribution will play an important role towards the growth of the industry. Special thanks go to Steve Bannister for his valuable support.
