With the emergence of globalization and culture of consumerism, people developed the idea of travelling to implement various forms of substitutes which give rise to high level of contentment, satisfaction and healthy living (Fetscherin & Stephano, 2016). Medical tourism occurs when patients travel internationally in order to successfully attain private-aided medical treatment. Medical tourism is recognized as a global practice affiliated with health care organizations, hospitals and health clinics in a wide range of destination nations who are contesting to take care of such international patients (Ormond & Sulianti, 2017). Medical tourism further known as health tourism is often underlined by prominent and leading health care organizations operating in developing nations by proficiently providing supreme quality health care services at economical costs to patients from industrialized countries (Abd Mutalib et al., 2017). The primary attractions of health or medical tourism focus on cost-effectiveness and a probability to benefit from tourism services of pertaining to health tourism destinations during recovery period. The following paper highlights the areas of concern, intricacies, impacts and factors identified by broad range of scholars engaged in the field of health tourism.
The article “Medical tourism in India – in whose interest?” by Swati Gola has recognized aspects of health tourism not essentially as a recent phenomenon and had persistently attained substantial level of prevalence since 20th century. The limited market accessibility of medical tourism has been perceived more as a ‘novelty’. This elevating level of prominence has resulted medical tourism to become one of the major facets of globalization. Health tourism is considered as one of the highly committed and rapidly emerging sectors of tourism business whereby people travel with a significant aim of enhancing welfare and attaining high quality health care services outside the jurisdictions of patients’ country. Furthermore, another article emphasizing on value of travelling with health advantages provide an explicit understanding of the dynamic progress of health tourism that has been achievable because of the significant divergence in the level of health care as well as the expenditure of health care services in different nations. This intensification of medical tourism has fundamentally opened avenues for several patients towards specific procedures or health care services in their own region or receive similar kinds of medical services abroad without any impediments and at economical prices. Furthermore, an influx of health care tourists have been observed especially from the European region and North America, where an augmented rate of medical technical proficiency and expertise is integrated with equally soaring expenditures for receiving health care treatment.
However, reports reveal by Veselova, (2017) that medical services provided in UK is free of charge operating under National Health Service but patients have to encounter considerable level of delay in receiving effective health care services which often tend to extend till 2 years. Thus patients exhibit greater degree of inclination in choosing medical services which can be treated within limited span of time (Hanefeld, Smith & Noree, 2016). Furthermore, certain medical tourism destinations are have attained prominence for offering provisions to alternative medication and customary form of heath care services which consequentially led patients seeking effective medical services opt for alternative medication like Ayurveda. Several health insurance organizations along with leading corporate agencies operating in developed nations further show inclination towards supreme medical services for the clientele as well as employees in order to efficiently condense the expenditure rate of treatment (Fetscherin & Stephano, 2016).
Studies emphasizing on the increasing rate of incompetence from the end of public health systems in well-established nations have paved way for health care services to offer highly proficient medical treatment to the section of populace who can benefit from exceptional medical treatment at fundamentally cost-effective prices (Veselova, 2017). Lee, Han & Lockyer further mentioned in the article addressing the way substantial rate of Japanese tourism have been essentially seeking to experience enhanced and effective medical tourism (Lee, Han & Lockyer, 2012). However, while Thailand sustained itself as immensely prominent destination for health tourism, regions like Korea and Taiwan has arrived in the market of medical tourism in 2009 (Ormond & Sulianti, 2017). Furthermore, reports claim that the entire tourism sector of Asia has been anticipated to attain around US$ 9 billion by 2014 and magnetize over 1.5 million patients every year, whereas Thailand and Korea individually had been expected to capitulate over US $5 billion by early phase of 2012 (Abd Mutalib et al., 2017).
Similar ideas have been observed in the article published by Routledge, which reveal substantial progress of Russian medical tourism (Veselova, 2017). However, it has been claimed that medical tourism services operating in Russia primarily deal with dental clinics which offer provisions to wide range of Russian expatriates (Veselova, 2017). Thus due to cost differentiations during period of economic crisis, residents arriving from Moscow and St. Petersburg have exhibited high inclination in visiting medical care providing institutions located in their neighbouring regions offering treatment costs which are lower in comparison to Moscow and St. Petersburg (Ozturk, 2016). Furthermore, an uninterrupted arrival of women has also been observed from countries like Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and other regions of Soviet republics who seek Russian medical services during the last trimester of their pregnancy in order to successfully give birth under proficient supervision and obtain reliable medical services (Fetscherin & Stephano, 2016). These vital health care treatments are often being offered at cost-efficient budget. Reports revealed by Moscow government revealed that resources and funds spent often reaches an average of 5 million rubles annually for active emergency and health care treatment to migrants (Veselova, 2017).
India’s achievement as the centre of health tourism has not been taken into regard by scholars engaged in medical tourism. Substantial data revealed the influx of medical tourists arriving in India for health care treatment rapidly amplified between 2005 and has been anticipated to have higher elevation of over 590% in the following years (Gola, 2016). This amplification has resulted due to broad range of capable medical experts, exceptional technically equipped health care mechanisms along with well-established health-care sector, which facilitate India to attain advantages from establishing its health care sector to international clientele base under the regulations of GATS (Hanefeld, Smith & Noree, 2016). Wide ranging initiatives pioneered by Indian medical tourism have been taken into utmost considerations which reveal vital public-private alliance regulations in infrastructure introduced by the Indian government (Kaur, 2014). These initiatives engage Indian health care sector and constitutes of certain constricting hospital subsidiary services along with outsourcing of public medical services and treatment.
Furthermore, other vital policy proposals tend to incorporate the diminution of tradition duties on life-saving health care tools, tax exemption for enduring revenue funding in hospital projects comprising over 100 bed capacity along with the initiation of ‘medical visa’ in order to permit the arrival of increasing rate of medical tourists (Noree, Hanefeld & Smith, 2016). It has also been observed that the Ministry of Tourism (MoT) competently has been promoting the terms of medical visas by further focusing on the campaign of “Incredible India” in order to essentially persuade the section of medical tourists to successfully return after their treatment (Ozturk, 2016). Wide array of endeavours have further been initiated by MoT that ranges from economical support to standard health tourism service providers to encourage in international markets through public events, engagement in travel marts and distribution of brochures and pamphlets to enhance the prominence of Indian health-care initiatives (Lunt, Horsfall & Hanefeld, 2016).
Moghavvemi et al., (2017) stated that medical tourism being a privately operated initiative whereby the whole model of health tourism frequently depends on the maximization of resources. It has been observed that majority of beds and other facilities are often been utilized by overseas patients who pay higher service care charges for same treatment. Such a consuming behaviour tends to generate higher level of profitability and revenues to economize continually emerging private healthcare organizations (Abd Mutalib et al., 2017). The capitalization of these resources and funding reduces the level of opportunity for people who seek for economical treatment charges receive high quality medical services. Health factors being a area of interest of the State and executed by State administration tends to generate profits producing through medical tourism sector (Hanefeld, Smith & Noree, 2016). However, high deficit of State intervention or vital regulation mechanisms that constitute a universal set of directives purposed for privately owned medical throughout India, the development of medical tourism has been overlooked.
Tax evaders have incorporated vital contributors engaged in health tourism sector namely Apollo Hospitals whereby the deficit of accomplishment of pro-poor strategies and regulation have not only led to the defiance of privileged health-care services to the marginalized or deprived sections (Lunt, Horsfall & Hanefeld, 2016). This also has facilitated those corporate health care organizations which violated the contractual responsibility in proficiently providing complimentary health care treatment in order to persist unprincipled or immoral medical practices (Gola, 2016).
Conclusion:
Medical tourism has been attaining considerable degree of recognition and value with the increasing arrival of people exhibiting greater level of inclination towards medical travel to seek exceptional and high quality medical services at economical costs. Thus to conclude it can be stated that medical tourism destinations aim to perceive these aspects as a significant opportunity to reveal their healthcare as well as tourism investments and further attain economic development. The paper has explicitly shed light on the way medical tourism sector has been able to attain sufficient level of prominence by providing vital initiatives and medical services to in the increasing influx of overseas patients. Furthermore, the paper has explored the critical intricacies encountered by underprivileged sections due to few tax invaders involved in medical tourism sector.
References:
Abd Mutalib, N. S., Soh, Y. C., Wong, T. W., Yee, S. M., Yang, Q., Murugiah, M. K., & Ming, L. C. (2017). Online narratives about medical tourism in Malaysia and Thailand: a qualitative content analysis. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 34(6), 821-832.
Fetscherin, M., & Stephano, R. M. (2016). The medical tourism index: Scale development and validation. Tourism Management, 52, 539-556.
Gola, S. (2016). Medical tourism in India–in whose interest?. Journal of International Trade Law and Policy, 15(2/3), 115-133.
Hanefeld, J., Smith, R., & Noree, T. (2016). Medical tourism. In World Scientific Handbook of Global Health Economics and Public Policy: Volume 3: Health System Characteristics and Performance (pp. 333-350).
Kaur, M. (2014). Medical Tourism in India. Indian Journal of Research, 3(1), 64-66.
Lee, M., Han, H., & Lockyer, T. (2012). Medical tourism—attracting Japanese tourists for medical tourism experience. Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 29(1), 69-86.
Lunt, N., Horsfall, D., & Hanefeld, J. (2016). Medical tourism: A snapshot of evidence on treatment abroad. Maturitas, 88, 37-44.
Moghavvemi, S., Ormond, M., Musa, G., Isa, C. R. M., Thirumoorthi, T., Mustapha, M. Z. B., & Chandy, J. J. C. (2017). Connecting with prospective medical tourists online: A cross-sectional analysis of private hospital websites promoting medical tourism in India, Malaysia and Thailand. Tourism Management, 58, 154-163.
Noree, T., Hanefeld, J., & Smith, R. (2016). Medical tourism in Thailand: a cross-sectional study. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 94(1), 30.
Ormond, M., & Sulianti, D. (2017). More than medical tourism: lessons from Indonesia and Malaysia on South–South intra-regional medical travel. Current Issues in Tourism, 20(1), 94-110.
Ozturk, I. (2016). The relationships among tourism development, energy demand, and growth factors in developed and developing countries. International Journal of Sustainable Development & World Ecology, 23(2), 122-131.
Veselova, E. S. (2017). Medical Tourism: Tourism with Health Benefits. Problems of Economic Transition, 59(6), 480-500.
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