Cultural Issues in Medical Tourism

Abstract

Medical tourism has become an emerging industry in recent years. Both developed and developing countries are involved in this field. For example, British patients seem to prefer India for medical tourism services. American medical tourists always fly to Mexico to receive medical care, in order to reduce culture shock. This means that medical services include the consideration of cultural familiar. The research objectives of this paper include (1) discussing the relevant research and literature concerning the relationship between culture and medical services; (2) analyzing the relationship between culture and medical tourism; and (3) proposing policy advice to the government for promoting medical tourism services, based on the discoveries of previous research. The research employs secondary data collected from the relevant literature. Our main contribution is the provision of a review of the impact of cultural competency on medical tourism services. Another contribution of this study is that its findings can serve as a reference for further empirical analysis. We find that cultural competence should be integrated into healthcare systems, medical organizations, and individuals. These findings show that countries providing medical tourism services should examine physician–patient communication methods and physician–visitor culture, because each may lack sufficient cultural competence, as well as levels of cultural respect. It is recommended that healthcare providers arrange for such education for their employees; a small booklet or video demonstration can do wonders in this regard.