Abstract
A significant number of studies have assessed the impact of medical tourism from economic, technological and social perspectives. Few studies, however, have explored the development of the medical tourism sector from a sustainability perspective. This research brings a sustainability lens to medical tourism by extending Hart and Milstein’s framework (2003) for creating sustainable business value to advance the development of sustainable medical tourism facilities. To inform the analysis, the study conducted nine semi-structured interviews with members of the Jordan Medical Tourism Network (JMTN). Interview results confirmed the primary factors that motivate medical tourists, and characteristics of a sustainable medical tourism facility. The research provides insights on how sustainability is a driver of medical tourists’ decisions and a core aspect to be managed. The study also provides direction to advance sustainable medical tourism facilities in Jordan with replicability in other jurisdictions. The research proposes a path for medical tourism facilities to play further roles in their contribution to sustainable development by introducing a framework that aims to integrate four business strategies for establishing sustainable value through the integration of stakeholders’ interests and environmental practices.
Highlights
Practitioners and scholars have described medical tourism as ‘the future of health services’, ‘the ultimate out-sourcing’, ‘a new era’, ‘an international business’, and a ‘new phenomenon’ [1,2,3,4]
The results of the study have been divided to reflect on three themes: the motivational factors of medical tourists traveling to Jordan seeking alternative medical treatments; the characteristics of a medical tourism facility; and the need for a framework for establishing a sustainable medical tourism facility
The results of the study have divided the primary factors that motivate patients to travel to Jordan seeking high quality medical services into two categories: factors belonging to the medical tourism destination and factors belonging to the medical tourism facility
Summary
Practitioners and scholars have described medical tourism as ‘the future of health services’, ‘the ultimate out-sourcing’, ‘a new era’, ‘an international business’, and a ‘new phenomenon’ [1,2,3,4]. Few studies have explored the impact of medical tourism from a sustainability perspective To this end, this research applies a sustainability lens to medical tourism by extending Hart and Milstein’s framework [5] for creating sustainable business value to advance the development of sustainable medical tourism facilities. Research objectives include: (1) identifying the primary factors that motivate medical tourists to travel abroad for medical treatment; (2) extending Hart and Milstein’s framework to advance sustainable medical tourism facilities. Previous studies to identify the primary factors that motivate patients to travel abroad seeking alternative medical treatments have focused on US and European citizens [6,7,8]. Please tell me about any projects you have worked on for developing the medical tourism industry?. Jordan specific questions: What is your overall impression of the medical tourism industry within Jordan?
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