Abstract
Background: The connection between healthcare and tourism industries in many countries has created one of the largest service industries, i.e. "medical tourism industry". Medical tourism services bring significant benefits to the countries. This study aimed to examine internal and external factors affecting Shiraz medical tourism industry as well as the potential capabilities of the industry.Materials and Methods: This applied research is a mixed method study using both qualitative and quantitative methods in 2017. The study population consisted of all organizations involved in the medical tourism industry. In this study, the deductive qualitative content analysis was employed to determine the internal and external factors affecting Shiraz medical tourism industry. Furthermore, the SWOT technique was used to analyze the data obtained from individual interviews and meetings with expert panels. Results: Internal and external factors were classified into 4 main themes (namely strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) and 10 sub-themes, of which five cases (FORMM) were related to internal factors (i.e. finance, production and products (operations), research and development, marketing and management) and five cases (STEPC) were associated with external factors including socio-cultural, technology, economy, political and competitive ones. Also, the matrix of the internal and external factors indicated an offensive zone for this industry. Conclusions: This industry can make use of the strengths and opportunities to confront the threats and negative points through identifying internal and external factors in order to enjoy benefits such as job creation and revenue gains. [GMJ.2018;7:e1021]
Highlights
The association between healthcare and tourism industries in several countries has led to the creation of medical tourism industry which is one of the largest service industries [1,2]
Factors highlighting the significance of medical tourism are the high cost of healthcare in industrialized countries, the increased ease of international trips, favorable exchange rate of currency in the global economy, rapid advances of medical technology and healthcare standards in most countries, internet access, inaccessibility of specific services in the country of origin, paucity of insurance coverage for certain services in the country of origin, waiting lists, confidentiality and privacy pertaining to services such as cosmetic and plastic surgeries, infertility treatment, trans-gender surgery, family visit, affordable international shipping costs, emergence of new companies and state supports [4,5,6,7,8]
Medical tourism services bring a significant benefit to the destination countries [2]; and the trades associated with such services are recognizably profitable for the destination countries [2,9]
Summary
The association between healthcare and tourism industries in several countries has led to the creation of medical tourism industry which is one of the largest service industries [1,2]. The SWOT Technique (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is an effective method employed to simultaneously analyze the strengths and weaknesses (internal factors) along with opportunities and threats (external factors)[17,21] This provides organizations with an opportunity to have a systematic and comprehensive understanding as to the factors influencing their environment [22]. Given the abovementioned points and with regard to the major benefits of medical tourism including revenue gain and job creation, the current study was carried out in order to identify the strengths, opportunities and the future of this industry in Shiraz, Iran. Conclusion: This industry can make use of the strengths and opportunities to confront threats and negative points through identifying internal and external factors and enjoy benefits such as job creation and revenue gains.
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