Tourists’ Satisfaction of Hospital Services in Iran: A Case Study of Lorestan Province

Abstract

Background: Nowadays, the medical tourist industry is one of the most profitable industries around the world. Countries try to attract more medical tourists to take advantage of its benefits. The purpose of this study was to investigate the perspective of tourists (patients and attendants) regarding services provided by hospitals of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted using content analysis approach to explore the determinants of medical tourists’ satisfaction in Lorestan, Iran. First, data were analyzed and studied extensively. Next, breaking down the analyzed texts into smaller chunks, the contents and themes, as the smallest units, were extracted, coded, and categorized. In some cases, quotations from participants were brought for basic and minor themes of the study. Extracting basic, internal themes as well as categories were done by 2 researchers, independently. Results: The most important quoted problems at the provincial level in hospitals included personnel, equipment, and medical and welfare facilities’ shortage, personnel improper behavior with patients and attendants, inadequate skills of the medical staff, unavailability of personnel, lack of suitable general sanitation, mismanagement and problems of admission and discharge. Conclusions: Attracting tourist’s satisfaction could bring major financial resources, consequently helping to reinforce economical aspect in the provincial scale. Doubtlessly, planning in line with solving existing problems is one of the most important and basic procedures in order to attract health tourists.