Applications to healthcare administration and leadership
Research the topic of medical
tourism
1. Conceptual analysis: How is medical tourism defined? Is the
definition consistent?
2. Purpose and/or reasons for medical tourism (individual,
organizational and national )
3. Risks (threats to health and welfare) to individuals seeking medical
tourism
4. Potential legal and ethical aspects of medical tourism
5. Applications to healthcare administration and leadership
Solution
Medical tourism
1. Conceptual analysis: How is medical tourism defined? Is the definition consistent?
According to, (Todd, 2011), the global increase in the movement of patients and
health professional as well as the improvement in medical technologies across
international borders in search of medical care gave rise to medical tourism. Medical
tourism is the process of traveling outside the country of residence for the purpose of
receiving medical treatment. There is no consistency in the definition because methods
applied by different countries to determine the residence of a person vary and also not all
treatment are included in this range of treatment of different countries, for example, some
countries count the number of foreign patients’ visits for treatment whereas others
include even the migrants who return for medical care.
2. Purpose and/or reasons for medical tourism (Individual, organizational and National)
Health care cost in most countries is very high; due to this most individuals travel to other
international countries in order to receive selective and affordable medical care. It is estimated
that twenty percent of many patients are finding creative alternative in foreign countries
depending on different medical procedures involved. Governments of different countries have
focused more energies and money to the development of the health care sector so as to attract
foreign patients; profits from the services offered are used to improve the country’s economy.
Medical organization also prefers providing international services so that they can be accredited
international rather than locally.
3. Risks (threats to health and welfare) to individuals seeking medical tourism
Individuals seeking medical tourism are involved in varied risks, for example; medical
tourism increases the risk of hospital acquired infection such as hepatitis, and also patients who
MEDICAL TOURISM 3
cross borders in search of medical care, are at higher risk of being exposed to infection that they
would not usually encounter at home. Due to this, they pose a public health risk when they return
home; forcing the government to spend more on public health yet it has not planned for it.
Different countries have different standards of medical ethics and practices, if a problem arises
due to malpractice, it might be difficult for the patient to seek justice due to lack of clarity in
term of which the foreign country applies the law, (BotterillPennings, Main, 2013).
4. Potential legal and ethical aspects of medical tourism
The development of medical tourism has led to the emergence of legal and ethical aspects
in this range of treatment, for example; people argue that foreigner seeking medical treatment in
the country might lead to a shift of medical prices to be high, this makes it difficult for the locals
to afford the same care due to this, a country has to come up with medical tourism standards,
(Hall, 2013). Different countries approve some medical care that are not accepted in other
countries, thus individual travelling abroad for medical procedures that are illegal in their home
country is controversial, it is advisable for patients to make inquiry to ensure they are doing the
right thing.
5. Applications to health care administration and leadership
Health care administration and leadership depends on the size and complexity of the
medical institution, whereby the roles and responsibilities of the leader are outlined to ensure that
all operations in the institution are carried out effectively and efficiently. Proper health care
administration and leadership is crucial to the improvement of efforts and services offered in the
medical tourism range. The leaders in the organization ensure and participate in quality training
of medical workers, and also ensure that medical services are provided within the medical
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standards. The administration also provides adequate information required by the patient for
different medical care, (Yeoh, Othman, Ahmad, 2013).
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References
Hall, C. (2013). Medical tourism : the ethics, regulation, and marketing of health mobility.
Abingdon, Oxon New York, NY: Routledge.
Todd, M. (2011). Handbook of Medical Tourism Program Development Developing Globally
Integrated Health Systems. Hoboken: CRC Press.
Yeoh, E., Othman, K., & Ahmad, H. (2013). Understanding medical tourists: word-of-mouth and
viral marketing as potent marketing tools. Tourism Management, 34, 196-201.
Botterill, D., Pennings, G., & Mainil, T. (Eds.). (2013). Medical tourism and transnational
health care. Palgrave Macmillan.
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