Abstract
This study examines the phenomenon of medical tourism, a growing segment of discretionary travel for consumers. Host countries are developing sophisticated medical infrastructure to accommodate the traveler wishing to arrange for procedures in a country other than their own at a lesser cost. The problem identified by the nurse researcher (RN) included a paucity of research in the literature regarding training of health care personnel for this tourism specialty. Training of personnel would include overseas patient transport, aftercare at the host facility, and follow-up care in the consumer’s home locality. The questions driving this study included trends such as economic benefit to host countries, standards of care offered to consumers, practices of travel providers that offer packages for medical tourism, and implications for advanced practice nurses. Areas researched included skills needed to ensure patient safety during the journey, care for patients at the host locality, and identification of potential medical complications that may arise in the consumer’s own locality. The issue of elective procedures not covered by local insurance, at least for American consumers, creates medical and financial risk if complications occur. Implications for consumers, health care professionals, travel industry planners and trends in global health phenomena are addressed.
Presenters
Dale MuellerFull Professor, College of Health, Human Services and Nursing, California State University Dominguez Hills, California, United States
Details
Presentation Type
Theme
Changing Dimensions of Contemporary Tourism
KEYWORDS
"Medical Tourism", " Health and Safety", " Trends in Tourism"
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