Journal des affaires et de la gestion hôtelière

Medical Tourism is an Expanding Segment in Global Tourism

Abdallah Ali Al Hindawi  

Although medical tourism is an expanding segment in global tourism, medical tourism destinations are still facing complex and numerous challenges in developing, maintaining and sustaining their destinations, specifically in highly competitive environment. Additionally and with the rapid growth of medical tourism mirrors accelerative globalization and the increased demand of international medical services within middle class patients seeking treatment abroad, a need for an international call for code of ethics is risen to ensure the patient safety, quality of care, ethical issues and legal concerns that remain inadequately addressed, for patients, healthcare providers and policymakers across borders with four main issues to be addressed; I. Unreliable assessments of healthcare quality in different countries, including a scale of price to outcome. II. Insufficient information on and communication about the medical and legal risks associated with medical tourism. III. Inadequate policies addressing the ethical concerns of recruiting international patients in clinical trials for risky or experimental treatments. IV. Growing legal concerns associated with medical tourists, including malpractice lawsuits for treating international patients.