Browse > Article

Differences in Patient Experience by Arrangement Type of Medical Tourism Facilitators  

Cho, Heeran J. (Yonsei University)
Jin, Ki Nam (Yonsei University)
Publication Information
Korea Journal of Hospital Management / v.26, no.2, 2021 , pp. 27-42 More about this Journal
Abstract
This study investigated the differences in patient experience by arrangement type of medical tourism facilitators(MTF) from the pre-visit to visit stages. Specifically, patient experiences from each stage with different service providers (MTFs and medical institutions) were measured: provision of information and respect for patient preferences as pre-visit experiences with the facilitators, communication and concierge services as visit experiences with the facilitators, and medical services as medical institution experiences. The scale to measure foreign patients' experiences was modified from the 'Picker in-patient questionnaire(PPE)' and the 'Picker patient experience questionnaire(PPE-15)'. Quantitative data were collected by conducting a self-administered questionnaire on 173 patients from China, Russia, Mongolia, and Kazakhstan. Qualitative data were collected by conducting in-depth interviews with 9 patients and 9 service providers. The data were collected between January and October in 2019. Quantitative data was analyzed by SPSS 25 for Chi-squared test and ANOVA, and qualitative data were analyzed based on keywords. The main results are as follows. When foreign patients used only overseas MTFs, they had a relatively positive patient experience in respect of receiving pre-visit information(F=7.47, p<.01) and respect for patient preferences(F=3.11, p<.05). Looking at both domestic and overseas facilitators during the visit, the patient experience was relatively negative for communication(F=3.75, p<.05). Regarding medical institutions, patients had a relatively negative patient experience with regards to medical services when they used both domestic and overseas facilitators(F=6.49, p<.01). The implications of this study are as follows. Patients should have a seamless and high-quality experience regardless of the facilitator arrangement type. This can be prepared through service standardization for the service providers. It would be also necessary to consider each other's features and problems at the institutional level and to improve service coordination by having service providers periodically communicate with each other.
Keywords
Patient Experience; Medical Tourism; Medical Tourism Facilitator; Concierge Service; Service Coordination;
Citations & Related Records
연도 인용수 순위
  • Reference
1 International Medical Travel Journal (IMTJ). [Internet]. IMTJ. [cited 2021 May 1]. Available from https://www.imtj.com/.
2 Hwang, M.G. [1 year of the pandemic] ① Unexpectedly distributed ultra-high-speed vaccine, when will be herd immunity done? [Internet]. Seoul: Josun Biz; 2021 [cited 2021 May 1]. Available from https://biz.chosun.com/international/international_economy/2021/04/29/LSLYUROIWNEBVPFSWNL3IIK3E4/.
3 Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI). 2018 Foregin Patient Satisfaction Results Report. Osong, Korea. Korea Health Industry Development Institute. 2018.
4 Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI). 2019 Foreign Patient Statistics. Osong, Korea. Korea Health Industry Development Institute. 2020.
5 Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI). 2017 Foreign Patient Statistics. Osong, Korea. Korea Health Industry Development Institute. 2018.
6 Gan LL, Frederick JR. Medical tourism facilitators: Patterns of service differentiation. Journal of Vacation Marketing, 2011; 17(3), 165-183.   DOI
7 Staniszewska, S., Bullock, I. Can we help patients have a better experience? Implementing NICE guidance on patient experience. 2012.
8 Koren, PE, Paulson RI, Kinney RF, Yatchmenoff DK., Gordon LJ, DeChillo N. Service coordination in children's mental health: An empirical study from the caregiver's perspective. Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders, 1997; 5(3), 162-172.   DOI
9 Abbaspour, F., Soltani, S., Tham, A. Medical tourism for COVID-19 post-crisis recovery?. Anatolia, 2020; 1-4.
10 Korea Health Industry Development Institute (KHIDI). 2018 Foreign Patient Statistics. Osong, Korea. Korea Health Industry Development Institute. 2019.
11 Medical Tourism Association (MTA). Destination. [Internet]. MTA. [cited 2021 May 1]. Available from https://www.medicaltourism.com/destinations/south-korea.
12 Penney K, Snyder J, Crooks V, Johnston R. Risk communication and informed consent in the medical tourism industry: a thematic content analysis of Canadian broker websites. BMC Medical Ethics, 2011; 12(1), 17.   DOI
13 Semple M. Becoming a Medical Tourism A facilitator [Internet]. Medical Tourism Association (MTA) 2011. [cited 2019 Nov 3] Available from [https://www.slideshare.net/reneemariestephano/becoming-a-medical-tourism-facilitator.
14 Jin, KN, Cho HR, Lee SK, Koo JH, Cho SJ, Kim DB. The final report on the development direction and policy tasks for attracting foreign patients. 2018; Osong, Korea. Korea Health Industry Development Institute.
15 Haarhoff R, Mokoena LG. The market place of medical tourism facilitators in South Africa. 2017.
16 Karam, C. The evolution of patient satisfaction to patient experience. Frontiers of health services management, 2017; 33(3), 30-34.   DOI
17 Crooks VA, Kingsbury P, Snyder J, Johnston R. What is known about the patient's experience of medical tourism? A scoping review. BMC Health Services Research, 2010; 10(1), 266.   DOI
18 Korea Hea.lth Industry Development Institute (KHIDI). 2019 Foreign Patient Statistics. Osong, Korea. Korea Health Industry Development Institute; 2020.
19 Snyder J, Crooks VA, Adams K, Kingsbury P, Johnston R. The 'patient's physician one-step removed': the evolving roles of medical tourism facilitators. Journal of Medical ethics, 2011; 37(9), 530-534.   DOI
20 Cormany D, Baloglu S. Medical travel facilitator websites: An exploratory study of web page contents and services offered to the prospective medical tourist. Tourism management, 2011; 32(4), 709-716.   DOI
21 Shale, S. Patient experience as an indicator of clinical quality in emergency care. Clinical Governance: An International Journal, 2013; 18(4), 285-292.   DOI
22 Lee H, Wright KB, O'Connor M, Wombacher K. Framing medical tourism: an analysis of persuasive appeals, risks and benefits, and new media features of medical tourism broker websites. Health communication, 2014; 29(7), 637-645.   DOI
23 Barry, Michael J., Susan, E.L. Shared decision making-The pinnacle patient-centered care. The New England Journal of Medicine. 2012; 366(9), 780-781.   DOI
24 Mohamad WN, Omar, A, Haron, MS. The moderating effect of medical travel facilitators in medical tourism. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012; 65, 358-363.   DOI
25 Heung VC, Kucukusta D, Song H. Medical tourism development in Hong Kong: An assessment of the barriers. Tourism Management, 2011; 32(5), 995-1005.   DOI
26 Weiss, M. D., Tyink, S., Kubiak, C. Delivering ideal employee experiences. Aaohn Journal, 2009; 57(5), 210-215.   DOI
27 Parasuraman A, Zeithaml V, Berry L. SERVQUAL: A Multiple-Item Scale for Measuring Consumer Perceptions of Service quality. Journal of Retailing, 1988; 64(1): 12-40
28 Lee, H., Lee, WJ. Choi, K. Satisfaction of Foreign Patients on Hospital Use. Journal of the Korea Contents Association, 2013; 13(9), 233-333
29 Bleich, S. N., Ozaltin, E., Murray, C. J. How does satisfaction with the health-care system relate to patient experience. 2009.
30 Jin, KN. Korean Medical Tourism Facilitators: Business models and performance. Medical Korea 2019. Seoul, Korea. 2019 Mar 15.
31 Needham, B. R. The truth about patient experience: What we can learn from other industries, and how three Ps can improve health outcomes, strengthen brands, and delight cudtomers. Journal of Healthcare Management, 2012; 57(4), 255-263.   DOI
32 Balint E. The possibilities of patient-centered medicine. The Journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners, 1969; 17(82), 269.
33 Lee, J., Kim, T. Y., Shin, J. S., Lee, J., Kim, H. N., Lee, Y. J., et al. Korean and conventional medicine tourism industry trends as indicated in medical tourism advertisement images: qualitative research using data from medical Korea 2015. Asia Pacific Journal of Tourism Research, 2018; 23(7), 703-713.   DOI
34 Brown S, Dawson W, Gunn J, McNair R. Review of shared obstetric care: summary report. Melbourne: Centre for the Study of Mothers' and Children's Health, La Trobe University. 1999.
35 Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service. First release of the results of the 'medical service patient experience evaluation' in which the patient participated [Internet]. Ministry of health and Welfare. Available from [https://www.hira.or.kr/bbsDummy.do?pgmid=HIRAA020041000100&brdScnBltNo=4&brdBltNo=10093&pageIndex=1.
36 Jenkinson, C., Coulter, A., Bruster, S. The Picker Patient Experience Questionnaire: development and validation using data from in-patient surveys in five countries. International Journal for Quality in Health Care, 2002; 14(5), 353-358.   DOI
37 Presler, B. Care coordination for children with special health care needs. Orthopaedic Nursing, 1998; 45.
38 Draper M, Cohen P, Buchan H. Seeking consumer views: what use are results of hospital patient satisfaction surveys?. International journal for quality in health care, 2001; 13(6), 463-468.   DOI
39 Earp JAL, French EA, Gilkey MB. Patient advocacy for health care quality: Strategies for achieving patient-centered care. Jones & Bartlett Publishers. 2008.
40 Feirn, A., Betts, D., Tribble, T. The patient experience: Strategies and approaches for providers to achieveand maintain a competitive advantage. New York: Deloitte LLP. 2009.
41 Bowling, A., Rowe, G., Lambert, N., Waddington, M., Mahtani, K. R., Kentenet, C. et al. The measurement of patients' expectations for health care: a review and psychometric testing of a measure of patients' expectations. Health Technology Assessment, 2012; 16 (30).   DOI
42 Pemberton, S., Richards, H. A vision of the future for patient experience. Nursing times, 2013; 109(33-34), 19-21.
43 Flores, G. The impact of medical interpreter services on the quality of health care: a systematic review. Medical care research and review, 2015; 62(3), 255-299.   DOI
44 Maguire A, Bussmann S, zu Kocker CM, Verra SE, Giurgi LA, Ruggeri K. Raising concern about the information provided on medical travel agency websites: a place for policy. Health Policy and Technology, 2016; 5(4), 414-422.   DOI
45 Hanefeld, J., Smith, R., Horsfall, D., Lunt, N. What do we know about medical tourism? A review of the literature with discussion of its implications for the UK National Health Service as an example of a public health care system. Journal of Travel Medicine, 2014; 21(6), 410-417.   DOI