Medical Tourism in Developing Countries

CHAPTER 3Offshore Doctors: The Demand forMedical TourismMedical tourism is niche tourism, like ecotourism, religious tourism,and adventure tourism. Robinson and Novelli describetourist niches as depending on the existence of a market as wellas an audience for the product. 1 Such tourism does not draw masses butrather it appeals to a select number of people whose demand is big enoughto generate sufficient business. Medical tourism, with its component medicaland tourist parts, has both a market and an audience. Unlike ecotourism,in which a traveler will choose a destination and then seek an ecology focus,in medical tourism the traveler chooses medical care first, and only thenpairs it with a destination and possibly even a vacation tie-in. 2 As alltourism is goal oriented (in the sense that travelers want to see a sight, orexperience a tribal encounter, or touch a historical artifact, or simply party),so too medical tourism occurs with a specific goal in mind. The travelingpatient aims to purchase a particular service and to achieve a defined healthgoal. That patient seeks to maximize utility subject to his income constraints.In that calculation, medical services dominate, but nonmedicalservices, including the accommodations, restaurant meals, excursions, andground transportation, are not insignificant to the total experience.In his efforts to minimize costs of health care, the patient has become atourist. In his efforts to maximize utility, Homo Turisticus has become aniche seeker. That particular niche calls for a seamless integration betweenthe medical and the hospitality industries. The result of this integration isthe market for medical tourism, discussed in this chapter.To understand this market in developing countries, one must examineboth demand and supply. With respect to demand, we must ask: who arethe international patients, where do they come from, and why are theyseeking health care outside of their own home states? What else are they