Showing 8 results for Tourism
Irvan Masoudi Asl, Taha Nasiri, Nooredin Dopeykar, Lida Shams,
Volume 9, Issue 2 (7-2015)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Health tourism is considered a national strategy to
increase the income of the country and also is considered one of the pillars of
national security. This aim of this study was to determine the impact of observing
the standards of Joint Commission International (JCI) related to Patient-oriented on
attracting health tourists.
Materials and Methods: This research is an applied descriptive- analytical
study that is conducted cross-sectional in selected hospitals in Tehran during year
2012. Five hospitals with using purposive sampling were selected as the sample
size in this study. The instrument of data gathering is Commission standard
checklist JCI which has seven patient-oriented areas. Reliability and validity of this
checklist have demonstrated in previous studies. Data was collected by
observation, interview and document review. After collecting the data, data
analysis using descriptive and inferential statistics such as mean and Pearson
correlation coefficient were used in the statistical software SPSS 16.
Results: The rate of observance of the Patient-oriented standards in hospitals
was different in this study. The overall average of standard observance was 3.16
.Anesthesia and surgical care areas and also standards of Patient and family rights
have highest (3/60) and lowest (2/93) mean scores respectively. Results of this
study showed a positive correlation (r=0/341) between the observance of JCI
standards with attraction of health tourist.
Conclusion: Establishments of mechanisms for accreditation of care centers
such as JCI standards enhance the quality of health services and will attract more
Health tourists.
Abdollah Naami , Azadeh Chatrooz ,
Volume 11, Issue 5 (1-2018)
Abstract
Background & Aim: Planning in medical tourism is important. This study was conducted to assess factors, elements and development plans of medical tourism and situation study and analysis of Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS).
Materials and Methods: This mixed method study was conducted in 2017. In systematic review, published studies searched between years 2006 to 2016. In the second phase, medical tourism data of TUMS explored as retrospective cross sectional and expert viewpoint analysis in medical tourism concept.
Results: 39 published articles were assessed. According to results, admissions and total payment of foreign patients in all hospitals of TUMS in 2016 were 21788 and around 18.5 billion Tomans respectively.
Qualitative results showed that, there were not transparence program and suitable physical area and TUMS needs to comprehensive planning, supportive infrastructure of foreign patients, correction of transportation system and improve marketing.
Conclusion: Despite the history of TUMS hospitals in attraction of foreign patients and analyzing it, there were many limitations to achieve good situation. Although assessing patients viewpoints can provide a platform to solve problems and limitations according to priorities.
Masood Taheri Mirghaed, Batool Ahmadi, Abbas Rahimi Foroushani, Ghasem Rajabi Vasoukolaii, Mohammad Arab,
Volume 13, Issue 6 (2-2020)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Nowadays, medical tourism market is considered as one of the most profitable and competitive industries in the world and is one of the new areas of advanced tourism. The aim of this study was to investigate the marketing status of medical tourism in private and public hospitals affiliated to Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) in 2018.
Materials and Methods: This is a cross-sectional descriptive-analytic study that investigated the marketing status of medical tourism in 6 private and 14 public hospitals affiliated to TUMS in 2018. A valid checklist was used for data collection; besides, SPSS software, descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney test and Kruskal-Wallis test were applied for data analysis.
Results: Product factor has a satisfactory status in state-owned hospitals and an average status in private hospitals. Place factor, people factor, process factor, and physician factor are satisfactory in public and private hospitals. Promotion factor in public hospitals is unacceptable and in private hospitals is average. Besides, price and place factors in public and private hospitals are average. Moreover, there is no significant relationship between any of the above factors and the type of hospitals (public, private).
Conclusion: Due to marketing mix, hospitals and medical institutions can increase the confidence of tourists by adopting international standards in addition to enhancing international reputation. Also, paying more attention to media advertising and providing more facilities can improve the condition of hospitals, thereby attracting more medical tourists and expanding the industry in Tehran.
Reza Dehghan, Hamideh Reshadatjoo, Kambeiz Talebi, Hossein Dargahi,
Volume 14, Issue 6 (1-2021)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Health tourism is one of the most important tourism types in Iran. Iran has many strengths in health tourism. Also, there are challenges such as communication and information inconsistency in the health tourism industry and the outbreak of COVID-19 disease. Due to the unknown issues about COVID-19, it is important to determine effective strategies to control the consequences and reduce the economic and social effects of the virus in all industries, especially the health tourism industry.
Materials and Methods: In this systematic review study, 500 published papers from 2018 to 2020 were evaluated. In the group interview section, we used the views of participated health tourism experts in the scientific events in Iran, Turkey, and Oman. Also, the SWOC Analysis model (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and challenges) and MAXQDA software were applied.
Results: The results showed that the selected strategies were defensive and competitive. This research showed that the strengths of the health tourism industry overcome the weaknesses and development opportunities outweigh the challenges. Also, the maintenance strategy is the best strategy to support health tourism in the current situation in Iran.
Conclusion: It is necessary to be following issues for the politicians of Iran's health tourism industry to design a comprehensive document of Iran Health Tourism Diplomacy, preparation of a strategic plan for the development of health tourism, establish an independent organization of Iran Health Tourism, develop electronic health in the health tourism industry, design a health tourism insurance system, and…, with the aim of entrance to the current markets and creating new foreign markets.
Moslem Soleymanpor, Mohamad Taghi Amini, Yazdan Shirmohammadi, Ali Shahnazari,
Volume 15, Issue 5 (1-2022)
Abstract
Background and Aim: With the global expansion of Covid 19, the tourism industry has faced one of its biggest operational, commercial and financial crises, and most of the source-destination interactions have been suspended and have changed the view of the host community and their interactions with tourists. The purpose of this study is to provide a model for tourism development during the Covid 19 crisis and beyond.
Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using a combined (qualitative-quantitative) research approach. First, in a qualitative method with the data foundation approach, interviews with academic experts and managers and activists of the tourism industry in East and West Azerbaijan Provinces, and using purposeful and theoretical sampling, 18 people were selected to the point of information saturation. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Data extracted from interviews were encoded by open, axial and selective coding. Then, to fit and test the obtained model in the second step (quantitative part), the method of structural equation modeling and confirmatory factor analysis were used.
Results: The final model consists of a total of 66 concepts extracted from the interviews, in the form of 14 categories and contextual categories, causal conditions, interventional conditions, strategies and finally, consequences and results of tourism entrepreneurship in pandemic crises and all of them affect this model. Based on the results of combined reliability, extracted variance, model determination coefficient and goodness-of-fit index, the drawn model in the field of path analysis has good experimental-theoretical assumptions and has a very good fit. Based on the obtained path coefficients, it can be concluded that the intervention conditions had the most and the causal conditions had the least impact on the strategic model of the tourism industry in pandemic crises.
Conclusion: Results indicate that strategies such as virtual tourism development, crisis management in the tourism industry, the development of domestic tourism by emphasizing the observance of health protocols and focusing on the development of tourism infrastructure, leads to the realization of consequences such as the maintenance and prosperity of tourism businesses, strengthening the tourism industry and creating a new tourism market for the post-corona era.
Hamzeh Amin-Tahmasbi, Kimia Malekzadeh Shafaroudi,
Volume 16, Issue 4 (10-2022)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Today, treatment is one of the important goals of tourism. Tourism in health and healthcare is growing rapidly in the world. Despite the fact that Guilan province, as one of the most important and touristic provinces of the country, has an annual population of 500,000 foreign tourists and can be the center of health tourism in Iran. Unfortunately, this province has not been able to have a proper share of the revenues of this field and attract foreign patients in parallel with its treatment capacities.
Materials and Method: The aim of this study was to identify the factors affecting the development of health tourism. In this regard, first, literature review was used and opinions of experts in this field, who were employees in five hospitals in Rasht, including Velayat, PourSina, Aria, Pars and Qaem hospitals, were selected using the Snowball sampling method. Twenty-five effective factors were identified and using Delphi method, 14 factors were selected as the final factor. Then by used of the Best and Worst Method (BWM), the importance of each factor was determined. Finally, using DEMATEL method, the effect of this factor on each other was determined.
Results: After conducting two rounds of Delphi, 11 factors that had an average lower than the average of the total opinions of the experts and there was more disagreement about them were eliminated. Then, by implementing the best-worst method, the quality of medical services was determined as the most important factor, and the ease of booking an appointment in advance for admission and the status of the banking system were determined as the least important factors among the final factors. Also, based on the results of the DEMATEL method, the quality of medical services has the greatest effect and the ease of booking an appointment in advance for admission has the least effect on other factors. Finally, the quality of medical services is the most effective and appropriate advertising about health tourism in domestic and foreign chambers of commerce has the least effectiveness.
Conclusion: Health tourism in Iran despite the relative quality and cheap price, has not yet found its place in the market due to the lack of proper advertising is still taking the first steps. Considering the environmental conditions and the existence of tourism aspects of Rasht, carrying out measures such as improving the quality of medical services, appropriate marketing, and improving infrastructures will lead to the development and improvement of health tourism, and as a result, increasing satisfaction and attracting more customers.
Rahil Nahari, Saeed Hashemzadeh, Ehsan Zarei,
Volume 16, Issue 6 (1-2023)
Abstract
Background and Aim: Medical tourism refers to travel for receiving health services abroad. The COVID-19 crisis affected a wide range of tourism-related businesses, including medical tourism, and caused a decrease in the supply and demand of health services in this market. This study aimed to investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Medical Tourism in Iran.
Materials and Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in Iran in 2021. The data used in this study were extracted from the information system of the Ministry of Health from 2018 to 2021, which includes the number, origin, and destination of medical tourists, per capita revenue, and monthly revenue two years before and one and a half years after the COVID-19 pandemic. For data analysis, t-tests of independent groups and interrupted time series regression were used in SPSS and EViews 10 software.
Results: The COVID-19 pandemic has caused a 42% decrease in the average monthly number of medical tourists, a 45% decrease in the monthly revenue, and a 10% decrease in the per capita income per tourist (P<0.05). The arrival of medical tourists from the Republic of Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Oman has decreased by more than 80%, and the largest decrease in the number of tourists has been related to Ahvaz, Urmia, Tabriz, and Shiraz. In all diagnostic groups except obstetrics and gynecology, there has been a decrease between 50 to 70% The declining trend of medical tourism indicators was stopped in the second year of the COVID-19 pandemic and has continued as a constant trend.
Conclusion: The COVID-19 crisis has hurt the number of international patients and their revenue in Iran. Relative success in controlling COVID-19 can return to a pre-pandemic situation that requires appropriate policies and administrative measures by government and industry players, such as policies to facilitate patient entry, marketing measures, branding and creating a positive image of the country to potential clients, use of telemedicine facilities for consultations and follow-up, etc.
Setareh Talayeh, Farzad Firouzi Jahantigh, Fatemeh Bahman,
Volume 17, Issue 5 (12-2023)
Abstract
Background and Aim: The tourism industry plays a very important role in the economic cycle of society. Medical tourism, as one of the types of tourism industries, has a direct result in globalizing health care. Therefore, by strengthening the supply chain in this area, a very high added value can be achieved. For this reason, the present study provides a conceptual framework for predicting the demand for medical tourism supply chain by determining the relationship between medical tourism demand and economic, medical, and welfare-service components of Zahedan city.
Materials and Methods: The present study is a descriptive-analytical and applied research. Data were collected using a questionnaire and field and library methods. The statistical population of interest was specialist doctors in Zahedan city, and 97 people were selected using simple random sampling with Morgan’s table. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed by experts and its reliability was obtained using Cronbach’s alpha coefficient with SPSS software more than 0.7. Data analysis was performed using the tangent sigmoid neural network algorithm, linear regression criteria, and mean square error. For this purpose, SPSS software was used to examine the correlation between the data, and MATLAB software was used to design the neural network.
Results: There was anerrore in The basis for the optimality of the answers, linear regression criteria and mean square error. The results showed that the values related to regression, education, and health were more than 0.8 and were 0.9033, 0.8818, and 0.9985, respectively. The highest priorities of the respondents related to medical equipment, education, and health were 0.5657, 0.5558, and 0.20726, respectively.
Conclusion: According to the results obtained from the proposed model, the neural network has a high accuracy in predicting the demand for medical tourism supply chain in terms of education, health, and welfare. It is also predicted that the demand for medical tourism has been constant during the one-year period of research and it is expected that medical tourism in Zahedan city will decrease in future. Therefore, it is recommended that officials pay attention to the development and improvement of medical tourism to promote it.