A EUROPEAN PERSPECTIVE ON MEDICAL TOURISM: THE NEED FOR A KNOWLEDGE BASE

Since the early 1990s, medical tourism, whereby individuals choose to travel across national borders or overseas to receive treatments, has been increasingly recognized in the United States and Asia. This article highlights the emergence of medical tourism in the European context. It examines the dr...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:International journal of health services 2010-01, Vol.40 (3), p.469-484
Main Authors: Carrera, Percivil, Lunt, Neil
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Borders
Choice Behavior
Citizenship
Commerce - organization & administration
Consumerism
Empirical Research
Europe
European Union
Geographic mobility
Globalization
Globalization and Medical Care
Health services
Humans
Medical Tourism
Medical treatment
Mobility
Patients
Tourism
Tourists
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Since the early 1990s, medical tourism, whereby individuals choose to travel across national borders or overseas to receive treatments, has been increasingly recognized in the United States and Asia. This article highlights the emergence of medical tourism in the European context. It examines the drivers for such developments and situates medical tourism within the broader context of health globalization and forms of patient mobility in the European Union. In outlining the developments of medical tourism in Europe, the authors distinguish between two types of medical tourist: the citizen and the consumer. The discussion explores the need for greater empirical research on medical tourism in Europe and argues that such research will contribute toward knowledge of patient mobility and the broader theorization of medical tourism. The authors make suggestions about the content of this research agenda, including understanding the development of medical tourist markets, the nature of choice, equity implications, the role of brokers and intermediaries, and general issues for health management.
ISSN:0020-7314
1541-4469
DOI:10.2190/HS.40.3.e