The impact of country image and patient cosmopolitanism on medical tourism.

The purpose of this research is to examine the impact affective/cognitive country image, cosmopolitanism, and satisfaction with insurance have on patient willingness to go abroad for surgery. Patients are presented a scenario where they select having knee replacement surgery domestically, having to pay all co-pays and deductibles, or abroad (Mexico, India, Israel) for free surgery at a JCI certified hospital. Results indicate cosmopolitanism impacts patient perception of medical tourism whilst affective and cognitive country image exhibit varying levels of significance.

Patient consideration of local hospital, center of excellence, and medical tourism options for surgery.

This research analyzes factors that patients consider when offered the option to have surgeries (knee-replacement or heart bypass) at one of three locations (local hospital, Center of Excellence hospital, or Medical Tourism) with financial incentives varying based on location/surgery. Quantitative and qualitative results, based on a national online survey of respondents over 45 years old, found a significant relationship between perceived risk and satisfaction based on location of the surgery. However, specific individual factors, such as personal responsibilities, concerns with travel, perception of healthcare quality, are found to impact patient location preference for surgery.