Prospects and problems of medical tourism in Bangladesh.

The growing trend of Bangladeshi patients travelling abroad for medical services has led to some soul-searching in policy circles. While other countries of the Southeast Asia region are profiting from medical tourism, Bangladesh not only lags behind, it also loses patients to these countries in a continuous stream. This exodus for medical treatment is seemingly driven by the higher perceived quality of treatment abroad, despite the fact that similar treatment is available more cost-effectively within the country.

Service experiences in hospitals in Bangladesh: are there gender inequities?

Purpose: The disparities faced by women, especially in Bangladesh, have a long and contentious history. From education and employment to health care and other social products, the marginalization of women has been stark. This paper aims to examine whether women experience poorer services than men in the hospitals in Bangladesh.

Doctors' service orientation in public, private, and foreign hospitals.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to propose a doctors' service orientation (DSO) scale and uses it to compare the services received in public, private and foreign hospitals in a developing country from the patient's perspective.

Design/methodology/approach: The scale was derived from the service quality literature and qualitative research. A questionnaire was designed next.

Patient satisfaction with health services in Bangladesh.

Concern over the quality of health care services in Bangladesh has led to loss of faith in public and private hospitals, low utilization of public health facilities, and increasing outflow of Bangladeshi patients to hospitals in neighbouring countries. Under the circumstances, assessment of the country's quality of health care service has become imperative, in which the patient's voice must begin to play a greater role. This study attempts to identify the determinants of patient satisfaction with public, private and foreign hospitals.