Readiness of hospitals to infare medical tourism industry: Isfahan city

Medical tourism has become as one of the competitive industry in the world. Since medical tourists seeking high quality treatment and lower price, hospitals’ adaptation with the standards can provide quality service guarantee. This study aimed to assess the level of hospitals adaptation with the criteria and conditions determinate by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education, for medical tourist’s reception centers.

This study is analytic - descriptive and correlational one that was designed in 2013. The study population consisted of 11 university hospitals in Isfahan. Data were collected using a checklist form and field observations, interviews with staff and review documentation was collected. To describe the data frequency and percentage, mean and standard deviation and for the data analysis was performed using the Mann-Whitney and Spearman correlation coefficients test with SPSS Software.

The findings revealed that only slightly more than half of the studied hospitals acceptable in terms of adaptation with the terms and conditions set by the Ministry of Health and Medical Education are. Significant relationship between the number of medical tourists and the number of beds as well as a significant difference in the compatibility level between public and specialized hospitals were not studied. (P-value>0.05)

Research findings regarding the overall adaptation levels of studied hospitals in Isfahan indicate the relative Readiness of hospitals for medical tourism. However, as improved in some condition of hospitals including medical equipment and website, equipped kitchen and having an interpreter can promote readiness of medical centers and medical tourism market in the province.