Medical Tourism in Iran, Reevaluation on the New Trends: A Narrative Review

Abstract

Background: This narrative review aimed to reevaluate the medical tourism sector in Iran to reveal the new trends and activities in order to know the current actual share of Iran in the competitive market of global medical tourism.
 Methods: A holistic approach was adopted to analyze the information collected through a system of investigation that comprised the available secondary data, besides the information and statistical data about the associated organizations to this sector in Iran.
 Results: Iran’s medical tourism sector is consistent with the new trends in global market, which is mainly bordered countries-based, cultural-oriented, and diasporic type of travelling.
 Conclusion: It would be more realistic in the contemporary situation to focus the promotions on the border countries, and design the policy, and implementation in accordance with their cultural and social preferences. Activities in both levels of governmental and micro-level planning are demanded, under the cover of a comprehensive monitoring system. This review will benefit researchers exploring the updated evaluation of Iran’s medical tourism; also, it provides helpful insights to authorities in both governmental and private sector.

Developmental Strategies of the Promotion Policies in Medical Tourism Industry in South Korea: A 10-Year Study (2009-2018)

“…The number of patients has increased continuously and now the Korean medical tourism industry aims to attract 800,000 foreign patients by 2020. While there have been improvements in the growth of the industry, the needs of patients from various countries and culture have been diversified and their standards on the quality of medical tourism have been increased, that roots in the cultural and family preferences (25, 26).…”

How Sanctions Have Impacted Iranian Healthcare Sector: A Brief Review

“…Unfortunately, sanctions have also affected Iran's prominence in medical tourism in the region, so that while Iran had the potential to earn $7 billion annually, this has been reduced to less than $1 billion per year. 31 A more concerning issue is the brain drain from the sanctioned countries like Iran. Typically, when scientists find it too challenging to pursue science in their homeland, they migrate to resource-rich countries to continue their career trajectories.…”

The Medical Tourism Industry in Iran: A Review of Websites Designed for Cross-border Patients

“…While it is possible to improve the quality of services and satisfaction by engaging patients in the care process (25), only two websites clearly showed that feedback or suggestion mechanisms are used to assess medical tourists' views on services they required or had received. Previous research has shown that the existing medical tourism industry in Iran, including the associated ICT infrastructure and websites, has been underdeveloped and is not practical enough to retain consumer interest (17,22,23). These studies argue that the use of such websites does not allow patients to survey their needs, opinions, or feedback.…”

“…In 2012, Iran hosted 3.3 million tourists (14), most of whom sought medical treatment (15). Likewise, in the first seven months of 2018, over 4.7 million visitors arrived in Iran, of whom around 300,000, largely from Central Asian and Arab countries, were possibly attracted to the country's health care system (16,17). Given the above, it is reasonable to believe that Iran has an extremely large scope for medical tourism to grow.…”

“…However, it is unclear what proportion of ICT development contributes to the Iranian medical tourism industry. Existing research argues that Iran faces an absence of well-established media and appropriate website contents to provide medical tourists with essential facilities and services (17,22,23). Yet, few studies have examined the structure, data elements, and performance of Iranian medical tourism websites.…”