Assessment Task:
Medical Tourism Case Study Research Assessment Answer

 

Research Objectives

The study’s main objective is to identify and understand the travel intentions among foreign medical tourists in Prince Court Medical Centre. Other objectives were;

1.    To identify the Prince Court Medical Centre’s selling points from the perspectives of foreign medical tourists.
2.    To identify the facility’s prices of most sought services.
3.    To compare the facility prices against those of other competing destinations in the city as perceived by foreign medical tourists.
4.    To evaluate the facility’s international brand awareness and information sources consulted as perceived by potential foreign medical tourists.
5.    To review the facility’s medical staff’s expertise in providing quality services and customer-centred from foreign medical tourists’ perception.
6.    To document the facility’s medical treatment success rates and that perceived by the foreign medical tourists.
7.    To measure the level of the facility’s trust from foreign medical tourists.
8.    To understand the aspects of customer needs as reported by foreign medical tourists.
9.    To evaluate the facility’s surrounding community’s favourable or unfavourable cultures that may impact foreign medical tourist intention for visits.
10.    To review areas of improvements as reported by foreign medical tourists.

 

Background of the Study

Medical tourism is a concept describing the private arrangements and purchases of medical care by patients across international borders ( Snyder, Crooks & Johnston, 2012). It usually involves other activities such as leisure, fun and relaxation besides wellness and healthcare services. Medical facilities in many countries worldwide are positioning themselves to attract more international patients amid the growing level of global health (Bhuiyan, Siwar & Ismail (2013).

Health tourists’ destinations develop as a result of the provision of world-class medical facilities and services in the destination regions (Ormand, 2011). Health tourists are also motivated by failure in their own native countries’ health system to meet the medical needs of the potential tourists. Medical needs can be a broad concept underpinnings services desired by patients which may be lacking in patents' own countries.

Factors associated with the demand for medical tourism such as poor quality medical services, high cost of medical services, unavailability of the desired medical services and prohibitive regulations on certain medical procedures are among the driving forces in patients own countries to seek medical treatment abroad (Cohen and Prall, 2015; Ormond, 2011). Malaysia has over the years been ranked among the best tourists’ destinations in the world (MTQUA, 2018; Nault, 2019). Medical services in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur increasing developed its infrastructure in response to the unmet medical needs in foreign countries. Medical tourism presents an opportunity to combine medical services with exotic resort destinations and access to distinct medical services for international patients (Turner, 2012).

The development of medical tourism in Malaysia and beyond has mounted significant pressure on governments, providers, travel industries, tourism and hospitality industries across the world to redesign their infrastructure, facilities and services that have the potential of selling out as preferred medical tourism destination for international patients. 

Growth in Malaysia’s medical tourism industry may be attributed to collaborative efforts between governments and medical tourism stakeholders in promoting health services and tourism in the region (Musa, Thirumoorthi, & Doshi, 2012). Contributing factors to the growth of medical tourism include affordable air travel, favorable currency exchange rates, a world population that is aging and becoming more affluent, and the ability to search for medical services via the Internet. (Ruggeri et al., 2015).
Despite the establishment of Malaysia as the best medical tourism destination globally, it is however not the only medical tourism destination in the region. Asian region, line up many other destination countries, competing to attract medical tourists all over the world. Sources countries of arrivals to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia comprises of health tourist from United Kingdom, Indonesia, Australia, United States, Japan, China, India, Philippines among others. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia is in strong competition with other medical tourism destinations in the Asian region such as Thailand and Singapore (UNESCAP, 2007). Provision of quality cardiovascular care and Fertility treatment services uniquely identifies Malaysia as a medical tourism destination in Asia and beyond. This is due to the increasing number of advanced heart treatment centres and fertility centres with success rates above the global average to over thirty-three in 2019.

The medical tourism industry in Malaysia, benefit greatly from the government's efforts to improve the medical tourism industry. Government efforts such as visa period extension and provision of tax incentives to private hospitals facilitate infrastructure improvements (i.e. refurbishing wards and rooms) for the international patients (M. Ormond, Mun, & Khoon, 2014).

Prince court medical Centre, a 270-bed private healthcare facility located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, has been ranked as one of the leading medical tourism destinations in Asia (Nault,2019). The facility offers comprehensive services into the highest international standards through world-class facility innovative technology and excellent customer services. The facility received international accreditation by the Joint commission international, painting the centre as one of the best medical tourism destinations that have illustrated and practised high standards of medical care (Prince Court, n.d). 

Despite the Prince Court medical centre achieving high ranks and international accreditation, the facility experiences huge competition from other accredited hospitals and centres in the market (The Asian Post, 2016). Services improvements coupled with a detailed understanding of the complex needs of the international patients visiting the facility may be a game-changer in increasing the facility's health tourists’ visits and future sustainability. The complexity of foreign tourists’ needs forms their travel intentions for visiting Prince Court medical centre for medical treatment. This research report provides critical analysis of travel intentions among foreign medical tourists from the perspectives of both foreign medical tourists considering a visit to a medical tourism destination or has previously visited destinations the study is focused on.

 

Research Questions

The pertinent questions that the study answers relate to the factors influencing travel intentions among the foreign medical tourists, conceptualized as; price competitiveness, service quality and customer services. Prince Court is an internationally accredited medical tourism destination facing competition from other accredited destinations in Kuala Lumpur. Aspects of the price competitiveness examined formed part of the research questions for answering broad objective of identifying travel intentions among foreign tourist in Prince Court Medical Center. Among the questions are;

Q1. What is the facility’s general perceptions on treatment prices?
Q2. What are the prices of services soughed in relation prices of similar services in the other destinations?
Q3. What are the prices of related tourism services in the city?
Q4. How does the facility promote the prices of the awareness of its services internationally?
Q5. How affordable are the services sought in Prince Court Medical Centre, compared to perceived prices from other accredited medical tourism destination in the city?

Service quality is widely supported by many scholars as a factor influencing the choice of a medical tourism destination by foreign medical tourists. The study examines the service quality issues from the perspectives of the international patients visiting Prince Court as their preferred destination and experiences of those who visited the destination. Service quality issues from foreign medical tourists’ perspectives such as perceived medical staffs’ expertise, medical treatment success rates, waiting time, the safety of medical procedures, security and confidentially of patients’ data and level of technology used formed part of the research questions focus areas. Among the questions are;

Q1. What reputation does the facility’s holds on the level of medical staff’s expertise as perceived by international patients?
Q2. What level of medical treatment success rates does the facility is known for from the foreign medical tourists’ perspective?
Q3. How efficient is the services in Prince Court Medical Centre, in terms of treatment waiting times?
Q4. How safe are the general medical procedures in Prince Court perceived by international patients?
Q5. What level of trust does the facility holds from foreign medical tourists’ perspectives in maintaining confidentiality and security of international patients’ data?
Q6. What level of technology used at the facility as perceived by potential foreign medical tourists?

Customer service is important as the medical industry continues to be customer-driven (Nakra, 2011). The services consumed by foreign medical tourists are often those that provide services that are high quality, lower in costs compared to that of their own countries, availability of range of medical options and the health outcomes and customer experience during and after treatment (Sarwar,Manaf, Omar, 2012). The study answers the questions pertaining to customer centred needs and needs beyond the medical treatment aspects such as travelling experience, favourable climate, culture, availability of attractive tourist sites in the city, exotic hotels and resorts. Among the questions are;

Q1. Is the facility able to provide services that meet customer needs of international patients? 
Q2. Does the facility provide a range of services most sought by foreign medical tourists?
Q3. What customer experience is perceived from foreign medical tourists before, during and after visiting Prince Court Medical Center?
Q4. How is it easy to travel to Malaysia?
Q5. Is the facility‘s surrounding have tourism attractive sites?
Q6. How favourable is the facility’s surrounding community culture from foreign medical tourists’ perspectives?

 

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  • Posted on : December 18th, 2018

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