College of Management I-Shou University Master Thesis a Study of Medical Tourism in Taiwan-A Comparative Perspective Advisor
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College of Management I-Shou University Master Thesis A Study of Medical Tourism in Taiwan-A Comparative Perspective Advisor: Yeh, Shang-Pao Graduate Student: Sung, Tzu-Ying Acknowledgments The thesis is not only issued by the achievement on the study, but also that I want to forward the new milestone at the same time. Reviewing the graduate student for two years, I desire to thank my professor, Yeh, Shang-Pao who offered me guidance and encouragement of thesis. Besides guiding the thesis writing, he lead me to greet and challenge several lives with the positive attitude. On the other hand, I also thank for committee Professor who provided for my suggestion on the day of oral examination with different aspects and make this thesis more intact. In addition, I will express gratitude to my parents; they foster me and devote time and money of them to enter the research institute arduously. My school classmate also help me while in the school, we study each other in thesis writing and remind the thesis progress each other. This is a progress with long hardships, but I am much honored guidance of study with my classmates and professor in with supreme compliments. Sung tzu-ying. Jul.3, 2011 i Table of Contents Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................... 1 1.1 Research Background ...................................................................................... 1 1.2 Research Motivation ....................................................................................... 3 1.3 Research Purpose ............................................................................................ 4 Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW ........................................................................ 4 2.1 Definition ........................................................................................................ 5 2.2 Increasing Global Activity .............................................................................. 6 2.3 Thailand ........................................................................................................... 9 2.4 India ............................................................................................................... 13 2.5 Singapore ....................................................................................................... 17 2.6 The status of medical tourism in Taiwan ....................................................... 17 Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY .................................................................................. 20 3.1 Research Design ............................................................................................ 20 3.1.1 Qualitative Research…………………………………………….…………………………...21 3.1.2 Semi-structured Interviews .................................................................. 22 3.1.3 Major bebefits of semi-structured Interviews ...................................... 23 3.1.4 Using the tool ....................................................................................... 23 3.2 Sampling Method .......................................................................................... 24 3.3 Research Process ........................................................................................... 26 Chapter 4 DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 4.1 Data analysis ................................................................................................. 27 4.2 Interviews ...................................................................................................... 34 4.2.1 Professional Medical Practitioner ........................................................ 34 4.2.2 Travel Agent ......................................................................................... 36 4.2.3 Insurance Agent .................................................................................... 37 4.2.4 Government Officer ............................................................................. 38 4.3 Summary of results ...................................................................................... 39 Chapter 5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION 5.1 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 40 5.2 Suggestion ..................................................................................................... 42 Reference .................................................................................................................... 45 ii List of Figures Figure1 International travellers reporting health treatment in 1996-2006……….…...7 Figure2 Origin of inbound medical travellers to the U.S.,2006…………….................8 iii List of Tables Table 1 The compare table....……………………………………………..…………………………..…..19 Table 2 Fundamental data of interviewers…………………….………………..……...............25 iv Abstract The medical tourism industry is globally recognized as one of the fastest growing market sectors today. Medical tourism combines lower-cost medical procedures with the patient’s desire to enjoy tourism in the locale providing such health care services. This study focuses on a comparison of relative data in three countries: Thailand, India and Singapore. This comparison is made in order to estimate how Taiwan may similarly improve the development of its own medical tourism industry. Through a literature review of the related industries in Asian countries, an analysis of factors leading to full exploitation of medical tourism’s potential in the respective three countries is made. At the same time, tables are made use of and an in-depth interview is used in a case study approach to explore the different aspects observed. Finally, the study uses quantitative research to analyze the collected data, include descriptive analyses. We can found that Taiwan tend to focus on medical service in medical tourism industry from the research outcome, our government should make relevant strategy between medical service and tourism industry in order to improve the international competitive. Keywords: Medical Tourism, Descriptive Analyses, Qualitative Research. v Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Medical services, technology and sustainable energy represent three of the major core growth areas in global industry today. The scope of this paper will concentrate on the first area of medical services and how they may be exploited economically through locality-based tourism. The scale of global health care market has reached 2 to 3 trillion U.S. dollars in 2005, with Singapore, South Korea, India, Thailand and other Asian countries in direct competition for the overall market. (The Economist Intelligence, 2005) Many experts consider that medical tourism will continue to remain a fast growing industry as patients travel from one country to another for high quality healthcare, providing many reasonable, cost-saving, or even prohibited alternatives. In 2009, according to The Medical Letter of the CDC & FDA, it was mentioned that the reputable accounting firm Deloitte & Touche provided an estimate stating that as many as 3 million Americans could possibly travel abroad, spending $4.4 billion, and possibly reaching 23.5 million Americans spending $79.5 billion U.S. Dollars by 2017. (Renee-Marie Stephano - Medical Tourism Association President) 1.1 Research Background The global market in medical tourism will be worth $100bn in or before 2012, up from around $60bn in 2006 and $40bn in 2004. This analysis, compiled by global researcher Grail Research LLC, suggests that increasing medical tourism has been driven, at least in part, by emerging countries investing large sums of limited financial resources in their bid to capture a slice of this lucrative niche market. (Zarocostas, 2009) With consequent social and economic development, medical tourism has increased the 1 number and variety of travel patterns that reflect a wider demand for tourism. Medical tourism is a fast growing industry that combines elements of both medical and tourism. Over the past few years, vigorous development has taken place in many countries because of the economic importance attached to this service sector. International competition has driven medical tourism to become one of the fastest growing industries, as well as becoming a major new trend worldwide. People are now going overseas to seek medical treatments such as organ and marrow transplants, joint replacement surgery, cosmetic surgery, etc. A combination of many factors have driven the popularity of medical tourism, especially the high costs of health care in the United Stated, long waits for facility access, and the increased consistency in worldwide standards of healthcare, technological advancements, and equipment quality. (Tompkins, 2010) Recently, a trend towards medical tourism has emerged whereby people in developed countries choose to forego the medical care offered in their own communities. These people decide to travel to under-developed areas of the world in order to receive comparable medical services at lower costs. Medical tourism has been becoming increasingly popular, and it is projected that as many as 750,000 Americans sought offshore medical care in 2007 alone. (Michael, 2007) The medical tourism industry in Asia currently generates US $1.3 billion in revenue for certain national economies, and it is expected to grow to as much as US $4.4 billion by 2012, growing at a CAGR of 19%. Currently, the major countries competing for medical tourists in Asia are Thailand, Singapore, India and Malaysia. (Ivy, 2007) Among