• Please log in or register to access this feature.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

You have free access to this content

A Framework for Exploring the Policy Implications of UK Medical Tourism and International Patient Flows

  1. Neil T. Lunt*,
  2. Russell Mannion,
  3. Mark Exworthy

Article first published online: 18 JAN 2012

DOI: 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2011.00833.x

Issue

Social Policy & Administration

Social Policy & Administration

Volume 47, Issue 1, pages 1–25, February 2013

Additional Information

How to Cite

Lunt, N. T., Mannion, R. and Exworthy, M. (2013), A Framework for Exploring the Policy Implications of UK Medical Tourism and International Patient Flows. Social Policy & Administration, 47: 1–25. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9515.2011.00833.x

Author Information

  1. Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, UK

*Neil T. Lunt, Department of Social Policy and Social Work, University of York, Heslington, York YO10 5DD, UK. Email: neil.lunt@york.ac.uk

Publication History

  1. Issue published online: 8 JAN 2013
  2. Article first published online: 18 JAN 2012

SEARCH

SEARCH BY CITATION

ARTICLE TOOLS

View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (354K)

References

  • Abel-Smith, B. (1976), Value for money in health services: a comparative study, London: Heinemann.
  • Arya, R., Barnes, J. A., Hossain, U., Patel, R. K. and Cohen, A. T. (2002), Long-haul flights and deep vein thrombosis: a significant risk only when additional factors are also present, British Journal of Haematology, 116, 3: 653–4.
    Direct Link:
  • Bender, T., Balint, P. V. and Balint, G. P. (2002), A brief history of spa therapy, Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, 61, 10: 949–50.
  • Bertinato, L., Busse, R., Fahy, N., Legido-Quigley, H., McKee, M., Palm, W., Passarani, I. and Ronfini, F. (2005), Cross-Border Health Care in Europe, Policy Brief, WHO on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Copenhagen.
  • Birch, J., Caulfield, R. and Ramakrishnan, V. (2007), The complications of ‘cosmetic tourism’– an avoidable burden on the NHS, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery, 60, 9: 1075–7.
  • Blank, R. H. and Burau, V. (2010), Comparative Health Policy (3rd edn), Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
  • Botten, G., Grepperud, S. and Nerland, S. M. (2004), Trading patients: Lessons from Scandinavia, Health Policy, 69, 3: 317–27.
  • Brozek, J. (2011), Determinants Which Attract British Residents to go to Poland for Dental Treatment, Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of International Health Care Management Masters, Management Center, Innsbruck.
  • Carrera, P. (2006), Medical tourism, Health Affairs, 25, 5: 1453.
  • Chang, S. H., Stoll, C. R. and Colditz, G. A. (2011), Cost-effectiveness of bariatric surgery: should it be universally available? Maturitas, 69, 3: 230–8.
  • Charatan, F. (2001), Foreigners flock to Cuba for medical care, BMJ, 322, 7296: 1198.
  • Connell, J. (2006), Medical tourism: sea, sun, sand, and . . . surgery, Tourism Management, 27, 6: 1093–100.
  • Cormany, D. (2010), Hospitality and destination marketing's role in medical tourism: a call for research, International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2, 1: 38–58.
  • Cormany, D. and Baloglu, S. (2010), Medical travel facilitator websites: An exploratory study of web page contents and services offered to the prospective medical tourist, Tourism Management, 32: 709–16.
  • Crinson, I. (2008), Health Policy: A critical perspective, London: Sage.
  • Crisp, N. (2010), Turning The World Upside Down – the search for global health in the 21st century, London: Hodder Education.
  • Crone, R. K. (2008), Flat Medicine? Exploring Trends in the Globalization of Health Care, Academic Medicine, 83: 117–21.
  • Crooks, V. A., Kingsbury, P., Snyder, J. and Johnston, R. (2010), What is known about the patient's experience of medical tourism? A scoping review, BMC Health Services Research, 10: 266.
  • Crozier, G. K. D. and Baylis, F. (2010), The ethical physician encounters international medical travel, Journal of Medical Ethics, 36: 297–301.
  • Cyranoski, D. (2001), Building a biopolis, Nature, 412: 370–1.
  • Department of Health (2011), Health and Social Care Bill 2011. Coordinating document for the impact assessments and equality impact assessments, London: HMSO.
  • Dixon, A., Robertson, R., Appleby, J., Burge, P., Devlin, N. and Magee, H. (2010), Patient Choice: how patients choose and how providers respond, London: Kings Fund.
  • Ehrbeck, T., Guevara, C. and Mango, P. D. (2008), Mapping the market for medical tourism, McKinsey Quarterly, May: 1–11.
  • Exworthy, M., Kanavos, P. and Khondoker, F. (2001), Cross-border patient flows for health care in Europe: a feasibility study, A report for the Department of Health Volumes I and II Final report, December, London: Department of Health.
  • Exworthy, M. and Peckham, S. (2006), Access, choice and travel: implications for health policy, Social Policy & Administration, 40, 3: 267–87.
    Direct Link:
  • Exworthy, M., Frosini, F. and Jones, L. (2011), Are NHS foundation trusts able and willing to exercise autonomy? ‘You can take a horse to water . . .’, Journal of Health Services Research and Policy, 16, 4: 232–7.
  • Fedorov, G., Tata, S., Raveslooy, B., Dhakal, G., Kanosue, Y. and Roncarati, M. (2009), Medical Travel in Asia and the Pacific: challenges and opportunities, Bangkok: UN Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific.
  • Fotaki, M., Boyd, A., McDonald, R., Smith, L., Roland, M., Edwards, A., Elwyn, G. and Sheaff, R. (2005), Patient Choice and the Organisation and Delivery of Health Services: Scoping Review, Manchester: Department of Health, NCCSDO, Manchester Business School.
  • Freedman, D. O., Weld, L. H., Kozarsky, P. E., Fisk, T., Robins, R., von Sonnenburg, F., Keystone, J. S., Pandey, P. and Cetron, M. S. (2006), Spectrum of disease and relation to place of exposure among ill returned travellers, New England Journal of Medicine, 354, 2: 119–30.
  • George, B. P., Henthorne, T. L. and Williams, A. J. (2010), Determinants of satisfaction and dissatisfaction among preventive and curative medical tourists: a comparative analysis, International Journal of Behavioural and Healthcare Research, 2, 1: 5–19.
  • Gesler, W. (1992), Therapeutic landscapes: Medical issues in light of the new cultural geography, Social Science Medicine, 34: 735–46.
  • Glinos, I. A., Baeten R., Helble, M. and Maarse, H. (2010), A typology of cross-border patient mobility, Health and Place, 16, 6: 1145–55.
  • Goodrich, J. N. (1993), Socialist Cuba: A Study of Health Tourism, Journal of Travel Research, 32, 1: 36–41.
  • Green, S. T. (2009), Quality control and accreditation of health service providers and facilities , paper prepared for the World Health Organization, Workshop on the movement of patients across international borders – Emerging challenges and opportunities for health care systems, Kobe, Japan, 24–25 February.
  • Greener, I. and Mannion, R. (2009), Patient choice in the NHS: what is the effect of choice on patients and relationships in local health economies? Public Money and Management, 29, 2: 95–100.
  • Gurwitz, A. S. and Kingsley, T. G. (1982), The Cleveland Metropolitan Economy, Santa Monica, CA: Rand Corp.
  • Hall, C. M. (2011), Health and medical tourism: a kill or cure for global public health? Tourism Review, 66, 1/2: 4–15.
  • Hall, C. M. and James, M. (2011), Medical tourism: emerging biosecurity and nosocomial issues, Tourism Review, 66, 1/2: 118–26.
  • Handschin, A. E., Banic, A. and Constantinescu, M. A. (2007), Pulmonary Embolism After Plastic Surgery Tourism, Clinical and Applied Thrombosis/Hemostasis, 13, 3: 340.
  • Hay, B. and Botterill, D. (2010), From a medical tourism hospital to a National Health Service hospital in eight easy years! A case study of the Golden Jubilee Hospital in Glasgow, Scotland , paper given at the Medical Tourism Conference, Centre for Cross Cultural Understanding Masterclass NHTV Breda University of Applied Sciences, Breda University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands.
  • Hembry, P. M. (1990), The English Spa, 1560–1815: A Social History, London: Athlone.
  • Herrick, D. M. (2007), Medical Tourism: Global Competition in Health Care. NCPA Policy Reports, Dallas: National Center for Policy Analysis.
  • Heung, V. C. S., Kucukusta, D. and Song, H. (2010), A Conceptual Model of Medical Tourism: Implications for Future Research, Journal of Travel & Tourism Marketing, 27: 236–51.
  • Huat, J. Y. C. (2006a), Medical Tourism/Medical Travel (part one), SMA News, 38: 17–21.
  • Huat, J. Y. C. (2006b), Medical Tourism/Medical Travel (part two), SMA News, 38: 14–16.
  • Humphrey, C. (2004), Place, Space and Reputation: The Changing Role of Harley Street in English Health Care, Social Theory & Health, 2, 2: 153–69.
  • Hurwitz, B. and Sheikh, A. (2009), Health Care Errors and Patient Safety, Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Institute of Medicine (2001), Crossing the Quality chasm: A new health system for the 21st Century, Committee on Quality of Health Care in America, Institute of Medicine, Washington: National Academy Press.
  • Jafari, J. (2001), The Scientification of Tourism. In V. Smith and M. Brent (eds), Hosts and Guests Revisited: Tourism Issues of The 21st Century, Elmsford: Cognizant Communications, pp. 28–41.
  • Johnson, T. J. and Garman, A. N. (2010), Impact of medical travel on imports and exports of medical services, Health Policy, 98: 171–7.
  • Jeevan, R. and Armstrong, A. (2008), Cosmetic tourism and the burden on the NHS, Journal of Plastic Reconstructive Aesthetic Surgery, 61, 12: 1423–4.
  • Jones, C. A. and Keith, L. G. (2006), Medical tourism and reproductive outsourcing: the dawning of a new paradigm for healthcare, International Journal of Fertility, 51, 6: 251–5.
  • Krishnan. N., Cockwell, P., Devulapally, P., Gerber, B., Hanvesakul, R., Higgins, R., Ready, A., Carmichael, P., Tomlinson, K., Kumar, S., Baharani, J. and Dasgupta, I. (2010), Organ trafficking for live donor kidney transplantation in Indoasians Resident in the West Midlands: high activity and poor outcomes, Transplantation, 89, 12: 1455–61.
  • Kumarasamy, K. K. et al. (2010), Emergence of a new antibiotic resistance mechanism in India, Pakistan, and the UK: a molecular, biological, and epidemiological study, The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 10, 9: 597–602.
  • Laing, R., Hogerzeil, H. and Ross-Degnan, D. (2001), Ten recommendations to improve use of medicines in developing countries, Health Policy and Planning, 16, 1: 13–20.
  • Lee, C. G. (2010), Health care and tourism: Evidence from Singapore, Tourism Management, 31: 486–8.
  • Lee, L., Buse, K. and Fustukian, S. (eds) (2002), Health Policy in a Globalising World, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
  • Legido-Quigley, H., McKee, M., Nolte, E. and Glinos, I. (2008), Assuring the Quality of Health Care in the European Union: a case for Action, European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies, Report No 12, Copenhagen: World Health Organization on behalf of the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
  • Lunt, N. and Carrera, P. (2011), Advice for Prospective Medical Tourists: systematic review of consumer sites, Tourism Review, 66: 57–67.
  • Lunt, N., Exworthy, M., Green, S., Horsfall, D., Mannion, R. and Smith, R. (2011), Medical Tourism: Treatments, Markets and Health System Implications: A Scoping Review, Paris: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
  • Lunt, N., Hardey, M. and Mannion, R. (2010), Nip, tuck and click: medical tourism and the emergence of web-based health information, Open Medical Informatics Journal, 4: 1–11.
  • Marmor, T. R., Freeman, R. and Okma, K. G. H. (eds) (2009), Comparative Studies and the Politics of Modern Medical Care, London: Yale University Press.
  • Martinez-Alvarez, M., Chanda, R. and Smith, R. D. (2011), How is Telemedicine Perceived? A qualitative study of perspectives from the UK and India, Globalization and Health, 7, 17, doi: 10.1186/1744-8603-7-17.
  • Mason, A. and Wright, K. B. (2011), Framing medical tourism: an examination of appeal, risk, convalescence, accreditation, and interactivity in medical tourism web sites, J Health Commun, 16: 163–77.
  • McKelvey, A., David, A., Shenfield, F. and Jauniaux E. (2009), The impact of cross-border reproductive care or ‘fertility tourism’ on NHS maternity services, BJOG, 116, 11: 1520–3.
    Direct Link:
  • Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Authority (2005), The blue guide: advertising and promotion of medicines in the UK, London: The Stationery Office.
  • Miyagi, K., Auberson, D., Patel, A. J. and Malata, C. M. (2011), The unwritten price of cosmetic tourism: An observational study and cost analysis, Journal of Plastic, Reconstructive and Aesthetic Surgery (online ahead of publication in print), doi: 10.1016/j.bjps.2011.07.027.
  • Mooney, G. H. (1994), Key Issues in Health Economics, New York, NY: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
  • Muscat, N., Grech, K., Cachia, J. M. and Xureb, D. (2006), Sharing Capacities – Malta and the United Kingdom. In M. Rosenmöller, M. McKee and R. Baeten (eds), Patient mobility in the European Union: learning from experience, Denmark: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
  • NaRanong, A. and NaRanong, V. (2011), The effects of medical tourism: Thailand's experience, Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 89, 5: 336–4.
  • Natalier K. and Willis K. (2008), Taking responsibility or averting risk, Health, Risk and Society, 10, 4: 399–411.
  • Office for National Statistics (ONS) (2011), International Passenger Survey, 2011, Newport: ONS.
  • Page, S. J. (2009), Current issue in tourism: The evolution of travel medicine research: A new research agenda for tourism? Tourism Management, 30, 1: 149–57.
  • Pellegrino, E. D. (1999), The Commodification of Medical and Health Care: The Moral Consequences of a Paradigm Shift from a Professional to a Market Ethic, Journal of Medicine and Philosophy, 24, 3: 243–66.
  • Pollitt, C. and Bouckaert, G. (2004), Public Management Reform: A comparative analysis (2nd edn), Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Power, M. (1997), The Audit Society: rituals of verification, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
  • Raghuram, P. and Kofman, E. (2002), The state, skilled labour markets, and immigration: the case of doctors in England, Environment and Planning A, 34: 2071–89.
  • Richmond, C. (1994), Private medicine takes on the NHS in Britain, Canadian Medical Association Journal, 150, 9: 1459–60.
  • Rogers, B. A., Aminzadeh, Z., Hayashi, Y. and Paterson, D. L. (2011), Country-to-Country Transfer of Patients and the Risk of Multi-Resistant Bacterial Infection, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 53, 1: 49–56.
  • Rosenmöller, M., McKee, M. and Baeten, R. (eds) (2006), Patient mobility in the European Union: learning from experience, Denmark: European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies.
  • Ryan, A., Wilson, S., Taylor, A. and Greenfield, S. (2009), Factors associated with self-care activities among adults in the United Kingdom: a systematic review, BMC Public Health, 9, 1: 96.
  • Ryan, K. A., Sanders, A. N., Wang, D. D. and Levine, A. D. (2010), Tracking the rise of stem cell tourism, Regenerative Medicine, 5, 1: 27–33.
  • Salant, T. and Santry, H. P. (2006), Internet marketing of bariatric surgery: contemporary trends in the medicalization of obesity, Social Science & Medicine, 62: 2445–57.
  • Sapir, A. and Winter C. (1994), Services trade. In P. Greenway and L. A. Winters (eds), Surveys In International Trade, Oxford: Blackwell.
  • Sari, A. B. A., Sheldon, T. A., Cracknell, A., Turnbull, A., Dobson, Y., Grant, C., Gray, W. and Richardson, A. (2007), Extent, nature and consequences of adverse events: results of a retrospective case note review in a large NHS hospital, Quality and Safety in Health Care, 16: 434–9.
  • Simon, F. L. (1995), Tourism development in transition economies: The Cuba case, The Columbia Journal of World Business, 30, 1: 26–40.
  • Smith, R. D., Martinez-Alvarez, M. and Chanda, R. (2011a forthcoming), How is Medical Tourism Perceived? A Qualitative Study of Perspectives from the UK and India, Globalization and Health .
  • Smith, R. D., Martinez-Alvarez, M. and Chanda, R. (2011b), Medical tourism: a review of the literature and analysis of a role for bi-lateral trade, Health Policy, doi: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2011.06.009.
  • Smith, M. and Puczkó, L. (eds) (2008), Health and Wellness Tourism, Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann/Elsevier.
  • Snyder, J., Crooks, V. A., Johnston, R. and Kingsbury, P. (2011), What do we know about Canadian involvement in medical tourism? A scoping review, Open Medicine, 5, 3: 139–48.
  • Sobo, E. J. (2009), Medical Travel: What It Means, Why It Matters, Medical Anthropology: Cross-Cultural Studies in Health and Illness, 28, 4: 326–35.
  • Socialist Health Association (2009), Somali Health Seminar, 25 April 2009, http://www.sochealth.co.uk/confs/somali.htm (accessed 1 September 2011).
  • Spire Healthcare (2011), UK's first stand alone dedicated centre opens in London, http://www.spirehealthcare.com/bushey/news/elstree-cancer-centre-opens/ (accessed 1 September 2011).
  • Terry, N. P. (2007), Under-Regulated Health Care Phenomena in a Flat World: Medical Tourism and Outsourcing, Western New England Law Review, 29: 421.
  • Thaler, R. and Sunstein, C. (2008), Nudge Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness, New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
  • Weiss, E. M., Spataro, P. F., Kodner, I. J. and Keune, J. D. (2010), Banding in Bangkok, CABG in Calcutta: the United States physician and the growing field of medical tourism, Surgery, 148, 3: 597–601.
  • Whittaker, A. (2008), Pleasure and pain: medical travel in Asia, Global Public Health, 3, 3: 271–90.
  • Whittaker, A. (2010), Challenges of medical travel to global regulations: a case study of reproductive travel in Asia, Global Social Policy, 10, 3: 396–415.
  • Wibulpolprasert, S. and Pachanee, C. -A. (2008), Addressing the Internal Brain Drain of Medical Doctors in Thailand: The Story and Lesson Learned, Global Social Policy, 8, 1: 12–15.
  • Williams, A. and Valverde, S. (2009), England & Wales. In The International Comparative Legal Guide to Pharmaceutical Advertising, London: Global Legal Group, pp. 98–107.
  • Williams, B., Whatmough, P., McGill, J. and Rushton, L. (2000), Private funding of elective hospital treatment in England and Wales, 1997–8: national survey, BMJ, 320, 7239: 904–5.
  • Zaidi, A. K. M., Huskins, W. C., Thaver, D., Bhutta, Z. A., Abbas, Z. and Goldmann, D. A. (2005), Hospital-acquired neonatal infections in developing countries, The Lancet, 365, 9465: 1175–88.
View Full Article (HTML) Get PDF (354K)