Search Results (8)

This research delves into the intricate dynamics of travelers’ decision-making processes, particularly their response to the media’s portrayal of environmental risks and the subsequent redirection of their travel choices toward medical destinations (MD). Employing a sophisticated research approach combining path analysis with moderation and multilinear logistic regression models, this study investigates the nuanced factors underlying travelers’ resilience to environmental risks and their propensity to opt for medical destinations. The results of the path analysis reveal a complex network of direct influences of factors from the PPM model (push, pull, and mooring) on choosing a medical destination in the sense that, before moderation, the only significant direct effect on the intention to choose medical destination (MD) was the pull factors. Through moderation, a significant effect of all three factors was achieved, while the direction of influence was changed in the case of push and pull factors. Furthermore, the multinomial logistic regression showed that the respondents prefer to go to a medical destination rather than a rural or urban one after the media emphasis on environmental risks. By integrating these analytical approaches and models, this research advances our understanding of how travelers navigate their choices amid environmental uncertainty. Furthermore, this research sheds light on the pivotal role that these traveler choices play in shaping the sustainability of medical destinations, offering essential insights for stakeholders, policymakers, and researchers navigating the evolving landscape of these destinations. Full article

The COVID-19 pandemic challenges healthcare services. Concomitantly, this pandemic had a stimulating effect on technological expansions related to telehealth and telemedicine. We sought to elucidate the principal patients’ reasons for using telemedicine during the COVID-19 pandemic and the propensity to use it thereafter. Our primary objective was to identify the reasons of the survey participants’ disparate attitudes toward the use of telemedicine. We performed an online, multilingual 30-question survey for 14 days during March–April 2021, focusing on the perception and usage of telemedicine and their intent to use it after the pandemic. We analyzed the data to identify the attributes influencing the intent to use telemedicine and built decision trees to highlight the most important related variables. We examined 473 answers: 272 from Israel, 87 from Uruguay, and 114 worldwide. Most participants were women (64.6%), married (63.8%) with 1–2 children (52.9%), and living in urban areas (84.6%). Only a third of the participants intended to continue using telemedicine after the COVID-19 pandemic. Our main findings are that an expected substitution effect, technical proficiency, reduced queueing times, and peer experience are the four major factors in the overall adoption of telemedicine. Specifically, (1) for most participants, the major factor influencing their telemedicine usage is the implicit expectation that such a visit will be a full substitute for an in-person appointment; (2) another factor affecting telemedicine usage by patients is their overall technical proficiency and comfort level in the use of common web-based tools, such as social media, while seeking relevant medical information; (3) time saving as telemedicine can allow for asynchronous communications, thereby reducing physical travel and queuing times at the clinic; and finally (4) some participants have also indicated that telemedicine seems more attractive to them after watching family and friends (peer experience) use it successfully. Full article

Since early 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has had a devastating impact on global tourism. Vaccine tourism is a novel health tourism concept, which provides an opportunity for countries with a vaccine surplus to offer medical tourism packages to entice international tourists from countries with vaccine shortages to visit for sightseeing and receive vaccine inoculations. Understanding the factors that influence people to adopt vaccine tourism is one of the strategies that could boost a country’s tourism sector and help to revive the local economy. This study aims to examine the factors influencing the intention to adopt and recommend COVID-19 vaccine tourism among young travelers. A total of 179 questionnaire surveys were collected from traveling-related social media outlets. Partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed to analyze the data. The results indicate that young tourists in Thailand are inclined to promote vaccine tourism to others. Price value appears to be the most significant influencing factor on intentions to both adopt and recommend vaccine tourism. Additionally, trust in the foreign healthcare system was positively associated with young travelers’ intention to recommend vaccine tourism to others. Theoretically, this research adds to the medical tourism literature, suggesting that, while trust is an important factor influencing the medical tourism decision, it appears to be insignificant in the context of vaccine tourism. Full article

Background: Vaccine hesitancy represents one of the major global health issues around the world. We examined the perception, attitude, perceived barriers and facilitation measures of receiving the COVID-19 vaccine in a Chinese population with free vaccine choices (Sinovac [Coronavac] vs. BioNTech/Fosun [Comirnaty]) and adequate doses. Method: We conducted a random telephone survey of the general population in 1195 subjects aged 18 years or above from 23 April 2021 to 8 May 2021 after two months of vaccine rollout. A descriptive analysis of the levels of enabling factors, obstacles and perception of COVID-19 vaccination was conducted using ANOVA and Chi-square tests for trend. Results: Only 10.1% and 13.5% had received one and two COVID-19 vaccine doses, respectively. Among those who had not received any COVID-19 vaccine (75.4%), only 25.1% expressed their intention to receive in the coming 6 months. The barriers with the highest scores included “having heard of cases with serious adverse events or death after vaccination” (score: 8.17 out 10, 95% C.I. 7.99, 8.35), “lack of confidence on governmental recommendations” (7.69, 95% C.I. 7.47, 7.91), and “waiting for a better vaccine” (7.29, 95% C.I. 7.07, 7.52). The highest score for the impact of various incentives for vaccination was for “vaccine passports for overseas travel” (4.44, 95% C.I. 4.18, 4.71). Conclusions: Vaccine hesitancy is commonly observed in this Chinese population despite adequate provision of vaccine doses and choices. No single incentive is strong enough to promote vaccination, and multiple facilitation measures for different groups of population are needed to encourage vaccine uptake. Active clarification and promotion by medical professionals together with a variety of incentives are needed to drive vaccine uptake. Full article

With the rapid progress in mobile healthcare and Internet medicine, the impact of telehealth and telemedicine on the satisfaction of patients and their willingness to travel has become a focus of the academic research community. This study analyses the differences between telehealth and telemedicine and their role in medical tourism. We examine how the information quality and communication quality of telehealth and telemedicine influence patient satisfaction, and their effects on patients’ willingness to undertake medical travel and on their medical travel behaviours. We conducted an empirical study on the use of telehealth and telemedicine and on medical travel behaviour in Azerbaijan using a survey for data collection. A total of 500 results were collected and analysed using SmartPLS 3.0. Results show that (1) the communication quality and information quality of telehealth and telemedicine and their effects on satisfaction have significantly positive influences on willingness to undertake medical travel; (2) the psychological expectations of value and cost (perceived value and perceived cost) have a positive influence on medical travel; and (3) willingness to participate in medical travel positively influences medical travel behaviour. Moreover, results of this study have implications for research on, and the practice of, using telehealth and telemedicine as they relate to medical tourism. This research may help improve knowledge about telehealth and telemedicine and understand the differences between them in detail. This empirical research model may also be useful for researchers from other countries who wish to measure medical travel behaviour. Full article

Recently, California (CA) pharmacists’ scope of practice has expanded to include independently prescribing self-administered hormonal contraceptives, nicotine replacement therapy medications, travel health medications, routine vaccinations, naloxone hydrochloride, and HIV preexposure and postexposure prophylaxis. However, previous reports indicate that practicing within this expanded scope has remained limited. Therefore, a 26-item, web-based survey was emailed to CA community pharmacists to assess pharmacists’ knowledge, intent, and barriers to prescribing and billing for these patient care services. A total of 216 chain, supermarket-based, independent, mass merchant, and health-system outpatient pharmacists were included. The primary services provided and medications prescribed are for vaccinations and naloxone. Most pharmacists agree that engagement in and implementation of new strategies to enhance patients’ access to care is important. Common barriers include patient unawareness of pharmacist-provided services, lack of payment for services, and difficulty incorporating services within pharmacy workflow. Pharmacists are confident in their ability to provide patient care services but are less knowledgeable and confident about billing for them. Enhancing promotion of pharmacist-provided services to patients, developing strategies to efficiently incorporate them into the workflow, and payment models can help overcome barriers to providing these services. Full article

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) assumes the possibility of predicting and explaining humans’ behaviour by identifying their intentions. The intentions are shaped by three groups of factors: attitudes towards, social norms and perceived behavioural control over the behaviour. The aim of the research is to examine the applicability of the TPB in medical tourism and to check whether there are differences in predicting the intentions of medical tourists from different countries. The study covered potential medical tourists—521 young consumers from three regionally important markets in medical tourism services: Jordan, Poland and Turkey. The study used a research survey to collect data, which were analysed using the multiple regression and analysis of variance methods. The research showed that the TPB model can be used in medical tourism. The results also show that the consumers’ country of origin is a significant factor when predicting their intention to use medical tourism services. Full article

Health and medical tourism is considered one of the fastest growing segments of the tourism industry. Recently, research on health resorts has been gaining academic attention in tandem with the positive contribution of the health and medical segments to the tourism industry. The purpose of this study is to better conceptualize how the behavioral intentions of health tourists are shaped in the emerging context of the health resort. This study illuminates the likely perceptions of prospective tourists about the attractions of health resorts, and endeavors to examine the response of health tourists using data from 359 international health tourists/travelers, comprising of Thai, Indian, and Chinese nationalities. The study also uses the partial least square structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) technique in order to analyze the responses of international tourists gathered at two international airports in China. The present study shows that tourists’ expectations and their behavioral intentions are generally associated indicators of perceived health resort attractions. Expectations play a significant mediating role, while culture impacts the overall phenomenon of proposed associations in a moderating way. Moreover, sustainable tourism attractions also play a significant role in shaping Thai travelers’ behavioral responses, while medical facilities and risk levels are considered significant in determining Indian and Chinese travelers’ behaviors. By developing theoretical and empirical grounds, this study offers implications for further research and development in health resorts and other niches of health tourism. Full article