Developing a Cultural-Indices-based Model of Health Tourism in Iran

The globalization of health means patients travel to other countries to receive medical treatment. Nowadays, healthcare is a global phenomenon. On the other hand, the establishment of multi-national hospitals, the competitive costs of healthcare worldwide, the internationalization of standards, and the fact that different countries are getting closer to each other in terms of specialized technologies are some indications of the globalization of healthcare. This applied exploratory study sought to develop a model for health tourism based on cultural indices in Iran using a mixed method. Accordingly, the required data were collected via semi-structured interviews and questionnaires at qualitative and quantitative phases, respectively. The statistical population of the study comprised of senior officials involved in health tourism policy making, professionals of Iran’s health tourism industry, and professors and faculty members in management who specialized in tourism and cultural studies, out of whom 100 participants were selected using Cochran’s formula. Finally, after multiple reviewing of the codes and combining them in several phases, some sixty-six sub-codes were identified, out of which eleven key factors were identified to be included in the intended cultural-indices-based model for health tourism in Iran.