Current medical tourism in Iran: a case study

Medical tourism is rapidly becoming a worldwide, multibillion-dollar industry. Iran has a high potential for this industry. The purpose of this study was to examine the medical tourism in Iran. The present study was conducted as a descriptive and case study. The data was collected via interview, using official documents, and the related literature. Diamond Advantage was used as the research instrument. The data was analyzed using content analysis method. Iran faces many challenges in medical tourism industry such as; Inadequate basic and medical infrastructures, inefficient and insufficient governmental supports, no development plan, Inadequate intersectional coordination and collaboration in macro and micro levels, no health services providers with international accreditation, and inappropriate promotions and marketing activities. If Iran wants to take its share of medical tourism industry in the region it should address its challenges which are mentioned above.