Abstract

Despite a huge amount of speculation and expectation surrounding medical tourism,hard empirical evidence is only now beginning to emerge. This paper widens the focus ofdiscussion by contrasting two country experiences (UK and Korea) which on the surfaceillustrate the diversity of medical tourism and little else. However, considered more comparatively,the accounts contribute toward wider, albeit tentative, theoretical understandings, andinsights. The paper is drawn from two broad programs of empirical study conducted over threeyears in UK and Korea, respectively. The article is structured in three parts: first, a briefoverview of policy, legislative, and accreditation frameworks that exist to govern medicaltourist flows. Second, we present evidence around flows, demographics, treatment, andmedicaltourism for Korea and UK (both for supply and demand). Third, we examine conceptual andtheoretical implications of this evidence. We argue that viewing medical tourism as a globalmarket is problematic; somemedical touristmarkets are best viewed as networks with long-termexchange relationships; some specific areas of activity do function more strongly as pricerelated;decision making around medical tourismfrequently involves a range of information andsocial networks (economic action as embedded social structure); and medical tourism is afunction of globalization.

Keywords

Medical tourism, Medical travel, Globalization, UK, Korea, Comparative analysis, Networks

40483_2014_12_OnlinePDF