Intention of attending medical tourism: An overview on Theory of Planned Behavior Frame

Our country is one of the most preferred countries in the world with its natural and historical wealth as well as health tourism. The wars, attempts and embargoes in neighboring countries have made it attractive to receive health services in our country. Establishment of integrated city hospitals equipped with new technology, establishment of quality health institutions belonging to the private sector, high quality, fast and affordable health services with international accreditation, and having a large number of world-renowned experts have enabled the development of health tourism. One of the most heard types of tourism in recent years is medical tourism, which is a type of health tourism. In the first part of the study, interviews were held with medical tourism partners, and a model covering the intention to receive health care by participating in medical tourism within the framework of planned behavior theory was created with the contributions of interviews and experts. The model was tested using the structural equation model with data collected from foreign dental patients. As a result of the analyzes, it was determined that Attitude, Subjective Norms, Value and Trust dimensions were in a significant relationship with the intention to participate in medical tourism, Value had a mediating role between Attitude and Intent, and Trust had a mediating role between Value and Intent (p<0.005). For patients, the intention to participate in medical tourism was not related to price alone. The patients stated that they usually come on a recommendation (64%), that they want special attention, effective control and care services after the treatment, and that the physician or hospital they receive the service from applies the procedures with zero defects. In addition, they stated that advantages such as hotels and city tours are effective in aesthetic treatments, but they are not attractive in serious diseases.