The term "medical tourism" two categories of services: 1) The management of medical needs for the visitors who are in a foreign country for a vacation trip or a business trip, or for temporary installation. Includes emergency health (eg heart attack) or regular health needs for chronic diseases (eg dialysis kidney disease) 2) In "Medical Tourism Selection" (elective medical tourism), where the patient chooses to travel to take a specific medical service, motivated by factors such as:
- cost of service
- quality of service and overall healthcare
- the waiting time in the country of origin for such services
- the opportunity to combine medical care with entertainment / travel
For the first class services, managing medical needs of tourists, the most important groups of patients with chronic disease are: Kidney patients Cancer Patients with Heart Disease People with hematological diseases Elderly people requiring systematic and medical monitoring
For medical tourism option, currently the most widely used services are: plastic / cosmetic surgery dental ophthalmology artificial insemination cardiology / heart surgery orthopedic treatment and rehabilitation treatment of cancer organ transplants
Medical tourism as defined herein, and as the mean specialized international bodies, does not include services such as spa, spas, fitness centers, which included the rather broad term "health tourism" or "wellness" (health tourism, wellness)
Generally applies to the health sector in Greece as a medical tourism provider has:
- Good infrastructure in buildings and equipment, in many parts of the country
- Many good doctors in most specialties
While suffering from:
- Organization and processes
- Marketing
- Institutional framework
From the above we understand that this industry has great growth potential in Greece and if adopted appropriate strategies can successfully stand against those countries that already have invested in this area and an important pillar strengthening our economy.
Source: Developing Medical Tourism In Greece - Study of the Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine