Medical tourism has become an obvious choice for thousands of patients all over the world looking for quality care at affordable prices. The economic factor is often considered the most important force associated with medical tourism. Over five million patients a year are traveling across international borders to obtain various forms of health care. Most of them travel from developed countries to developing countries, seeking highly invasive medical treatments to less invasive and recreational medical procedures.
If doctors don’t already have a practice website or any kind of online presence, they’re falling behind. With 72% of patients now searching the internet for healthcare information and 62% using online reviews to find new doctors, hence online presence of doctors is crucial. Chances are, if you’re not online, many new patients aren’t finding you.
Patient Experience Study:
Meyer and Schwager ([7], p.118) defined customer experience as “the internal and subjective response customers have to any direct or indirect contact with a company”, and De Keyser et al. ([8], p.23) also suggested customer experience as “comprised of the cognitive, emotional, physical, sensorial, spiritual, and social elements.”
These definitions imply that patient experience includes cognitive activities such as checking reputation and searching other relevant information before going to the hospital to the post-discharge behaviors like recommendation and feedback with patient’s own emotional and subjective judgments.
Online Presence Of Doctors Is Primary Source Of Information:
In particular, for medical tourism patients take extra effort to investigate thoroughly prior to the travel, because it focuses not only on information of medical institutions , doctors, their experience and success ratios etc. New advanced technologies can earn positive reviews from consumers and succeed only if they are unique in terms of their functions, convenience, and attractiveness. The positive images created from this could generate favorable responses from customers as they make comparisons based on actual use or indirect experience.
Internet is first and foremost major information tool for patients decision making process. Due to distance and the absence of physical contact with medical tourism service providers before the service is used. Online presence of the doctors / services providers is perceived as a prime source of information.
For instance, a survey of American medical tourists reveals that 73% of respondents used the Internet to gather information (Medical Tourism Association, 2009).
Your online presence will help you boost your visibility and attract not only domestic patients but also internationally.
The internet helps in early cost planning. With a cost estimate, a patient can determine ahead of time if the insurance will cover all the expenses and choose an alternative option if the case is otherwise. It also helps the patient to have direct conversations with the doctors and enquire more on the method of their procedures, recovery period, post-operative complications, accommodation facility, food, etc.