Health Service Quality and Patient Communication In Medical Tourism

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of patient communication and medical service quality in relation to the demographic and occupational characteristics of medical staff working in Alanya. A significant relationship was found between perceptions of patient communication and the field of expertise of the staff and the foreign language they speak. This indicates that, in medical tourism contexts, the patient communication perceptions of medical staff affect first-hand perceptions of health service quality. To increase health service quality and patient communication motivation, it is recommended that revenues from patients or insurance companies be distributed to all staff involved with medical tourists. Furthermore, apart from doctors and nurses, staff believe health service quality and communication are low. Therefore, it is recommended to provide in-service training for this area.