The Policy Institute, King's College London , London , UK.
Department of Psychology, University of Cambridge , Cambridge , UK.
Front Public Health. 2016 Mar 31;4:47. doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2016.00047. eCollection 2016.
Medical travel has the capacity to counter increasing costs of health care by creating new markets and increased revenue for health services, potentially benefiting local populations, economies, and health-care systems. This paper is part of a broad, comprehensive project aimed at developing a global health access policy (GHAP). It presents key issues to consider in terms of ensuring economic viability, sustainability, and limiting risk to the many stakeholders involved in the rapidly expanding industry of medical travel. The noted economic and legal barriers to medical travel are based on a synthesis of themes found in an extensive review of the available literature. Economic considerations, when setting up a GHAP, include a dynamic approach to pricing that is fair to the local population. Legal considerations include the implementation of international quality standards and the protection of the rights of those traveling as well as those of local populations in recipient countries. By taking into account these opportunities, the GHAP will more adequately address existing gaps in the economic and legal regulation of medical travel.
医疗旅游通过为医疗服务创造新的市场和增加收入，有可能使当地人口、经济和医疗保健系统受益，从而有能力应对医疗保健成本的不断上升。本文是一个广泛的、全面的项目的一部分，该项目旨在制定一项全球获得医疗保健政策（GHAP）。它提出了在确保经济可行性、可持续性和限制涉及医疗旅游这一迅速扩张行业的众多利益相关者的风险方面需要考虑的关键问题。文中提到的医疗旅游的经济和法律障碍是基于对现有文献的广泛审查中发现的主题的综合。制定 GHAP 时的经济考虑因素包括对定价采取公平对待当地人口的动态方法。法律方面的考虑因素包括实施国际质量标准和保护旅行者以及接收国当地人口的权利。通过考虑到这些机会，GHAP 将更充分地解决医疗旅游的经济和法律监管方面现有的差距。
