Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review
Background: The information content of medical tourism websites could influence the decisions patients and their families make regarding medical centers. This study aimed to investigate the information content of medical tourism websites. Methods: This systematic review was carried out in 2017....
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Tehran University of Medical Sciences
2020-06-01
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doaj-294f693ffbce41dcbea6a612941610172021-01-02T15:42:09ZengTehran University of Medical SciencesIranian Journal of Public Health2251-60852251-60932020-06-0149610.18502/ijph.v49i6.3355Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic ReviewLeila GHADERI-NANSA0Reza RABIEI1Farkhondeh ASADI2Azamossadat HOSSEINI3Hassan EMAMI4Department of Health Information Technology and Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Health Information Technology and Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Health Information Technology and Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Health Information Technology and Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, IranDepartment of Health Information Technology and Management, School of Allied Medical Sciences, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background: The information content of medical tourism websites could influence the decisions patients and their families make regarding medical centers. This study aimed to investigate the information content of medical tourism websites. Methods: This systematic review was carried out in 2017. Key terms used for searching consisted of, but not restricted to, medical tourism, information content, information needs, and medical tourism website. The terms were searched on PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Embase, ProQuest and Cochrane. One hundred and ninety-two articles out of 1185 retrieved were duplicated and removed from the study. Titles and abstracts of the remaining identified studies were scanned considering the aim of the study. Finally, 31 relevant studies were included in the study. Results: The information content of medical tourism websites can be grouped into three main categories including general information (with six subgroups), medical information (with eight subgroups) and tourism information (with one subgroup). The subgroups include information about medical centers, target country, costs and insurance, contact details, website information, photo galleries, the quality of services, trustworthiness, the quality of supportive services, risks, patient rights, physicians and their specialties, and patient instructions for receiving medical and tourism services. Conclusion: The medical tourism websites should provide a wide range of information. Considering the important role of medical tourism websites in meeting patients’ information needs, the relevant bodies should improve the information content of medical tourism websites to help patients to make their decisions reliably. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/13357Information needs;Information contentMedical tourism;Medical tourism website |
collection |
DOAJ |
language |
English |
format |
Article |
sources |
DOAJ |
author |
Leila GHADERI-NANSA Reza RABIEI Farkhondeh ASADI Azamossadat HOSSEINI Hassan EMAMI |
spellingShingle |
Leila GHADERI-NANSA Reza RABIEI Farkhondeh ASADI Azamossadat HOSSEINI Hassan EMAMI Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review Iranian Journal of Public Health Information needs; Information content Medical tourism; Medical tourism website |
author_facet |
Leila GHADERI-NANSA Reza RABIEI Farkhondeh ASADI Azamossadat HOSSEINI Hassan EMAMI |
author_sort |
Leila GHADERI-NANSA |
title |
Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review |
title_short |
Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review |
title_full |
Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review |
title_fullStr |
Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review |
title_full_unstemmed |
Medical Tourism Websites with an Approach to Information Content: A Systematic Review |
title_sort |
medical tourism websites with an approach to information content: a systematic review |
publisher |
Tehran University of Medical Sciences |
series |
Iranian Journal of Public Health |
issn |
2251-6085 2251-6093 |
publishDate |
2020-06-01 |
description |
Background: The information content of medical tourism websites could influence the decisions patients and their families make regarding medical centers. This study aimed to investigate the information content of medical tourism websites.
Methods: This systematic review was carried out in 2017. Key terms used for searching consisted of, but not restricted to, medical tourism, information content, information needs, and medical tourism website. The terms were searched on PubMed, Science Direct, Web of Science, Embase, ProQuest and Cochrane. One hundred and ninety-two articles out of 1185 retrieved were duplicated and removed from the study. Titles and abstracts of the remaining identified studies were scanned considering the aim of the study. Finally, 31 relevant studies were included in the study.
Results: The information content of medical tourism websites can be grouped into three main categories including general information (with six subgroups), medical information (with eight subgroups) and tourism information (with one subgroup). The subgroups include information about medical centers, target country, costs and insurance, contact details, website information, photo galleries, the quality of services, trustworthiness, the quality of supportive services, risks, patient rights, physicians and their specialties, and patient instructions for receiving medical and tourism services.
Conclusion: The medical tourism websites should provide a wide range of information. Considering the important role of medical tourism websites in meeting patients’ information needs, the relevant bodies should improve the information content of medical tourism websites to help patients to make their decisions reliably.
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topic |
Information needs; Information content Medical tourism; Medical tourism website |
url |
https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/13357 |
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