Healthcare Management: News. Views. Education

1 . 2025

Issues and problems of the organization of medical tourism in Russia and abroad

Abstract

The article examines the history of medical tourism in the world: from thermal springs to modern high-tech medicine. The author draws attention to the problems of functioning and development of medical tourism, as well as possible ways to solve them. The main events contributing to the promotion of medical tourism on the international market are listed. The issues of interaction between participants of medical tourism are considered.

Theoretical research methods were used to write the article, and publications in scientific journals dealing with the topic of medical tourism were used as material.

Keywords: medical tourism; history of medical tourism; export of medical services; participants of medical tourism; medical services

Funding. The study had no sponsor support.

Conflict of interest. The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Contribution. Drawing up a manuscript draft, a set of text, design of an article, compiling a list of literature, the final formation of a published version of the manuscript, analysis of the primary material of the data of domestic and foreign scientific publications on the topic studied – Safina E.R.; development of a concept and planning of scientific work, analysis of the data obtained, a critical review with the introduction of valuable intellectual content, the final approval of the published version of the manuscript – Moskvicheva M.G.

For citation: Safina E.R., Moskvicheva M.G. Issues and problems of the organization of medical tourism in Russia and abroad. ORGZDRAV: novosti, mneniya, obuchenie. Vestnik VSHOUZ [HEALTHCARE MANAGEMENT: News, Views, Education. Bulletin of VSHOUZ]. 2025; 11 (1): 41–52. DOI: https://doi.org/10.33029/2411-8621-2025-11-1-41-52 (in Russian)

References

1. Al-Lamki L. Medical tourism: beneficence or maleficence? Sultan Qaboos Univ Med J. 2011; 11 (4): 444–7.

2. Tastanbekova Sh.O. Medical tourism: the history of development, essence and main components. International Scientific and Practical Conference «World Science». 2016; 10 (14): 46–50. (in Russian)

3. Mozokina S.L., Latysheva A.A. Historical aspects of the development of health and wellness and medical tourism. Izvestiya Ural’skogo gosudarstvennogo ekonomicheskogo universiteta [Bulletin of the Saint Petersburg State University of Economics]. 2021; 6 (132): 79–84. (in Russian)

4. Vlasova N.Yu., Fechina A.O. Stages of formation of the world market of medical services. Upravlenets [The Manager]. 2012; 7–8 (35–36): 64–9. (in Russian)

5. Li H., Cui W. Patients without borders. Univ West Ont Med J. 2014; 83 (2): 20–2.

6. Fedorov V. Prerequisites for the emergence of new forms of medical and wellness tourism. Uchenye zapiski Tavricheskogo natsional’nogo universiteta imeni V.I. Vernadskogo. Seriya «Ekonomika i upravlenie» [Scientific Notes of the Tauride National University named after V.I. Vernadsky. Series «Economics and Management»]. 2011; 24 (2): 171–9. (in Russian)

7. Egorkina A.V., Yamshchikov A.S. Trends in the development of medical tourism. Molodoy uchoniy [Young Scientist]. 2019; 16 (254): 47–9. (in Russian)

8. Parimchuk V.S., Maslennikova S.F., Medvedeva A.A. The development of health tourism in the modern world. In: Proceedings of the XV International Student scientific conference «Student Scientific Forum». 2023. (in Russian)

9. Pirogova O.V., Buy T.N. Trends in the development of medical tourism. Innovatsii. Nauka. Obrazovanie [Innovations. Science. Education]. 2021; (34): 2942–46. (in Russian)

10. Arsent’ev E.V., Reshetnikov V.A. To the biography of N.A. Semashko: the activities of the first People’s Commissar of Health in 1920–1925. Istoriya meditsiny [History of Medicine]. 2018; 5 (3): 217–29. (in Russian)

11. Arkhipov A.E., Pechenevskaya A.A. Development of medical tourism. Colloquium-journal. 2018; 7-1 (18): 11–3. (in Russian)

12. Poddubnaya T.N., Ermak V.V. Development of health tourism in Russia and abroad. In: Integrated Communications in Sports and Tourism: Education, Trends, International Experience. 2018; 2: 221–5. (in Russian)

13. Marchenko O.G. World medical tourism is shifting to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Analytical review. Sovremennye problemy nauki i obrazovaniya [Modern Problems of Science and Education]. 2013; (6): 1–12. (in Russian)

14. Kosolapov A.B., Bobrynova E.V., Lozovskaya S.A. Criteria for evaluating the effectiveness of recreational use of island recreational territories. URL: https://medical-russia.ru/problemy-i-perspektivy-razvitiya-mediczinskogo-turizma-v-stranah-aziatsko-tihookeanskogo-regiona/ (in Russian)

15. Krest’yaninova O.G. Medical tourism: the essence and prospects of development. Tekhniko-tekhnologicheskie problem servisa [Technical and Technological Problems of the Service]. 2019; 3 (49): 66–9. (in Russian)

16. Merkulov O.Yu., Lyadov K.V., Klimin V.G., Mal’tseva Yu.A., Polushkin V.G. Cross-border insurance as a way of forming the flow of medical tourism: an overview of opportunities and practices in the Russian Federation. ORGZDRAV: novosti, mneniya, obuchenie. Vestnik VShOUZ [ORGZDRAV: news, opinions, training. Bulletin of Higher School of Healthcare Organization and Management]. 2022; 8 (3): 45–55. (in Russian)

17. Kirillov A.N., Maltsev A.V., Balashova M.V. International practice of medical tourism organization. Fundamental’nye issledovaniya [Fundamental Researches]. 2018; (6): 133–7. (in Russian)

18. Sozarukova F.M. Personnel shortage of healthcare professionals: causes and solutions. Vestnik ekspertnogo soveta [Bulletin of the Expert Council]. 2018; 4 (15): 104–9. (in Russian)

19. Oborin M.S. The state and prospects of development of medical and sports tourism in Russia. Nauchniy rezul’tat. Tekhnologii biznesa i servisa [The Scientific Result. Business and Service Technologies]. 2022; 8 (2): 57–65. (in Russian)

20. Goroshko N.V., Patsala S.V. Russia in the global medical tourism market. Elektronniy nauchno-metodicheskiy zhurnal Omskogo GAU [Electronic Scientific and Methodological Journal of Omsk State University]. 2018; 1 (12): 1–13. (in Russian)

21. Baev V.V. Strategic analysis of destinations based on the use of the index of medical tourism. Turizm i gostepriimstvo [Tourism and Hospitality]. 2019; (1): 112–21. (in Russian)

22. Chuang T.C., Liu J.S., Lu L.Y.Y., et al. The main paths of medical tourism: from transplantation to beautification. Tour Manag. 2014; 45: 49–58.

23. Patterson I., Balderas-Cejudo A. Baby boomers and their growing interest in spa and wellness tourism. Int J Spa Wellness. 2022; 5 (3): 237–49.

24. Pagan R., Horsfall D. Medical tourism markets: models of sustainability. The case of Spain and the Costa del Sol (Malaga). Sustainability. 2020; 12 (21): 8818.

25. Bulatovic I., Iankova K. Barriers to medical tourism development in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18 (3): 1365.

26. Crooks V.A., Labonte R., Ceron A., et al. «Medical tourism will…obligate physicians to elevate their level so that they can compete»: aqualitative exploration of the anticipated impacts of inbound medical tourism on health human resources in Guatemala. Hum Resour Health. 2019; 17 (1): 53.

27. Moghavvemi S., Ormond M., Musa G., Isa C.R.M., et al. Connecting with prospective medical tourists online: a cross-sectional analysis of private hospital websites promoting medical tourism in India, Malaysia and Thailand. Tour Manag. 2017; 58: 154–63.

28. Veerasoontorn R., Beise-Zee R. International hospital outshopping: a staged model of push and pull factors. Int J Pharm Healthc Market. 2017; 4 (3): 247–64.

29. Levchenko T.P., Grigor’eva Zh.V. Prospects for the development of medical tourism based on the creation of a digital platform. Vestnik RMAT [Bulletin of the Russian International Academy of Tourism]. 2021; (2): 105–9. (in Russian)

30. Burmenko T.A. On the issue of the content of the concept of «Wellness tourism». Izvestiya BGU [Bulletin of BSU]. 2016; (1): 42–9. (in Russian)

31. Morozov M.A., Morozova N.S. Digital provision of medical and wellness tourism in a new reality. Rekreatsiya i turizm [Recreation and Tourism]. 2021; 3 (11): 14–20. (in Russian)

32. Official website of the Association of Medical Tourism of Russia [Russian Healthcare Travel Council (RHTS)] [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.rhtc.org (date of access June 20, 2024). (in Russian)

33. Association of Medical Tourism Agencies [Electronic resource]. URL: https://www.imtaa.org/ (date of access June 20, 2024). (in Russian)

34. Online service «Technologies for the development of medical tourism Medimost» [Electronic resource]. URL: https://medimost.ru/ (date of access June 20, 2024). (in Russian)

35. The official website of the Federal State Budgetary Institution «Central Research Institute of Organization and Informatization of Healthcare» of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation [Electronic resource]. URL: https://mednet.ru/ (date of access June 20, 2024). (in Russian)

36. Federal project «Development of export of medical services» [Electronic resource]. URL: https://minzdrav.gov.ru/ (date of access June 20, 2024). (in Russian)

37. Information portal of the Federal project «Development of export of medical services» [Electronic resource]. URL: https://russiamedtravel.ru/ (date of access June 20, 2024). (in Russian)

38. Orlov S.A., Mad’yanova V.V., Stolbov A.P., Kachkova O.E. Evaluation of external business processes in the export of medical services in the Russian Federation. Problemy sotsial’noy gigiyeny, zdravookhraneniya i istorii meditsiny [Problems of Social Hygiene, Public Health and History of Medicine]. 2020; 28 (6): 1281–6. (in Russian)

39. Moisenko I.V., Usova M.V. Features of the development of the promotion program of the medical tourism agency. Azimut nauchnykh issledovaniy: ekonomika i upravlenie [Azimuth of Scientific Research: Economics and Management]. 2019; 8 (3): 261–5. (in Russian)

40. Zhong L., Deng B., Morrison A.M., Coca-Stefaniak J.A., Yang L. Medical, health and wellness tourism research – a review of the literature (1970–2020) and research agenda. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021; 18 (20): 10875.

41. Mohamad W.N., Omar A., Haron M.S. The moderating effect of medical travel facilitators in medical tourism. Procedia Soc Behav Sci. 2012; 65: 358–63.

42. Sorensen H.T. Patients with chronic diseases who travel: need for global access to timely health care data. Clin Epidemiol. 2022; 14: 513–9.

43. Dalen J.E., Alpert J.S. Medical tourists: incoming and outgoing. Am J Med. 2019; 132 (1): 9–10.

44. Gan L.L., Song H. A SWOT analysis of medical tourism: India and South Korea. SSRN Electronic Journal. 2012: 25 p.

45. Frederick J.R., Gan L.L. East-West differences among medical tourism facilitators’ websites. J Destin Mark Manag. 2015; 4 (2): 98–109.

46. Ulumbekova G.E. Analysis and evaluation of the healthcare system of the Republic of Korea: lessons for Russia. Menedzher zdravookhraneniya [Health Care Manager]. 2011; (11): 47–54. (in Russian)

47. Tastanbekova Sh.O. Medical tourism: factors influencing the development//Web of Scholar. 2016; 7 (7); 24–26. (in Russian)

48. Kolesnikov R.V. Object description of the conceptual model of management of the sphere of medical tourism of the Russian Federation. Nauka i obrazovanie: khozyaystvo i ekonomika; predprinimatel’stvo; pravo i upravlenie [Science and Education: Economy and Economics; Entrepreneurship; Law and Management]. 2021; (9): 30–5. (in Russian)

49. Ivanov N.N. Infrastructure management as a system for ensuring the development of medical tourism. Rekreatsiya i turizm [Recreation and Tourism]. 2021; 3 (11): 35–44. (in Russian)