Presenting a Model to Improve the Healthcare Sector to Attract Medical Tourism

Abstract

To achieve the Sustainable Developing Goals set by the United Nations in 2015 in Agenda 2030, countries are striving to rebuild their economies during this post pandemic era. The ultimate goal of Agenda 2030 is to end poverty and inequality, protect the planet and ensure that all people enjoy health, justice and prosperity by 2030. The global healthcare sector has gained attention as an essential component in accomplishing SDG3 which focuses on good health and wellbeing. The global tourism sector has aligned itself with SDG1 which focuses on zero poverty in all its forms everywhere. Additionally, SDG12 focuses on ensuring sustainable consumption and production patterns, which is key to sustain the livelihoods of current and future generations. This paper aims to present a model to strengthen to healthcare sector in South Africa to improve medical tourism to the region in order to achieve the SDG goals highlighted. South Africa already has a robust medical tourism sector as the private healthcare sector is able to provide cost effective solutions and shorter waiting times for specific medical procedure. South Africa's private healthcare system is world-class for medical tourism because it is supported by a thriving medical insurance market. However, the public healthcare system has not been able to benefit from the current synergies between to medical tourism and private healthcare sector. Upgrading and expanding the healthcare sector may lead to improvements and growth in both the sectors and better achievement of the SDG goals. A study was conducted in the South African Healthcare sector using mixed methods to collect data from a purposive sample while adhering to a descriptive exploratory paradigm. A comprehensive questionnaire was administered to 322 participants who worked in frontline positions at selected public healthcare facilities in South Africa. The data showed that frontline healthcare personnel experience daily struggles and challenges that limit their ability to provide high-quality of service. Based on the results of this study, this paper will present a model for improving the quality of healthcare service delivery in an effort to provide improved and expanded services to the medical tourism industry.