各國對醫療旅遊形成原因、實踐經驗、效益與爭議之探討－－1997至2008之文獻回顧

Medical Tourism in Different Countries—Origin, Contributions, Practical Experiences, and Disputes -A Review of Related Literature from 1994 to 2008

目的：醫療旅遊的興起及其蘊涵的價值，我國政府與醫療業者正予以關注。為瞭解國際間對醫療旅遊的各項見解與實踐所得經驗，本研究檢索2008年9月前國內外有關以醫療旅遊為主題，涉及醫療旅遊形成原因、實踐經驗、效益與爭議等議題之中英文文獻，共計27篇，進行歸納與分析。方法：本文採用文獻分析法。資料搜尋來源國際資料庫以Medline為主，國內資料庫則採用全國博碩士論文資訊網、與中文電子期刊服務（CEPS思博網），共獲中英文文獻180篇，經逐一檢視文獻標題與摘要，符合本文研究目的者共得英文文獻23篇與中文文獻4篇，納入研究回顧。結果：研究發現全球化趨勢創造出醫療旅遊的經濟價值，卻衍生出在地化的各項問題；耑此，在期待醫療旅遊所創造的經濟效益前，應首重於國內配套措施的完善。結論：建議我國醫療旅遊營運模式的發展，應奠基於謀求社會集體福祉及尊重市場機制的原則上進行。

Objectives: The emergence of medical tourism and its economic value have aroused the attention of the Taiwanese government and people involved in the medical industry. This article intends to analyze and summarize a total of twenty-seven papers published locally and abroad before September 2008, which focus on medical tourism and are involved in formation causes practices and their effects, and disputes arising from medical tourism. The aim is to have a better understanding of various views on medical tourism or experiences gained from it. Methods: Documentary analysis was adopted in this paper. International data were mainly obtained from Medline, while domestic data were sourced from the Electronic Theses and Dissertations System and Chinese Electronic Periodical Services (CEPS). A total of 180 theses in English or Chinese were obtained. After their titles, abstracts, and contents were reviewed, 23 English theses and 4 Chinese theses met the requirements of this work, so they were included in the research. Results: The study shows that the globalization trend contributed to the formation of medical tourism’s economic value; however, various local problems also surfaced. Thus, emphasis should be laid on setting and perfecting relevant domestic measures before expecting great economic benefits from medical tourism. Conclusions: It is suggested that the Taiwanese medical tourism should be developed based on the pursuit of social welfare with importance attached to the market mechanism.