Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

The Development of Health Tourism Industries in Malaysia

2017; Volume: 4; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

2528-6854

Cut Khairunnisa, Muhammad Hatta,

Halal products and consumer behavior

Health tourism industry in Malaysia was introduced in 1998. The industry is growing rapidly so it has generated a profit of RM730 million in 2014 and the number of tourists as many as 790,000 people. Currently, Malaysia has become one of the best countries in the Asia Pacific region in the health tourism industry so it can compete with developed countries such as US, UK, Costa Rica, Japan, Brazil and Singapore. There are several factors that affect the progress of health tourism industries in Malaysia for examples, all doctors including health professionals have competent international level, high-tech medical equipment, medical costs are very affordable, all health workers in Malaysia can communicate in English effectively and hospitals in Malaysia has achieved the best quality of the MS ISO 9002, Malaysian Society for Quality of Health (MSQH) and the Joint Commission International (JCI). However, the progress of the health tourism industry in Malaysia is not only caused by the availability of hospital facilities, advanced health technologies and expertise of the doctor. Other aspects also have an important role, although not directly related to health care, for example, the role of the health law to establish standards of quality health services so that doctors can work professionally, carefully, cautiously and not negligent in performing his duties. Malaysia’s one of the countries where the number of medical negligence slightly compared with other countries such as UK and US. This could increase the confident of international patients who will be treated to various hospitals in Malaysia and automatically Malaysia's reputation in the health tourism industries will getting better. When a case of medical negligence in Malaysia cannot be controlled, then this condition will damage the country's reputation, doctors, hospitals and will affect the confidence of foreign tourists who will perform the treatment in Malaysia.