Factors Influencing Crossborder Medical Tourism From Bangladesh: An Empirical Study

Bangladesh is one of the most densely populated states in the world. Though the health sector of this country is moderately low, but they are being enhanced day by day. A huge number of Bangladeshi patients are taking overseas medical treatment due to high cost, poor feature of healthcare service and absence of specialized treatment and medical services in the country. The purpose of the study is to deliberate the Cross-Border Medical Tourism from Bangladesh and find out the important factors that influences preferring foreign medical treatment of Bangladeshi patients. Data were collected from 221 patients of Bangladesh. For collecting the data, non-probability convenience sampling and structured questionnaires have been used. Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) has been developed by Nie et al., (1975) and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) has been used for processing the data. Some important statistical tools like frequency tests, reliability tests, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, ANOVA analysis, regression analysis and also hypotheses testing have been taken. It was found that majority of people go to other countries from Bangladesh for cardiovascular treatments, dental treatments, fertility/IVF, wellness evaluations and cancer treatments that were identified as the major medical treatments which persuade the patients to choose a different country. The major factors giving people to take foreign medical services are availability of medical expert and better service quality, sufficient medical facilities and services, medical treatment and transportation cost, and hygienic, safety, security and attractive tourist medical place.