Analyzing Health Tourism Status in Iran

Background and Objectives: In addition to strengthening the country's economic viability, Health tourism entails providing regional security and has a special place in the financial circulation of countries. The purpose of this study was to analyze the status of the health tourism system in Iran and identify the strategies to improve this industry. Material and Methods: This qualitative research was done in three stages. In the first stage, by reviewing the literature and successful healthcare tourism reforms in successful countries were identified. In the second stage, the status analysis tool was used to analyze the status of health tourism system in Iran. In the third stage, according to the experiences of successful countries, the proposed strategies for improving the health tourism system of Iran were identified. Results: By analyzing data, strengths were identified such as the existence of specialized medical and specialist centers with low costs and the ability to treat infertility diseases and the most important weakness was identified as the lack of clarity of duties in the health tourism system of the country. The most important opportunities include: fundraising and job creation, enabling economic, social and cultural. The most important threat includes: the lack of awareness of tourists from other countries due to lack of adequate advertising of media and Internet. Based on these, institutional reforms were proposed at the levels of macro policies and strategic reform. Conclusion: Iran can play a significant role in developing this industry in the region and in the world and earn income from health tourism because of potential capabilities.