ARE THE ROMANIAN HEALTHCARE SERVICES COMPETITIVE ON THE INTERNATIONAL MARKET?

PENTESCU Alma, Lucian Blaga University of Sibiu

CETINĂ Iuliana, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

ORZAN Gheorghe, The Bucharest University of Economic Studies

Abstract:
Alongside low-cost travel, scientific and surgical developments, the disappointment with medical treatments at home, lack of access to healthcare at reasonable cost or in reasonable time, the rise of high quality healthcare in developing countries, greater mobility, as well as a growing demand for cosmetic surgery encouraged patient mobility. Thus, according to Patients Beyond Borders, medical tourism has been growing annually by 20%, and is worth up to 55 billion $. Countries such as Thailand, India, Singapore, Turkey, Germany, Hungary, Mexico and Costa Rica are some of the most popular destinations for medical tourists. In this context, using secondary data, the aim of this paper is to analyse if the Romanian healthcare services are competitive on the international market. Can Romania benefit from the medical tourism industry even though its’ healthcare system faces serious problems on basic aspects?

Keywords: healthcare services, health tourism, medical tourism, healthcare trends, secondary data

JEL Classification: M31, I11

Volume: 68, Issue: 5

Pages: 139 - 148

Publication date: December, 2016

Download the article: http://economice.ulbsibiu.ro/revista.economica/archive/68512pentescu&cetina&orzan.pdf

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