Medical Tourism: Its Role in Maintaining Health and Increasing Life Expectancy

Abstract

The subject of the research is development of medical tourism as a measure of maintaining health and increasing life expectancy of the population. The relevance of the study is substantiated by decisions on increasing the retirement age, which requires improving working conditions and arrangement of high-performance jobs as components of the social policy aimed at increasing life expectancy and improving the quality of life as the most important conditions for ensuring sustainable economic development of the country. The purpose of the research was to determine the role of medical tourism in maintaining physical strength, increasing the lifetime and maintaining the health of the population in line with the key national goal of accelerating the national economy growth rates. Based on official statistical and audit information and expert opinions, the paper discusses specific features and practices of organizing medical tourism, analyzes the current state and identifies factors that have a multidirectional impact on its development. It is concluded that the necessity to take into account the specific conditions of the spatial development strategy of the Russian Federation orients companies engaged in medical tourism towards expanding the range and improving the quality of services provided. The proposed measures aimed at perfection of the methodological principles and tools of research can be used at the regional level to justify the creation of tourist clusters. Proposals for the development of marketing are aimed at improving the financial sustainability of companies and recommended for taking into account by the top management of medical tourism companies.