Quality of patient-physician intercultural communication in healthcare tourism and medical interview experiences at an Indian hospital.

Abstract

Purpose: While many studies have addressed health communication and physician-patient interactions, knowledge about intercultural communication in medical tourism is limited. Our empirical study, therefore, investigates aspects related to patients' cultural beliefs regarding the quality of healthcare and the way this shapes their expectations and experiences in an intercultural medical interview setting at a Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited host country hospital in India. The theoretical foundation is the Communication Accommodation Theory.

Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative design was used in this study using the convenience sampling method. Data were collected from 300 medical tourism (MT) patients immediately after their face-to-face medical interview at the hospital.

Findings: The non-Western cultures displayed higher intercultural communication (ICC) expectations from the host country doctors than the Western patients, possibly on account of cultural similarity with and proximity to the host country. ICC beliefs of MT patients supported by convergent communication accommodation by the doctors led to the perception of better ICC experience in clinical consultations with the potential to improve word-of-mouth promotion, patient satisfaction and revisit intentions; patients' expectations mediated the relationship. Consultation time in minutes controlled the relationship between patient ICC beliefs, expectations and experience in the medical consultations. The proposed model was undifferentiated for age, gender and geography of the MT patient as well as wait time (in minutes).

Originality/value: While culture has been recognised as a significant factor in shaping the growth in medical tourism, research is scant on cultural and religious communication accommodation practices of host country doctors and medical staff and its effects on patient experience. Most studies on culture and MT have either evaluated the role of culture on the destination choice of international patients (cultural affinity or cultural familiarity) or have analysed the effect of distance between the host and the guest country as critical determinants of the choice of MT country. This study is probably the first to assess the quality of ICC beliefs, expectations and effects on MT patients' experiences. It is also the pioneering study to relate the context of MT with the well-regarded Communication Accommodation Theory, especially the manner in which convergent and divergent accommodation occurred between MT patients and MT service providers in the host country.