Analysis of spatial patterns and driving factors of domestic medical tourism demand in North East India

This research work aims to illustrate the geographical distribution and cluster patterns of domestic medical tourism demand in Northeast India based on the field survey from the destination Kolkata. The study was carried out in two steps, firstly, we obtained demographic and spatial information on domestic medical tourists (DMTs) traveling from 8 states of north-eastern India and visiting Kolkata, West Bengal, India to seek medical care; and then we used a Geographical Information Systems (GIS) approach to develop a spatial database, and used the ArcGIS geostatistical analysis module to explore the geographical extent, distribution pattern and spatial clustering of the source location of these medical tourists. During our study period of December 2017 to December 2018, we have received response from all the eight states of the northeast. Analysis of results exhibit that major northeastern domestic medical tourism demand regions lie over the western boundary of Tripura, south-eastern Sikkim, and central Mizoram, central Manipur, and the south-eastern region of Nagaland. We observe the district-wise spatial clusters in almost all the districts of Tripura and Mizoram, the major contributor to the domestic medical tourism segment of northeast India. Five major demand factors namely, super-specialized infrastructure, access to medical care information, cost-savings, quality of care, and treatment availability within minimum distance and time were found to be suitable in explaining the medical tourism from northeast India. This study is unique in the field of medical tourism that attempts to measure the degree of association among medical tourism generating regions at a micro-scale. Results indicate the strong spatial effect, and noted that domestic medical tourism demand is localized in nature that is highly controlled by the physician referral system, patient preferences and choices, and availability of financial and logistical support with flexible health insurance schemes.