全球视角下跨境医疗服务研究述评与展望

A review and future directions of cross-border healthcare under a global perspective

本文从跨境医疗研究现状出发,对跨境医疗新趋势进行分析。研究发现关于跨境医疗的研究成果较多基于传统的医疗管理和公共卫生理论与模式。互联网时代跨境医疗的特征和医疗服务模式发生了变革,在这一背景下的相关研究较少。本文系统分析了跨境医疗整体概况及测度研究、驱动机制与服务模式研究成果,有针对性地提炼跨境医疗研究的理论框架,探讨跨境医疗带来的全球医疗资源均等化配置问题,提出新趋势下跨境医疗研究的关键科学问题与相关研究建议。研究成果对于推动国内外学者开展跨境医疗前沿领域研究,贡献全球健康事业有着重要的理论价值和实践意义。

In the last decades,and primarily in the present century the notion of welling being and receiving medical treatment has gone further than ever before alongside reduced transport costs,increased information availability and improved consumption ability.Now cross-border healthcare as a niche has emerged as a global trend from the rapid growth of economic globalization.This paper focuses on the rapid development of the cross-border healthcare theory.This paper first employs bibliometric to evaluate the current research on the cross-border healthcare.Based on an overall review of the research on the cross-border healthcare related issues,this paper figures out four research directions in this area,i.e.,the general situation under a global perspective,the measurement research,the drive mechanism and the service mode of cross-border healthcare.Drawing on the current research,this paper systematically analyzes the gaps in the four directions,proposes an theoretical framework of cross-border healthcare research and extends the research scope into equalization of medical and health resources allocation brought by cross-border healthcare.Finally,we proposes three future research directions to offer new theoretical perspectives for cross-border healthcare research and how to realize the sustainable development in the practice process.In the first part,this paper analyses the current research status of cross-border healthcare.To identify relevant studies,we use the Web of Science database and CKNI database.The research query covers a period of 2005-2019(January 2005 to September 2019).From the publications’distribution,we find that the relevant research is mainly published in the field of health service and tourism management,and has not attracted much attention by the mainstream management scholarly journals.Currently,cross-border healthcare is a global phenomenon from the perspective of population flow,and people usually seek medical treatment globally.There is not systematic research on the population flow from a global perspective,because the current research was investigated by questionnaires,case interviews and secondary data based on a given country perspective.In addition,the measurement research on cross-border healthcare only provides fragmented evidence of cross-border healthcare phenomenon to some extent,however,does not form a convincing explanation logic.Furthermore,the fundamental theories and research on the reasons,decision-making process and the influences of cross-border healthcare have not been well developed.Relevant research is based on the specific stage of cross-border healthcare’s development,thus,lacks in the explanation for the people’s cross-border healthcare behavior.The systematic research on cross-border healthcare’s driving mechanism still needs more exploration.Based on previous research,this paper puts forward the integrated concept framework for the driving mechanism research on cross-border healthcare.In the second part,this paper discusses the trend of cross-border healthcare in the new era.The rapid evolution of Internet of Things(IoT),big data analysis,artificial intelligence,3D printing has presented an opportunity to change the medical and healthcare industry deeply,which is gradually changing from the supply-oriented to the demand-oriented,data-driven service mode.The upgrading of data-driven cross-border healthcare service mode has become a new direction for the value realization of global medical and healthcare resources allocation.In addition,the new service mode of cross-border healthcare has emerged as the Internet-based cross-border medical service platform,further empowering cross-border medical service,expanding the health service space,increasing the medical accessibility,so as to meet the multi-level needs of global patients by providing diversified and multi-level products.The medical treatment needs of the global cross-border healthcare population present the characteristics of diversity,with special medical service needs becoming a new trend.The new trend requires that all countries involved in the global medical and health resources network should focus on mining the value of medical and health data,working collaboratively on the synergy of domestic and foreign medical and health resources so as to connect the supply side efficiently with the demand side.In the third part,this paper proposes the future research directions in cross-border healthcare,namely the impact path and mechanism of the new cross-border healthcare service mode on the patients’behavior,the allocation strategy of medical and health resources in the Internet era,universal health coverage based on cross-border healthcare.For each direction,we propose the problems needing to be addressed,the potential theoretical gaps,and potential research directions.By doing so,this paper provides insights to the future research and practice for cross-border healthcare on how to conduct cross-border healthcare in the new era.In summary,the future research should focus on local characteristics in the context of globalization and improve the understanding of theory about cross-border healthcare,providing theoretical guidance for the practice on the optimal allocation of global medical and health resource.