A recent article in Harvard Business Review, “Four Simple Low Resolution Innovation Tests” highlights the problem faced by anyone who is considering investment in the medical tourism business. How can you know whether people will actually buy your service i.e. whether patients will actually travel abroad to use your services?
Much of the “research” conducted in the medical tourism sector is about what people say they will do.... not about what they actually do. For example, the 2009 Gallup Survey in the USA is frequently used to support the “booming medical tourism market” hypothesis.
The report on this Gallup poll was headed “Americans Consider Crossing Borders for Medical Care”. It found that “up to 29% of Americans would consider traveling abroad for medical procedures”.
Now the key words here are “will consider”. It does not say “will travel” or “have travelled”. And there lies the problem.......
.........Read the full article at IMTJ: Go to "Believe what your customers do...not what they say!"