Medical Tourism and Wellness: Hospitality Bridging Healthcare (H2H)

Medical Tourism and Wellness: Hospitality Bridging Healthcare (H2H) takes a systems approach to examining the growing field of medical tourism, one of the field’s hottest niches, with billions of dollars spent each year. This important book fills the need for a modern management book that looks at medical tourism in depth from a medical and hospitality operational management perspective.

Growing numbers of people are going abroad to find affordable quality medical care for both necessary and cosmetic medical services. When they require surgery or dental work, they combine it with a trip to the Taj Mahal, a photo safari on the African veldt, or a stay at a luxury hotel—or at a hospital that feels like one—all at bargain-basement prices. The book takes a comprehensive look at medical tourism, covering such topics as:

• The history of medical tourism
• Why patients/tourists decide to travel for medical care
• The role of professional facilitators of medical tourism
• Key countries and medical disciplines in medical tourism
• Transportation, food, entertainment, and hotel/hospitality services
• Hotel and spa designs for medical tourism
• Best practices in medical tourism
• Patient follow-up after medical discharge
• Future trends in medical tourism
• Careers in medical tourism

With the inclusion of case studies, the book provides a comprehensive look into this growing trend and will be valuable to upper-level undergraduate and graduate students in health care administration and those pursing MBAs in healthcare, medical students pursuing a management focus, and students in hospitality management. It will also be a must-have resource for professionals working in hotels and in health care.

Frederick J. DeMicco, PhD, RD, CGSP, is a Full Professor and holds the ARAMARK Endowed Chair in the Department of Hospitality Business Management at the University of Delaware. Formerly, he was Associate Director in the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Recreation Management at Penn State University, where he was Professor-in-Charge of the HRIM undergraduate and graduate programs for five years. He also holds the Conti Distinguished Professorship at the Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA.

Dr. DeMicco’s research and scholarship interests are in international strategic management, hospitality leadership, and innovation. He has worked on projects with the Aramark Corporation for the last four Summer Olympics (Atlanta, Australia, Athens, and Beijing). He is on the editorial board of the Hospitality Research Journal, as well as the author and co-author of more than 100 publications in the area of hospitality and tourism management. Dr. DeMicco is ranked 12th among the 119 most cited international hospitality faculty, and he is tied for 37th (with Harvard’s Michael Porter) as a scholar most cited by hospitality education faculty.

He has sat on the boards of the Delaware Restaurant Association, the Delaware Hotel & Lodging Association, and International CHRIE. He was President of ICHRIE NENA (North East North American Federation).

Dr. DeMicco has taught and conducted research in Europe, Scandinavia, Australia/NZ, China, and the Caribbean (including cruise ships). He has co-authored the textbook Contemporary Management Theory: Controlling and Analyzing Costs in Foodservice Operations (5th edition) with James Keiser, Cihan Cobanoglu, and Robert N. Grimes, The book is used at approximately 100 CHRIE-affiliated universities and has been translated into Japanese. He is also the first author of Restaurant Management: A Best Practices Approach with publisher Kendall-Hunt. Dr. DeMicco is also a co-author with Dr. Marvin Cetron and Owen Davies for the book Hospitality 2015: The Future of Hospitality and Tourism, which looks at trends for the tourism hospitality and travel industry.

In 2008, Dr. DeMicco received the AH&LA Educational Institute’s Lamp of Knowledge Award for Outstanding United States Educator. LODGING Magazine honored Dr. DeMicco as the Lodging Industry’s Top Education Innovator for 2006.

Dr. DeMicco completed his PhD in Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University under Professor Dr. Michael D. Olsen. In 1996, he completed a sabbatical in Hotel Management at Walt Disney World, Florida. Dr. DeMicco also obtained a Ducktorate Degree from Disney University, Orlando Florida.