Can Cost and Quality Management-Oriented Innovation Enhance Patient Satisfaction in Medical Tourist Destination?

ABSTRACT Despite the active contribution, promotion, and emergent in medical tourism, few studies have examined the significant contribution of cost and quality management-oriented innovation on medical tourists. Hospital administrators’ application of knowledge management practices buffers a yardstick for both innovation and patient-oriented. A total of 214 questionnaires were collected from general and functional managers in Iranian hospitals. partial least squares structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) was performed to analyze the data using Smart PLS 3. The findings suggest that both cost- and quality-oriented innovation significantly increase patient satisfaction. Additionally, low-cost and high-quality services stand as mediating variables for patient satisfaction. By emphasizing on innovation and knowledge management, the current study’s results indicate the significance of low-cost and high-quality services for satisfied patients. The study concludes with implications for research and directions for future study. For the first time, the current study proposed a model to examine how low-cost and high-quality services mediates the impact of cost and quality management-oriented innovation on patient satisfaction.