ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: This study aims at making a survey on health care service providers' cultural competence and making an appraisal of Chinese medical tourists on service quality, health care service providers' cultural competence, perceived value, and satisfaction. METHODS: The data was collected from August until November, 2014 and 150 health care service providers and 65 Chinese medical tourists from 12 medical institutions in Daegu were enrolled in analysis. RESULTS: The results showed that health care service provider's knowledge on Chinese culture was very low with 33.5% of correct answer. Health care service providers were found to get 3.82 point on a 5 point-scale in cultural perception, 3.53 points in cultural sensitivity, and 2.85 points in cultural skills. Chinese medical tourists were analyzed to give 4.08 points on a 5-point scale to satisfaction on health care service, followed by 4.01 points to health care service quality, 4.00 points to perceived value of health care service, and last 3.85 points to a health care service providers' cultural skills. However, there was a difference in points in cultural skills between health care service providers and Chinese medical tourists. Chinese medical tourists' satisfaction with health care service in Daegu was found to be comparatively high, but in relation to satisfaction with communication, it was found to be relatively low. CONCLUSION: Through this research, health care service providers' knowledge level of Chinese culture and cultural skills were low while they seemed to take a half-hearted attitude towards educational experience for building up cultural competence and foreign patient service response.