PURPOSE
This study was performed to identify the key elements for the improvement of healthcare services for foreigners in Korea.
METHOD
Delphi technique was used for this study. As the members of an expert panel for this study, 32 healthcare professionals, who were physicians, nurses, administrators, and care coordinators, with at least 6 months of experiences in international clinics and healthcare services in five metropolitan areas in Korea participated. Data collections were conducted three times from August to October, 2009. The priority and the importance were analyzed using descriptive statistics in SPSS Win 15.0.
RESULT
The key element selected most frequently by the experts was the 'Healthcare providers' abilities for foreign languages' followed by 'Guidelines for facing medical accidences and disputes', 'Information and guide for healthcare services written in English', ''Informed consent preventing medical disputes', 'System of healthcare service fees for foreigners'.
CONCLUSIONS
The key elements for the improvement of healthcare services for foreigners in Korea were mostly the requirements for effective communication with the foreign clients and the systemic support. The key elements identified in this study can be applied usefully for the development of strategies to improve the quality of healthcare services for foreigners.