en Health Management and Economics Health Management and Economics Original Research Original Research <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Background: </strong>Medical tourism (MT) refers to circumstances in which people travel for medical treatments. The present study focuses on determining factors affecting MT in Iran.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&nbsp; Methods</strong>: The study uses a mixed method approach. Initially, through a qualitative study, 12 experts were interviewed deeply; then, 22 participants in three equal focus groups expressed their ideas about growth and development of MT in Iran. Based on the expressed ideas, 120 factors were identified and accordingly a structured questionnaire was developed. Some members from the focus groups confirmed the questionnaire&rsquo;s face and content validity. The reliability of pertinent items was confirmed using Cronbach&rsquo;s alpha=0.8. Afterwards, 61 eligible subjects filled out this questionnaire.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&nbsp; Results</strong>: The findings showed that &ldquo;healthcare quality&rdquo; and &ldquo;high level of expertise&rdquo; are two most attractive factors in MT. However, other factors such as &ldquo;healthcare costs&rdquo;, and &ldquo;visa facilities&rdquo; are among key factors as well. Also, the role of &ldquo;the healthcare providers&rdquo; was found to be more prominent than the roles of &ldquo;the government&rdquo; and &ldquo;the general tourist services&rdquo;.</p> <p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>&nbsp; Conclusion</strong>: Although some attractive MT factors are present currently, MT expansion to a desirable level in Iran requires a comprehensive plan of which its factors were discussed in this paper.&nbsp;</p> Medical tourism, Health Tourism, Healthcare Quality, Healthcare Cost, Access to care, Iran. 785 790 http://mjiri.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-1-1042&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Reza Rezaee rezaee@health.gov.ir 200319475328460024128 200319475328460024128 Yes Institute of Technology, Linköping University, Department of Management and Engineering, Linköping, Sweden, & Ministry of Health and Medical Education, Deputy of Curative Affairs, Budget Administration, Tehran, Iran. Mehdi Mohammadzadeh mehrzan@gmail.com 200319475328460024129 200319475328460024129 No Faculty of Pharmacy, Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.