Health tourism, as a burgeoning and lucrative segment of the global tourism industry, has secured a prominent position in Iran by leveraging the country’s medical capabilities and healthcare infrastructure. Concurrently, with the proliferation of emerging technologies and their pivotal role in enhancing service quality and expanding international markets, identifying the future drivers of technology-based businesses in this sector has become increasingly critical. Adopting a meta-synthesis approach, this study systematically reviews 190 prior studies related to technology-driven health tourism. Following a rigorous screening and quality appraisal process, 40 articles were selected for the final analysis. The inductive analysis, utilizing open and axial coding, yielded seven key technology-centric drivers of health tourism: digitalization and smartization of service delivery, enhancement of digital competencies among human resources, intelligent service personalization, digital branding, improvement of technology-oriented policymaking and smart international collaborations, technology-enabled interactive marketing, and technological innovation in health tourism attractions. These drivers encompass 55 operational components, underscoring the seminal role of technology in fostering dynamic competitive advantages within the health tourism sector. The reliability of the analytical process was confirmed by a Cohen’s kappa coefficient of 0.70 across three independent reviewers. The findings suggest that the future trajectory of health tourism in Iran is contingent upon the dynamic and simultaneous interaction of these seven technology-driven drivers. Achieving sustainable development in this domain necessitates a paradigm shift from a static perspective toward a proactive, technology-oriented, and future-shaping approach. The results offer valuable implications for policymakers, investors, and practitioners, contributing to the enrichment of academic literature on health tourism.