Medical Tourism ? Healthcare Facility Certification

People opting for medical tourism have to consider a lot of things before making their decision. Four of their major decisions to be taken are:

Which country to go to (India, Malaysia, Brazil, Hungary, Mexico, Bangkok etc.)
Which medical tourism facilitator to go with (if deciding to go with one in the first place)
Which Hospital to choose
Who is the right doctor for me

Today I am going to talk about the least discussed topic of them all – Which hospital to choose.

This is a very important decision so you don’t just want to leave this for Medical tourism facilitators or anyone else to decide. You need to do a lot of research on the healthcare facility that you are considering. One good measure is to check if the facility has International standards & certifications such as JCI (Joint Commission International). It’s not the end of the world if they don’t, but that’s a whole different topic in itself, which I will get into in my later blogs.

Today I wanted to clear a misconception that medical tourist have regarding certifications of healthcare facility. Because of the popularity of JCI, some medical tourists won’t consider any hospital without it. Though it’s a good idea to consider hospitals with international accreditations, know that JCI is not the only body in the world to have the highest standards for quality of healthcare.

Below, I have (1) a brief on some of the more common/popular accreditation organizations, (2) a list of other Accreditation organizations whose certifications are at par with them and (3) reasons why these other Accreditation organizations have equally good healthcare quality standards.

JCI (Joint Commission International)

JCI is the international arm of JACHO; a USA focused Accreditation for HealthCare Organizations. JCI is an independent, not-for-profit organization that provides certification to hospitals, ambulatory care facilities, laboratories, and other health care organizations in the international community. Their main focus is to provide the highest quality of healthcare and patient satisfaction and have expertise in infection control, medication safety, facility safety, and accreditation standards compliance.

JCI is one of the most sort after accreditation by healthcare facilities internationally catering to Medical Tourists.

CCHSA or Accreditation Canada (Name changed in 2008)

Accreditation Canada is a not-for-profit organization in Canada that provides health organizations in Canada and Internationally with external peer review to assess the quality of their services based on standards of excellence.

ACHS International –

Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS) in 2005 established ACHS International (ACHSI). ACHSI delivers accreditation and quality improvement programs for health care providers across the world..

Above are some of the organizations that many of the hospitals and clinics internationally are taking certifications from to prove that the facilities and standards provided by them are world class. In most of the countries where medical tourism is booming, hospitals and clinics are making sure they leave no stone unturned to attract international patients.

So why are healthcare facilities wanting certifications from only these organizations. What’s common among them?

Well they are all ISQua certified organizations. ISQua, The International Society for Quality in Health Care, is a non-profit, independent organization. ISQua works to provide services to guide health professionals, providers, researchers, agencies, policy makers and consumers, to achieve excellence in healthcare delivery to all people, and to continuously improve the quality and safety of care.

ISQua itself does not conduct surveys or give out certifications to healthcare facilities, but is an umbrella organization that accredits other organizations that provide certifications to healthcare facilities. ISQua standards are the highest in the industry and thereby making it the hardest to get. In fact worldwide there are currently only 17 organizations that are accredited by ISQua.

ISQua Accredited Organizations

American Association of Blood Banks, Accreditation and Quality Programme – AABB
Accreditation Canada
The Australian Council on Healthcare Standard – ACHS
Australian General Practice Accreditation Limited / Quality in Practice – QIP/AGPAL
Healthcare Accreditation Quality Unit, UK – CHKS-HAQU
Council for Health Service Accreditation of Southern Africa – COHSASA
Health Accreditation System of Instituto Colombiano de Normas Técnicas y Certificación, Co – ICONTEC
The Irish Health Service Accreditation Board – IHSAB
Joint Commission International, USA – JCI
Malaysian Society for Quality in Health – MSQH
Netherlands Institute for Accreditation in Healthcare – NIAZ
Quality Improvement Council and the QIC Accreditation Program, Australia – QIC
Taiwan Joint Commission on Healthcare Accreditation – TJCHA
Health and Disability Auditing New Zealand – HDANZ
Global-Mark Pty Ltd, Healthcare Certification Programme
Aged Care Standards and Accreditation Agency, Australia – ACSAA
Health Care Accreditation Council of Jordan – HCAC

Any healthcare facility having certifications from either of the organizations follows the highest international standards to cater to their patients.

So next time you come across a hospital, which is not JCI certified by does have one of the above certification, just remember a single body has approved them all, so they all have equally high standards. All you need to verify is whether the certifying organization is ISQua certified.