What Is Medical Tourism

inspecting and accrediting health care facilities and hospitals outside of the United States since 1999.[16] Many international hospitals today see obtaining international accreditation as a way to attract American patients.[17]

Joint Commission International is a relative of the Joint Commission in the United States. Both are independent private sector not-for-profit organizations that develop nationally and internationally recognized procedures and standards to help improve patient care and safety. They work with hospitals to help them meet Joint Commission standards for patient care and then accredit those hospitals meeting the standards.[18]

In the UK and Hong Kong, the Trent International Accreditation Scheme is a key player. The different international healthcare accreditation schemes vary in quality, size, cost, intent and the skill and intensity of their marketing. They also vary in terms of cost to hospitals and healthcare institutions making use of them.[19] A forecast by Deloitte Consulting regarding medical tourism published in August 2008 noted the value of accreditation in ensuring quality of healthcare and specifically mentioned JCI, ISQUA and Trent.[8]

Increasingly, some hospitals are looking towards dual international accreditation, perhaps having both JCI to cover potential US clientele, Trent for potential British and European clientele and Accreditation Canada. As a result of competition between clinics for American medical tourists, there have been initiatives to rank hospitals based on patient-reported metrics.[20]

Other organizations providing contributions to quality practices include:

The Society for International Healthcare Accreditation (SOFIHA), a free-to-join group providing a forum for discussion and for the sharing of ideas and good practice by providers of international healthcare accreditation and users of the same. The primary role of this organisation is to promote a safe hospital environment for patients.[21]
The United Kingdom Accreditation Forum (UKAF) is an established network of accreditation organisations with the intention of sharing experience good practice and new ideas around the methodology for accreditation programmes, covering issues such as developing healthcare quality standards, implementation of standards within healthcare organisations, assessment by peer review and exploration of the peer review techniques to include the recruitment, training, monitoring and evaluation of peer reviewers and the mechanisms for awards of accredited status to organisations.[22]
References
^ Shaywitz, D.A., & Ausiello, D.A. (2002). Global Health: A Chance for Western Physicians to Give – and Receive. The American Journal of Medicine, 113, 354-357.
^ Bezruchka, S. (2000). Medical Tourism as Medical Harm to the Third World: Why? For Whom? Wilderness and Environmental Medicine, 11, 77-78.
^ a b c d Gahlinger, PM. The Medical Tourism Travel Guide: Your Complete Reference to Top-Quality, Low-Cost Dental, Cosmetic, Medical Care & Surgery Overseas. Sunrise River Press, 2008
^ Roberts, M. (2006). Duffle Bag Medicine. Journal of the American Medical Association, 295, 1491-1492.
^ a b Pinto, A.D., & Upshur, R.E.G. (2009). Global Health Ethics for Students. Developing World Bioethics, 9, 1-10.
^ James, D. (1999). Going Global. The New Physician, 48, online. Accessed 7 May 2009. [1].
^ a b Laurie Goering, “For big surgery, Delhi is dealing,” The Chicago Tribune, March 28, 2008
^ Lagace, Martha “The Rise of Medical Tourism”, Harvard Business School Working Knowledge, December 17, 2007. Accessed July 1, 2008.
^ Linda A. Johnson, “Americans look abroad to save on health care: Medical tourism could jump tenfold in next decade,” The San Francisco Chronicle, August 3, 2008
^ The Private Cost of Public Queues in 2005, Fraser Institute
^ Wait times shorter for some medical procedures: report., Canwest News Service
^ a b “Medical tourism growing worldwide” by Becca Hutchinson, UDaily, July 25, 2005, retrieved September 5, 2006
^ “Medical tourism: Need surgery, will travel” CBC News Online, June 18, 2004, retrieved September 5, 2006
^ Jones CA, Keith LG. Medical tourism and reproductive outsourcing: the dawning of a new paradigm for healthcare. Int J Fertil Womens Med, 2006;51:251-255
^ Jones C, “Ethical and legal conundrums of post-modern procreation” Int J Gynaecol Obstet Dec 4, 2007
^ “Medical Tourism Industry Certifications and Information”
^ “Medical Tourism Magazine”, Medical Tourism Association, February 2008
^ http://www.jointcommission.org/AboutUs/Fact_Sheets/jci_facts.htm
^ “INDIA: Accreditation a must”, International Medical Travel Journal
^ http://www.worldhospitalmonitor.com
^ SOFIHA – Welcome to SOFIHA
^ United Kingdom Accreditation Forum