Medical Tourism Accreditation

Over the past several years, with the advent of medical tourism, there has been an increase in the number of Americans traveling abroad in the search for less expensive, quality healthcare. However, not all medical experts were convinced about the efficiency of the hospitals and healthcare providers in developing nations like India, Thailand, and some of the South American countries. This required a proper organization in the United States to certify and verify the healthcare standard provided in hospitals all over the world.

The Joint Commission International (JCI) is a non-profit private organization that was set up in the USA in 2006. It was formed as a part of the Joint Commission Resources (JCR), which is a subsidiary of The Joint Commission (TJC), which helps in the accreditation of various healthcare programs and organizations in the United States.

The JCU certifies and accredits hospitals and healthcare providers all over the world. This process helps Americans traveling abroad choose the best hospitals outside their country depending upon the treatment and surgery they require. All the hospitals and medical care facilities have to undergo periodic accreditation processes, which helps in focusing on patient care over an extensive period of time. All the facilities have to be re-accredited at least once in 3 years.

The primary goal of the JCI is to mitigate the risks of American medical tourists when they travel abroad. For this, a thorough analysis is done of the commitment and efficacy of the healthcare facility, its staff and doctors, to ensure a safe environment for patients. The members of the JCI also offer suggestions for improvement of quality of any healthcare provider, if required. This ensures high medical tourism accreditation standards.

The JCI consists of medical experts and surveyors from all over the world, and all the decisions are made according to the reports provided by advisory councils from various regions and other healthcare professionals and experts. The surveyors consist of healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, lab technologists, and hospital administrators. They randomly analyze and record patient medical records and the personal experience of medical tourists in various countries and hospitals. It should be noted that the JCI doesn’t survey insurance payment and billing.

Other than hospitals and healthcare providers, the quality of medical service is also gauged in extended medical facilities like laboratories, assisted living environments, rehabilitation units, and ambulance services. The services provided by the JCI go a long way in offering peace of mind to American patients, who are sometimes a bit skeptical about the overall quality of services provided in developing nations.  This is why medical tourism accreditation is sought after by many medical tourism providers. Medical tourism international accreditation is an important step for medical tourism hospitals.

Some of the medical tourism accredited hospitals in India (accredited by the JCI), are the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai (first accredited on January 29, 2006 and re-accredited on January 31, 2009), Bangalore (first accredited on July 18, 2008 and re-accredited on July 22, 2011), Calcutta (accredited on January 24, 2009), and Hyderabad (first accredited on April 28, 2006 and re-accredited on April 17, 2009); the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai (first accredited on October 20, 2006 and re-accredited on November 19, 2009), Fortis Escorts Heart Institute in New Delhi (accredited on February 20, 2010).

Till date, the JCI has accredited hospitals, medical care facilities, ambulatory care, care continuum, clinical laboratories, medical transport, and primary care centers in around 50 countries in Asia, Europe, South America, and Africa.