Healthcare providers who are receiving medical travelers and/or international patients (or seeking to) may wonder if it is worth their time, effort and resources to implement an organized medical travel program or international patient department. After all – some may think, “We have received the occasional expat or medical traveler...

Over the last several years, infections related to medical travel have received increasingly prominent news coverage. Most recently, a number of U.S. and Canadian patients became infected with an antibiotic-resistant strain of bacteria after undergoing surgery at a hospital in Tijuana, Mexico.[1] While there is a potential risk of a...

The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for Medical Travel Services is pleased to provide the following recommendations and guidelines specific to medical travel patients. While this information will be helpful for all types of medical travelers, it should be especially beneficial for patients who are paying for their procedure out...

In a previous article (Pre-screening Traveling Patients: 4 Things You Must Know) we discussed important factors to consider when assessing whether or not a patient is a good candidate for medical travel. In this article we will look at the other end of the spectrum to understand what healthcare providers...

Recently The Beryl Institute published findings on the patient experience using data obtained in a survey of 2,000 healthcare consumers in five countries.  Their report, Consumer Perspectives on Patient Experience 2018,[1] delves deeply into the importance of the patient experience and why it matters to consumers and why it should matter to healthcare...

If you have paid any attention to GHA’s newsletters and articles over the past 18 months you will have noticed one of the constant themes, if not the primary one, is highlighting strategies to enhance the patient experience across the Medical Travel Care Continuum™. A big part of enhancing is...

If you’re like most people you probably hate surprises; unless of course, the surprise is an unexpected raise or that dreamed-of birthday gift you never thought you’d get. If you are a patient seeking treatment in another region or country then you certainly don’t want any surprises associated with your...

Over the past two years GHA leadership has had the opportunity to meet with hospitals and ambulatory clinics across the globe. These many interactions have resulted in valuable learning experiences for the GHA team and have allowed us to better understand the needs and expectations of our potential clients. We...

Have you ever arrived at a restaurant and had the host greet you by your name? Or perhaps you have walked in to your hotel room to find a personalized note along with a basket full of your favorite fruit. Those little personal touches make most of us feel important...