GHA's Karen Timmons, Dr. Paul Van Ostenberg and Somporn Kumphong meeting with International Health Division at Thailand’s Ministry of Health (above). June 20th, 2017.

On May 14th and 15th, a diverse group of medical travel stakeholders descended on Athens, Greece to network and discuss the latest trends in European and global medical travel.

Getting lost on a hospital’s sprawling campus or labyrinth of hallways may soon be a thing of the past. A healthcare provider in New York State recently implemented a wayfinding app that allows patients to quickly navigate to any area of the hospital or hospital campus.

Covid-19 Certification medical tourism

Saudi Enaya Cooperative Insurance Company announced today that it will pursue contracts with selected healthcare providers accredited by the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program, an independent accrediting body that seeks to improve the patient experience and excellence of care received by patients who travel for their medical care and treatment.

medical tourism, accreditation, hotels

Karen Timmons, CEO of Global Healthcare Accreditation and Dr. Paul Van Ostenberg, Chairman of the Standards Committee departed June 13th for a 10 day whirlwind business tour of several APAC countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore.

As the head of a hospital or hospital department you are probably not in the habit of waking up each morning thinking: “Wow, the sun is shining, the coffee is percolating, and I just can’t wait to see all the new patient complaints we’ll receive today!''

Medical tourism certification

The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for Medical Travel Services recently announced the release of GHA Standards 4.1 for hospitals and ambulatory medical centers with medical travel programs.

Medical tourism accreditation

The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for Medical Travel Services and the Quality & Accreditation Institute (QAI), have announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding for collaboration between the two accreditation programs to strengthen the protocols and services provided by healthcare providers to medical travel and international patients in India.

atients often judge the quality of a provider’s medical services based on their perceptions of a hospital’s physical environment. Walk into a hospital with stained walls and trash scattered along the floors and you’re likely to do a one eighty and head back out the door.

Patients face unique challenges when seeking care in a different country or region. There may be fear of the unknown, long flights, cultural and language barriers, and being away from friends and family - all while preparing for a major surgery or treatment.

The Covid-19 pandemic has transformed life as we know it. Healthcare provision, travel, the economy and social norms have all changed drastically in what seems like the blink of an eye. Like most industries, medical travel has been hit hard. Fear of contracting the virus – particularly in a hospital setting, lack of healthcare capacity, travel bans, and economic hardship don’t exactly make it easy for patients to seek elective treatments at home, much less in other regions or countries.

Standardized information templates (SIT’s) are a quick and easy way to improve operational efficiency and the patient experience, regardless of the stage of development of your medical travel program. Traveling patients are often seeking information and price estimates from multiple healthcare providers, the quicker you are able to respond with information that is relevant to their needs, the likelier it is that you will gain their trust.

For hospitals and clinics serving medical travel patients, we would like to invite you to a free webinar on June 9th at 9:00 am EDT, focusing on business recovery post-Covid-19.

GHA Accreditation for Medical Tourism Nicklaus Childrens Hospital

GHA Accreditation Karin Jay