Scoping medical tourism and international hospital accreditation growth
International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance
ISSN: 0952-6862
Article publication date: 30 September 2013
Abstract
Purpose
Uwe Reinhardt stated that medical tourism can do to the US healthcare system what the Japanese automotive industry did to American carmakers after Japanese products developed a value for money and reliability reputation. Unlike cars, however, healthcare can seldom be test-driven. Quality is difficult to assess after an intervention (posteriori), therefore, it is frequently evaluated via accreditation before an intervention (a priori). This article aims to scope the growth in international accreditation and its relationship to medical tourism markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Using self-reported data from Accreditation Canada, Joint Commission International (JCI) and Australian Council on Healthcare Standards (ACHS), this article examines how quickly international accreditation is increasing, where it is occurring and what providers have been accredited.
Findings
Since January 2000, over 350 international hospitals have been accredited; the JCI's total nearly tripling between 2007-2011. Joint Commission International staff have conducted most international accreditation (over 90 per cent). Analysing which countries and regions where the most international accreditation has occurred indicates where the most active medical tourism markets are. However, providers will not solely be providing care for medical tourists.
Practical implications
Accreditation will not mean that mistakes will never happen, but that accredited providers are more willing to learn from them, to varying degrees. If a provider has been accredited by a large international accreditor then patients should gain some reassurance that the care they receive is likely to be a good standard.
Originality/value
The author questions whether commercializing international accreditation will improve quality, arguing that research is necessary to assess the accreditation of these growing markets.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
The author thanks Dr Neil Lunt, Senior Lecturer in Social Policy and Public Management, York University for his help and advice.
Citation
Woodhead, A. (2013), "Scoping medical tourism and international hospital accreditation growth", International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, Vol. 26 No. 8, pp. 688-702. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHCQA-10-2011-0060
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited