Accreditation of Healthcare Institutions: Assuring Quality services for Medical Tourism in India

Quality of patient care is how a hospital delivers care for the patients and they ensure safe, effective, efficient, and equitable medical services, which conform to accreditation standards. Accreditation is a formal process to ensure delivery of safe, high-quality healthcare based on standards and processes devised and developed by healthcare professionals for healthcare services. The concept of Accreditation dates back to the 1860s when Florence Nightingale collated hospital statistics and analyzed them. In India, healthcare accreditation dates back to 2005 when they launched an independent accrediting agency called NABH. In the healthcare arena, there are two umbrella accreditation organizations, which are called “the accredited of the accreditors.” These two are “The International Society for Quality in Health Care” (ISQua) and “United Kingdom Akkreditering Form” (UKF). These umbrella organizations endorse many of the global accreditation organizations. For medical tourism patients, accreditation is an assurance of providing high standards of safety and quality medical care. The quality of medical services cannot be experienced prior to availing the treatment modalities; usually, international patients select hospitals based on their quality accreditation. Maximization of patient care quality and minimization of risks associated with medical care are the two important constituents to build safer hospitals. These twin key concepts can be accomplished through the accreditation of healthcare institutions. Medical tourism patients are ensured to get standardized healthcare services regardless of whether the patient is in the USA, Canada, United Kingom, Singapore, or in India. Evidently, standardization through accreditation is a great risk reduction methodology and strategy proven effectively across different nations globally.