Founded in 2016, the Global Healthcare Accreditation for Medical Travel Services is independent accrediting body that received ISQua accreditation in 2019. GHA’s international standards and professional norms for medical travel have been developed in consultation with leading global experts in the industry, including providers, insurers and employers committed to establish best practices in medical travel, which support healthcare providers in validating quality and patient experience, increasing visibility, and implementing a sustainable business model for providers along the entire medical travel care continuum.
GHA encompasses accreditation, certification, training and advisory services for:
GHA’s goal is to share professional norms and set the standard for organizations serving medical travel patients. With a focus on the entire medical travel care continuum, patient experience and sustainable business practices – we seek to provide both short term and long term value to our clients, whom we view as strategic partners.
The GHA program complements existing national and international clinical accreditation programs. While these programs traditionally focus on the quality and patient safety aspects of care for the entire organization, GHA conducts a deep review of the organization’s medical travel program to enhance the Patient Experience, Sustainable Business Processes and Patient-Focused Clinical Processes. Thus, our standards are specific to medical travel and not redundant. Among our accredited clients are top organizations such as Cleveland Clinic, Ohio, Bumrungrad International Hospital, Prince Sultan Cardiac Care Center, and Seoul National University Hospital (see list of GHA accredited clients). Our advisory board includes a wide range of global stakeholders in the industry including representatives from leading insurance companies such as Cigna, AXA and Aetna International.
The objective of the GHA accreditation process is to effectively and efficiently position healthcare providers to attract and serve medical travel patients, thus improving not only clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction, but also to positively impact an organizations’ business performance. In fact, it has been gratifying to receive feedback from our clients which highlights improved patient experience scores as well as increase in patient volume since becoming GHA accredited. Additionally, we are working with insurers and global payers to recognize GHA accredited hospitals as a mitigating risk strategy towards enhancing the patient experience along the entire care continuum. This recognition builds trust and confidence in the organization treating medical travel patients and helps improve and sustain brand reputation and patient loyalty.
The GHA program complements existing national and international clinical accreditation programs. While these programs traditionally focus on the clinical aspects of care for the entire organization, GHA conducts a deep review of the International or Global Patient Services program, or the entity within an organization that serves the medical travel patient.
GHA ensures that organizations receive solutions that impact not just patient outcomes, but business performance and the organization’s financial health. Because GHA focuses on the entire Medical Travel Care Continuum-those business functions within an organization that impact the medical travel program, such as Marketing, Finance, and Technology are included. GHA also identifies ways to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of the Medical Travel Care Continuum, while reducing vulnerabilities.
Our advisory board includes representatives from leading hospitals and insurance companies, as well as organizations focused on patient experience, risk management, employee benefits, and medical travel facilitation. Additionally, GHA regularly surveys buyers of health services to assure our standards are finely tuned to the needs of traveling patients seeking care under a variety of circumstances.
GHA regularly participates in international healthcare events including hosting a yearly Medical Director Summit, participating in Ministerial Summits, roundtables and focus groups, while quickly building a growing social media presence. These initiatives and others have allowed us to develop a vast database that benefits our clients through visibility, connectivity, and networking events.Achieving Global Healthcare Accreditation is not only an accomplishment in operational excellence but a clear indicator an organization is also prioritizing their business strategy.
Our standards encompass all of the aspects of the continuum below, including the pre-arrival and post discharge phases. This is a distinct differentiating factor from other clinical accreditations.
The GHA Program recognizes that medical travel can be defined in various ways in different regions of the world. Historically, our standards have recognized medical travel as the process of traveling outside one’s local area of residence for the purpose of receiving medical services. Currently, the GHA Program defines medical travel specifically as an elective decision as of the entire medical travel definition spectrum.
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