Global Healthcare Accreditation® (GHA) is a dynamic and innovative accreditation body with a specialized focus in medical and wellness travel, safety, and well-being. Founded in September of 2016, GHA’s initial purpose as an independent accrediting body centered on improving the patient experience for medical travelers and supporting healthcare providers in validating quality, increasing visibility, and implementing a sustainable business model for medical travel.
Since then, GHA pioneers a variety of programs covering the entire spectrum of the care continuum and offers certification and accreditation for stakeholders in all aspects of health and wellbeing.
GHA’s international standards for medical travel (accredited by ISQUA) and professional norms have been developed in consultation with leading global experts in the industries it represents, including health providers, insurers, and employers committed to establishing best practices. GHA has accredited and certified top hospitals around the globe seeking to enhance the patient experience for medical travelers and improve business performance.
COVID-19 and its dramatic and lasting impact on organizations in many industries across the globe inspired GHA to evolve its services to better meet the needs of organizations for safety, health, and wellbeing as they navigate a rapidly evolving landscape to a ‘New Normal’. No longer is healthcare the sole industry prioritizing health safety; employers from all industries see a clear mandate to facilitate employee safety and overall wellbeing. Our channels for service delivery have also evolved; from primarily offering services onsite, to a now robust and integrated virtual model providing greater access to our experts and even more value driven services.As a result of the pandemic, patients, travelers, employees and consumers are turning to trusted sources for services as safety increasingly becomes a brand differentiator. GHA is supporting organizations through training, consultancy, and third-party accreditation to help build confidence and trust on the part of their clients and employees.
2020 brought the world to its knees in many ways, sounding a call for leadership and innovation. To meet this need in healthcare, GHA issued COVID-19 Guidelines for Medical Travel Programs and a Certification of Conformance with the Guidelines along with a resource center for coronavirus information. The COVID-19 Certification of Conformance demonstrates to patients, buyers, and other key stakeholders that a medical travel program’s operational protocols, practices and procedures have undergone an external review and reflect international best practices designed to keep traveling patients safe, which builds patient confidence and trust in the organization.
In addition to health and safety, the coronavirus pandemic – and its negative impact on people’s physical and mental wellbeing, has also raised greater awareness of the importance of wellness in all aspects of business and now inspires a strong motivation towards wellness to renew mental, spiritual, physical, and even financial wellbeing.
With these aspects in mind, GHA launched the WellHotel® for Medical Travel and WellHotel® for Well-being accreditation programs. The WellHotel® for Medical Travel Accreditation focuses on the guest experience and unique needs of medical travelers as they recuperate after a procedure or treatment, while the WellHotel® for Well-being focuses on meeting the needs of wellness tourists, many of whom expect and prefer a holistic set of wellbeing services that address their mental, emotional, social, and spiritual health.
Early in 2021, GHA turned its attention to return to work strategies for businesses through global health and well-being standards and a partnership with TrustAssure™, a technology platform developed by CLX Health and Sirius IQ that offers secure, confidential, personal health attestation for the digital age.
The GHA and TrustAssure™ partnership assists organizations to create safe, health-centric workplaces and prioritize well-being for employees, visitors, and travelers to meet the need of the current crisis and beyond. Importantly, the program builds the foundation for more sustainable business practices to mitigate a comprehensive array of risks to safety and wellbeing in the workplace and in the community as a whole.
Learn about the COVID-19 Guidelines for Medical Travel Programs.
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