As medical travel continues to grow post-pandemic, hospitals around the globe are positioning their brands to better serve the needs of this growing market. However, to do so, you need to create a clear and convenient pathway that mitigates risks to medical travelers and eliminates barriers that negatively impact the patient experience. If someone continues to have good experiences with your hospital or clinic, they will keep coming back (or refer others) and you’ll see their value as a customer increase over time.
GHA helps organizations to improve processes and standardize best practices that mitigate risks for medical travel patients across the medical travel care continuum- ultimately improving the patient experience. By implementing and validating international best practices advocated by GHA, hospitals and clinics can reap a multitude of benefits that contribute to their success in the global healthcare market.
Below are seven specific ways GHA accreditation or certification can benefit your organization.
1. Puts Your Organization in a Position to Increase Medical Tourism Patient Revenue
GHA accreditation positions your hospital as a preferred choice for medical travelers, opening doors to increased patient revenue. With accreditation, your organization gains recognition for its commitment to excellence and adherence to international standards. Accredited hospitals are more likely to attract patients seeking trusted providers for their medical needs. By differentiating yourself through GHA accreditation, you can tap into a larger pool of potential patients and expand your market share in the competitive health tourism market.
2. Mitigate Risks to Medical Travel Patients and Your Medical Travel Program
Ensuring patient safety and minimizing risks are top priorities in medical travel. GHA accreditation provides a comprehensive framework that helps hospitals identify potential risks and implement appropriate measures to mitigate them. By adhering to GHA's rigorous standards, hospitals can enhance their safety protocols, minimize medical errors, and reduce adverse events. GHA accredited organizations prioritize patient well-being and demonstrate their commitment to providing safe and secure medical travel services, thereby protecting both the patients and the reputation of their medical travel program.
3. Effective Management of Patient Expectations
In healthcare, managing your patients’ expectations is the key to providing an outstanding customer experience. As you read this, your prospects and patients are forming a mental picture of their trip to your hospital or clinic. They are expecting certain services, certain attitudes, to be treated in a certain manner, and most definitely a certain outcome.
GHA accreditation equips hospitals with the tools and knowledge necessary to effectively communicate with medical travelers, helping them understand the potential outcomes, risks, and benefits of their medical journey. By setting realistic expectations and providing transparent information, GHA accredited hospitals establish trust and build strong relationships with their patients, ultimately leading to improved patient satisfaction and outcomes.
4. Helps Build Trust with Patients and Other International Payers
GHA accreditation validates the overall excellence of a hospital's operations as they relate to medical travel services. It encompasses various aspects such as leadership, governance, patient experience, and continuous quality improvement. By achieving accreditation, hospitals demonstrate their commitment to continuous learning, improvement, and staying up-to-date with best practices. This validation instills trust in traveling patients, as they know that the hospital or clinic has a robust framework for delivering high-quality care and is continuously striving for excellence. Additionally, international payers value the rigorous evaluation process of GHA accreditation, making it easier for hospitals to establish partnerships and secure contracts with these stakeholders.
5. Differentiates Your Brand and Provides a Competitive Edge
In the crowded medical travel market, standing out from the competition is essential. GHA accreditation sets your brand apart by highlighting your commitment to medical travel best practices and high-quality care. Top hospitals around the globe including Cleveland Clinic, Cedars Sinai, and Bumrungrad International Hospital have chosen GHA accreditation because of its specific focus on medical tourism best practices. Accreditation demonstrates that your hospital meets stringent standards, ensuring potential patients and partners that you provide exceptional services. By differentiating your brand through GHA accreditation, you gain a competitive edge and become a preferred choice for medical travelers seeking reliable and reputable healthcare providers.
6. Enhance the Medical Travel Patient Experience Across All Touch Points
Patient experience is a critical factor influencing the choice of destination and hospital for medical travel. Patients are not only seeking effective medical treatments but also a positive and seamless experience throughout their healthcare journey. They want to feel supported, informed, and cared for during their stay in a foreign country.
GHA accreditation emphasizes the importance of optimizing the patient experience across all touch points of the Medical Travel Care Continuum. From pre-arrival communication and care coordination to post-treatment follow-up, GHA standards guide hospitals in delivering personalized, culturally sensitive, and holistic care.
For example, the user experience on a website may vary from culture to culture. A U.S. hospital website may be easy to navigate for U.S. consumers, but Arabic-speaking patients from Jordan may find the same website very difficult to use. Ensuring the website content is aligned with target market groups - including appropriate language and cultural considerations such as colors, images, and symbols – has an impact on the user/patient experience and certainly may influence where they choose to travel for care.
GHA accredited organizations prioritize the unique needs of medical travelers, resulting in improved patient satisfaction, loyalty, and positive word-of-mouth referrals.
7. Improve the Business Performance and Operational Excellence of Your Medical Travel Program
GHA accreditation drives operational excellence within your medical travel program. By adhering to GHA standards, hospitals optimize their operational workflows, streamline processes, and improve resource utilization. Additionally, segmenting key performance indicators that are specific to medical travel patients provides actionable insights that drive continual quality improvement. Moreover, because GHA focuses on the entire continuum, those business functions within an organization that impact the medical travel program, such as marketing, finance, and IT are included. This ensures that organizations receive solutions that impact not just patient outcomes, but business performance and the organization’s financial bottom line.
Are you ready to take the next step?
Don't miss out on the important benefits of GHA accreditation or certification for your hospital, ambulatory center or your dental clinic’s medical travel program. Take the next step to elevate your reputation, expand your market reach, prioritize patient safety and experience, and build trust with patients and international payers.
Give us a call at +1 561 228 4014 or contact wcook@ghaccreditation.com.
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