Choosing a hospital: Is JCI the way to go?

One question that confounds every individual travelling overseas for treatment is that of choosing a hospital. While most patients are able to hone in on the choice of a doctor/hospital through facilitator companies, referral doctors or their personal networks, a few are left in without enough information on the hospital to choose. In such instances, thanks to search engines and medical tourism associations with very little insight (and too much internet bandwidth at their disposal) in the international healthcare space, the patients are led to believe that JCI accredited hospitals alone are a credible destination.

JCI – Joint Commision International, is a popular, ‘private’ healthcare accreditation group in the United States. It is a US-based accreditation group that fulfils the requirements of an independent international body for healthcare standards accreditation. JCI is accredited by ISQua an accreditor of accrediting bodies. It was in early 2008 that JCI was recognized by ISQua . Apart from the JCI, other accreditation bodies from the following countries are approved by ISQua:-

- JCI of USA
- Australia
- Canada
- Egypt
- Hong Kong
- Ireland
- Japan
- Jordan
- Kyrgyz Republic
- South Africa
- Taiwan
- United Kingdom
- NABH of India

This international standardization body conveys the following message: “Any hospital that is accredited by ISQua approved accreditation body will be assured of the same patient safety and procedures of any hospital in developed world.” For instance, a NABH accredited hospital is as good as a JCI accredited one in terms of patient safety and treatment quality.

Economic considerations though mandate various healthcare insurance companies in the United States to recognize overseas hospitals accredited by JCI alone for in-patient treatment. This, in turn prompts hospitals already accredited by other ISQua affiliated bodies, to indulge in the futile and laborious exercise of obtaining JCI accreditation. As the entire world is moving towards an integrated healthcare solution transcending geographical boundaries, insurance companies too would be following suit in recognizing ISQua accredited hospitals. This would be a big and important step in breaking geographic barriers and provide insured clients with all the quality options they deserve.

Independent medical travellers would also benefit by considering ISQua related accreditations, if accreditation were the sole factor in choosing a treatment destination. In India, for instance, the NABH accreditation is ISQua accredited and thus a good enough quality stamp for a hospital.

The intent of this post is not to malign the effectiveness or efforts of JCI, but to lend some perspective to this issue of hospital accreditation in an international milieu.