The Wild West of Medical Care Abroad

Accreditation

The MTA should take a hard look at their mission...not sure that they fully understand the havoc created by this. Thanks to Timmons and Kleefield for their rational and responsible behavior.

I am convinced that the International Medical Tourism Association is on a better track for generating credibility for this nascent industry.

PUBLISHER AND MANAGING EDITOR

MEDICAL TRAVEL TODAY

BSO: Bright Shiny Objects EVERYwhere

I found another BSO like MTA and JCI: The Nicolet Bank Business Pulse (which recently released a study on Medical Tourism and CEOs). Coincidence?

Joint Commission accreditation

Hospital care could and should be better and safer. But trust me: It would be worse and riskier without JC accreditation, especially now that accreditation surveys are unannounced and hospitals can't spend a couple of months buffing up prior to a scheduled site survey.

Wild West of Medical Care Abroad

While it's a step in the right direction for the Medical Tourism Association to drop "accreditation" from its program, the choice of replacing "accreditation" with "certification" is similarly fraught with challenges.

As with accreditation, certification, over the years, has come to include a large body of regulation and meaning within the healthcare sector. Until an organization truly meets the requirements of accreditation or certification, it may better serve the healthcare community for would-be accreditors/certifiers to use terms less prone to patient and practitioner confusion.

Similar looking seals spell trouble, confusion for patients

Avery,

Thank you for highlighting this and the seals indeed look quite similar and will undoubtedly cause confusion and erosion of trust around the JCI brand.

JCI - as you have explained - is a solid, impartial group that draws it strength from JCAHO, a venerable and time-tested institution.

It is particularly troubling that Ms. Karen Timmons, President and CEO of JCI continues to be listed on the MTA website as an "individual member":

http://www.medicaltourismassociation.com/individual-members.html

Is there more here than meets the eye or just a simple oversight?

For the sake of thousands of professionals and patients who have come to respect JCI around the world, let's hope it is the latter.

Thanks for your insightful reports and with best regards.

Avery Comarow:

Karen Timmons' name has now been removed from the advisory board.

wild west of medical care

Karen Timmons makes an excellent point and having known the JCI and organizations working towards JCI Accreditation, this is a serious business. Trade organizations have a role to plan, but accreditation/certification is beyond this role. The look of the 'seal' is not the point here-- the point is that we in the 'industry' have a responsibility to protect and promote high quality patient care, and this is not easy, having directed such a department at a Harvard teaching hospital in Boston. It is the wild west right now, so we must be careful, deliberate and professional, with no potential conflicts of interest. Accreditation is an ongoing process, not an event, and it must be led by experts.