WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) The International Medical Travel Association
(IMTA;
www.intlmta.org), a not-for-profit association representing the broad and diverse interests of medical travelers and the medical travel industry, has issued a position statement urging organizations and individuals offering accreditation or certification to closely examine their services and infrastructure. The IMTA sets forth its view that it is neither sufficient nor professionally respectable for an organization to simply declare itself a grantor of accreditation while lacking the requisite infrastructure and oversight.
“We believe that with patient safety at stake, accreditation standards and processes must be vetted by internationally recognized accreditation organizations and government agencies,” says Steven Tucker, M.D., president of the IMTA and a leading U.S. board-certified medical oncologist. “The emergence of trade groups and others declaring themselves as quality accreditors or certification authorities not only threatens the integrity of existing organizations, but also creates market confusion at a time when global outsourcing of medical care is a growing phenomenon.“
IMTA advocates that all international hospitals and other healthcare institutions be held to high standards, whether through a country’s own regulatory system or through internationally accepted standards set by recognized accreditation authorities, such as the Joint Commission International (JCI) and others.
According to healthcare quality expert Sharon Kleefield, Ph.D, Harvard Medical School, “Without tested standards and strict regulation for competent and independent surveys, accreditation becomes meaningless, and patients go unprotected. The international healthcare community must work toward creating and enforcing such standards of accreditation.”
Over the years, patients, practitioners, payers, and governments have come to associate accreditation with a trusted and tested body of professionals and regulations, designed to protect healthcare consumers and professionals alike. As patients travel across borders, accreditation of hospitals must continue to offer a minimum baseline level of quality and safety assurance.
Increasingly, many countries and health ministries have developed their own sets of quality and safety standards, thereby maintaining local accreditation oversight. Typically, they seek guidance from accreditation organizations with proven international experience, including but not limited to the United States, Canada, and Australia.
Accreditation organizations have specific internal requirements and processes, including:
- a designated infrastructure for oversight of the accreditation process
- a team of internationally respected professionals who have expertise in writing standards and monitoring them to determine any necessary changes or additions
- accreditation of the organization itself (through organizations such as the International Society for Quality in Health Care)
- no perceived or actual conflict of interest at any time between the accrediting organization and the specifically trained accreditors performing the surveys.
“As a result of IMTA’s efforts, we are seeing a trend of would-be ‘accreditors’ deploying more appropriate terminology,” says Tucker. “Those who wish to provide accreditation services in the future need to know there are rules to follow.”
For a full text of the IMTA position paper visit:
http://www.intlmta.org/c/document_library/get_file?folderId=15134 &name=DLFE-804.pdf (Due to its length, this URL may need to be copied/pasted into your Internet browser's address field. Remove the extra space if one exists.)
About The IMTA
The International Medical Travel Association is a global organization of stakeholders in the international medical travel industry, representing leading health care providers, medical travel facilitators and related industry service providers around the world. IMTA supports the development of international industry standards and best practices that promote and advance medical quality, safety, and transparency for the international patient, and that preserve and protect the doctor-patient relationship. IMTA, www.intlmta.org is a not-for-profit organization funded by membership dues and programs.
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