Hospitals told to get int’l accreditations

CEBU, Philippines - Philippine hospitals specifically those in the urban areas, are encouraged to get accreditations from international insurance companies if it wants to attract a sizeable share of the medical tourism market.

Canadian Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines (CanCham) President Julian Payne said the Philippines is attractive as a medical tourism destination because it has good doctors and better medical facilities in the urban areas, but the problem lies on the readiness of the hospitals to accept insurance services from Canadian patients.

Payne said the problem in the Philippines in terms of luring medical tourists, particularly the Canadians, is not the quality of service but the capability of hospitals to accept international insurance services.

Few years back, following the accreditation of Chong Hua Hospital (CHH) to the Joint Commission International (JCI), the hospital has been preparing to attract overseas patients specifically the Filipinos residing abroad.

While this is seen to boost Cebu’s bid as the premier “medical tourism” hub in the Philippines, CHH is putting its priority of service for Filipino patients first, including the balikbayan community or the OFWs (Overseas Filipino Workers), said CHH board of trustee Alfred Go in an earlier interview.

JCI is a body that accredits hospitals and health care providers outside the United States that have international standard services. This is also one of the requirements for a health care facility to officially accommodate medical tourists around the world.

JCIs accreditation assists international health care organizations; public health agencies, health ministries and others evaluate, improve and demonstrate the quality and safety of patient care in their nations.

The accreditation process is designed to accommodate specific legal, religious and cultural factors within country. To ensure their international applicability, JCI standards are developed by a 16-member international task force, representing seven major world regions: Western Europe, Middle East, Latin and Central America, Asia and the Pacific Rim, North America, Central and Eastern Europe and Africa.

In Asia, medical tourism has raked US$120 billion in revenues for 2006, a big improvement from US$40 billion it earned in 2000. India is now the number one destination for medical tourists around the world.

Total package for one medical tourist is pegged at US$28,000, depending on medical procedure, this already include accommodation, vacation package among others.

Every medical tourist can save at least US$77,000 for this amount, if they were to have their medical services done in other countries like Europe or United States. — Ehda M. Dagooc (FREEMAN)