Advice On Treatment Abroad: Choosing The Right Hospital
posted on 11/02/2009
When it comes to the situations where you need to visit foreign land for treatment, an obvious question comes to mind about how I should choose a service provider for my treatment.
I have tried to list down certain key points that you need to keep in mind while browsing on the internet for the best available medical tourism hospital options according to your medical condition.
Choosing the right hospital or healthcare provider
1. Doctor or Hospital - Many times patients ask me whether they should go for a well-reputed hospital or a well-known doctor. The answer is not that simple. Hospital and doctor are not mutually exclusive terms. One should always try to look for an experienced and learned doctor with a proven record, who is also practicing with a reputed hospital. A hospital is not well-reputed if it is not attracting some of the best talents in the field. Same way a stand-alone doctor is doubtful without at least some sort of association with some of the leading bodies or hospitals in their respective field. So, one should try and go for a good mix of a well-reputed doctor working in some of the best institutions of that country.
2. Doctor with an International Exposure - It is very important to choose a doctor for your treatment. You should avoid those hospitals who do not give you the freedom to choose a doctor of your choice. Moreover, you should go through the credentials of the doctors whom you are considering for getting treatment from. Try limiting your choice to only those doctors who have exposure of training, working or both for at least 6 or more months in reputed institutions out of their own host country. This gives them the credit of being exposed to multiple cultures and is essential to understand the minor differences in the thinking process of patients from different countries.
3. One of the top-5 hospitals - The hospital should necessarily be figuring amongst the top-5 in the list of the hospitals known for the treatment of your particular condition in the host country. Nothing below this is acceptable. You can rather look at some other country for better options.
4. Accreditation - The hospital should have been audited and appropriately accredited by reputed bodies like JCI in particular. A JCI accreditation ensures that the required international criteria of quality and service are met by the hospital
5. Outcomes or Success Rate - Always be demanding. Ask for the documented and certified evidences of success rates of the doctor/hospital in the area of treatment for which you are inquiring.
Please note that this advice is applicable assuming you have made up your mind regarding a particular destination country. For additional advice you can feel free to post your requests and I will be happy to help you out.
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