Once you are interested in considering the options of traveling to India for a particular procedure, you need to do the research to identify the hospital you feel most comfortable with.  This chapter will be an aid in telling you what you should consider while researching your options.  A certain hospital that may be good for cardiac care may not be the best for a hip replacement surgery. 

Besides the public information, you have to feel a certain level of comfort going to a given hospital in a distant far away country for treatment.  This web site provides the resources to guide you on building that confidence level.

Accreditation

A hospital is a very complex structure of personnel, processes and technologies.  Having the right Accreditation ensures that the hospital has voluntary compliance with internationally recognized healthcare practices and ensures a basic quality product.  This is the first thing you should consider. 

The very fact that a hospital has gone through the accreditation process tells us that another organization has reviewed and evaluated the hospital’s processes and procedures.  If nothing else, this can at least tell us that the hospital has thought through the way it does business and treats patients.

Apollo and Wockhardt have been granted the Joint Commission International (JCI) Accreditation, catapulting them into an exclusive league of 71 international hospitals, such as Harvard Medical and Massachusetts General, to have cut the grade.

Most Indian hospitals seem to be vying for either ISO accreditations or the JCI, as other reputed ones like the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards and the Malaysian Society for Quality in Healthcare primarily grant recognition to hospitals in their own country.

Ask the hospital what accreditation it has.  Then, check the website of the appropriate agency to review the process by which they proved accreditation to hospitals.  Information about some of the more prestigious accreditations are given below.

JCI Certification

The Joint Commission was founded in 1910 with a mission to continuously improve the safety and quality of care provided to the public through the provision of health care accreditation and related services that support performance improvement in health care organizations.

In response to growing interest in accreditation and quality improvement worldwide, the Joint Commission launched its international accreditation program in 1999. Joint Commission International accreditation standards are based on international consensus standards and set uniform, achievable expectations for structures, processes and outcomes for hospitals. The accreditation process is designed to accommodate specific legal, religious and cultural factors within a country.

Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation can help international health care organizations, public health agencies, health ministries and others to evaluate, improve and demonstrate the quality of patient care in their nations.

The Joint Commission evaluates and accredits nearly 15,000 health care organizations and programs in the United States. An independent, not-for-profit organization, The Joint Commission is the nation’s predominant standards-setting and accrediting body in health care. Since 1951, The Joint Commission has maintained state-of-the-art standards that focus on improving the quality and safety of care provided by health care organizations. The Joint Commission’s comprehensive accreditation process evaluates an organization’s compliance with these standards and other accreditation requirements. Joint Commission accreditation is recognized nationwide as a symbol of quality that reflects an organization’s commitment to meeting certain performance standards. To earn and maintain The Joint Commission’s Gold Seal of Approval™, an organization must undergo an on-site survey by a Joint Commission survey team at least every three years. (Laboratories must be surveyed every two years.)

For more information on the JCI accreditation please log on http://www.jointcommission.org/
 

ISO 9002

The International Organization for Standardization (ISO) is a network of the national standards institutes of 151 countries, on the basis of one member per country. A Central Secretariat based in Geneva, Switzerland, co-ordinates the system.

Apollo Hospitals, Chennai was the first hospital in India to be awarded an ISO 9002 certification.

The ISO 9000 series is concerned with 'quality management'. It is a certification affirming the organization's ability to enhance customer satisfaction by meeting customer and applicable regulatory requirements and continually to improve its performance in this regard.

The ISO standards are a guarantee of quality across boundaries and geographies. They are an assurance to the international patient of the safety and reliability of the hospital’s services against global benchmarks.

For more information on the ISO accreditation please log on to
http://www.iso.org/iso/en/ISOOnline.frontpage

Affiliations

Most Indian hospitals have affiliations with leading hospitals in the West.  Via these affiliations, Indian hospitals have been:

• Training their medical staff in using cutting edge equipment.
• Providing opportunities for international exchange of physicians and sharing of medical experiences.
• Provide additional resources for diagnosis and treatment of complicated cases and major surgeries. 
• Provide international standards of hygiene, pricing and standardization of treatments.

Affiliations can provide timely access to world class quality, sharing of medical expertise, and related health services.  If you find that an Indian hospital has affiliations with a US based healthcare services provider then check the web site of the US provider.  Should it be an established firm, you can have some assurance that the US company will have undertaken a detailed and comprehensive investigation of the Indian partner before signing the agreement. 

Number, Education and experience of doctors

While this information may not be easily available from every hospital’s website, you should be able to request this quite easily.  After all, the qualifications of its doctors should be a hospital’s proudest marketing tool. 

Also, every sixth or seventh doctor in the US is already of Indian origin.  Several of them underwent rigorous training to practice medicine in the US and now have been enticed by the world class Indian hospitals to practice medicine back in India. 

If it is important to you to have doctors who have practiced medicine in the US, ask the question to the hospital.  Let them know that you are reviewing your options and this is one of the factors that you are considering.

Ease of availability of key information from the hospital

Most of the newer hospitals in India are managed by professional business managers well versed in delivering quality customer service.  They conduct customer surveys, focus groups and consistently strive to achieve high customer satisfaction ratings. 

Most modern hospitals understand the process of review and evaluation that a potential customer will go through.  They understand that web sites like this one are educating you how to evaluate hospitals in India.  These hospitals have taken a step forward and placed the information you need in the public domain via the internet.  For example, the web sites for Apollo Hospitals and Fortis Healthcare are extremely user friendly and have most of the information you need for your decision making process right upfront.

Ability to speak with a live person at the hospital

Once you have somewhat narrowed your choice of hospitals, ask to speak with a live person.  In preparation for your call, email him a list of issues that you would like addressed.  Specifically, ask him to walk you through the entire process of what will happen from the moment you arrive in India to post operative care options. 

If possible, have a conference call with your Primary Care Physician present and participating.

Infrastructure to accommodate a companion on your trip

This is a very practical issue that must not be taken lightly given the low availability of hotel rooms in India.  If you choose to take a companion or family member with you (a very wise decision if you don’t know anyone in India!) then make sure before you leave what their stay arrangements will be. 

Some hospitals have campuses with their own captive hotels/ residences for patient’s companions.  These can be a big help.  If your companion stays on the hospital campus, they are nearby in case of need, don’t have to navigate the roads to get from the hotel to the hospital and can actually take much needed breaks during the day by retiring to their room.  Remember that you and your companion may also suffer from jet lag that may take a few days to pass.

Also check the visa section for visa requirements for attendants/ companions.  Call the nearest Indian consulate for the latest information.  Till recently, attendant visas were given to blood relatives for the validity of the Medical (M) visa holder and were limited to 2 such visas per case.

Willingness of the hospital to provide patient references in your home country

You should also request references of prior patients of the hospital.  Ideally they should be individuals from your country who have traveled to India for the same or similar procedure.  Ask for a phone number or an email address so you may contact them directly.

Alternately, you can post messages and review comments on our web site’s Bulletin Board.

Ability to initiate a relationship online with a medical practitioner

Once you have a dialogue going with your primary contact at the hospital, you should try and get an email address to correspond with the doctor who will perform your surgery.  Once you are committed to a particular hospital, it may be a great idea to arrange a conference call between your primary care physician in your home country and the doctor in India.