PALM BEACH GARDENS, Florida, Nov. 4, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Seoul National University Bundang Hospital (SNUBH) (https://www.snubh.org/dh/en/) in Seoul, South Korea has been awarded a three-year term of accreditation by the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program (http://globalhealthcareaccreditation.com/) for its Medical Travel Services Program. SNUBH is the first hospital in South Korea accredited by the GHA program.
Since its opening in 2003, this 1,360-bed medical center has established itself as a national and international leader by providing top class medical care in virtually every area of medicine and it has been the site of breakthrough research and education as one of the major teaching hospitals of the most prestigious medical school in Korea, Seoul National University, College of Medicine.
Seoul National University Bundang Hospital's accreditation by GHA was announced at the recent World Medical Tourism Congress in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, where Dr. JOONG H. CHOH, Director of SNUBH's International Healthcare Center, participated in a session titled "Optimizing Accreditation for Medical Travel Excellence."
According to Dr. Choh, "As an academic medical center, SNUBH is recognized as a world leader in high quality medical care and innovation. This same focus on quality and patient experience is available to thousands of international patients who seek our services from around the globe. From first contact until after the patient returns home, we strive to offer medical travelers with a patient-centered care experience that considers their unique needs, including language and cultural backgrounds. In preparation for GHA accreditation, the entire organization worked together to develop and implement patient-safety policies, practices, and procedures that were required to meet international standards. With Global Health Accreditation, we are excited to lead the future of medical travel in Korea and to become one of the top destinations for medical travelers seeking high quality healthcare services. We will continue to strive to provide the best medical care and to make contributions to global health care."
In 2016, the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program was established with the goal of enhancing the patient experience for medical travelers across the entire Medical Travel Care Continuum. GHA standards, accredited by ISQua (through the International Society for Quality in Health Care External Evaluation Association), provide concrete and measurable value to patients by ensuring that the hospital or clinic has instituted processes that are customized to the medical travelers' unique needs and expectations and are consistently monitored for improvement. Additionally, GHA provides healthcare organizations with a unique opportunity to not only acquire skills and competencies designed to strengthen their medical travel services, but also impact business performance.
Karen Timmons, Chief Executive Officer of the Global Healthcare Accreditation Program stated, "The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program conducts a deep dive into the global/international patient service units and improves the quality, safety and experience for all patients who travel for care. Additionally, because GHA focuses on the entire continuum, those business practices within an organization that impact the medical travel program, such as Marketing, Finance, IT are included. We congratulate Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, one of Asia's premier academic medical centers, for achieving GHA Accreditation and for its commitment to supporting the needs of medical travel patients."
About Seoul National University Bundang Hospital:
Seoul National University Bundang Hospital is a tertiary major teaching university hospital, under the premier medical school of Korea (Seoul National University). The university is a public university, independent but under strong governmental support and inspection. Each year, the university consistently ranks the highest among Korean universities every year in various international surveys / evaluation of the universities of the world.
About the Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program:
The Global Healthcare Accreditation (GHA) Program for Medical Travel Services is an independent accrediting body that applies international standards and professional norms developed in consultation with leading international experts in the medical travel/medical tourism industry, that help organizations improve the patient experience and supports healthcare providers in validating quality, increasing visibility, and implementing a sustainable business model for medical travel.
