Medical tourism, also known as the health and wellness industry, is receiving more interest these days, not only from Americans dealing with a faltering economy, but from individuals around the world seeking affordable and quality healthcare. Whether those individuals are from Nigeria, the Middle East, Turkey, Australia or the United States, quality medical care and accessible healthcare facilities are on everyone’s minds.

The Medical Tourism Association, a nonprofit organization, is among the first in the medical tourism industry to promote standards and guidelines for quality of care around the world. The Medical Tourism Association (MTA) offers consumers from around the world the opportunity to become accredited and certified members of the Association, but in order to do so they must be evaluated and certified as providers of excellent quality healthcare. The certification process defined by the Medical Tourism Association is a thorough, extensively detailed and stringent process that takes between 3 to 4 months for a facility to complete. Quality of care is essential to the medical tourism industry, and offers consumers the peace of mind that comes with knowing a facility is well staffed, educated, expertly trained and experienced in a number of procedures, including but not limited to obesity weight loss procedures, cardiac care, cancer treatments, orthopedic surgeries in orthopedic procedures and more.

Facilities certified and having completed accreditation guidelines by the Medical Tourism Association reduce potential of risks and errors, establish and promote patient rights, adhere to religious or cultural requirements for international travelers, set facilities and physicians apart from competitors and promote interaction with domestic and international insurance companies, to name a few.

The future of healthcare is in medical tourism, and the Medical Tourism Association is making sure that consumers can feel comfortable and confident regarding their medical care, regardless of destination.