Discussion Point: Issues around medical tourism, risk management, healthcare accreditation and the law
Sadly, litigation is a fact of life when it comes to many countries around the world, and providing healthcare always exposes the provider to the risk of legal action.
It is always worth bearing in mind that it is the job of a lawyer to do the very best they can for their client, and that includes looking after that client's financial interests. Not all treatment received by a medical tourist will necessarily be to their satisfaction. Unlike patients of domestic origin, in the case of medical tourism the service provider may be find that they are exposed to the possibility of legal action initiated not only on the service provider's own country, but also in the patient's own country of origin. It is well-recognised that an American medical traveller injured abroad may commence a lawsuit in a US court against, say, a cruiseline, a foreign hotel, a tour bus company or any of a number of various other operators - so it is difficult to see how things would be much different with a hospital that they had issue with. Generally, a US Court will not dismiss a lawsuit unless there is an appropriate alternative forum available to hear the plaintiff's claim, so if a suing patient presents evidence that they are physically unable to travel to, say, Singapore for a hearing, then that case may well proceed in the USA. Accordingly, if a hospital and a doctor based in Singapore who have treated a patient from the USA find themselves being sued in an American court, and the case goes against them, it is conceivable that any assets of the Singapore doctor and of the Singapore hospital's shareholders (which may even include the Singapore government in some cases) may be targeted by the American Court, especially if those assets are accessible to the US courts (e.g. American bank accounts).
Sticking with the Singapore-based theme, Singapore has a legal system based on English Law, and in South East Asia, the main provider of medical indemnity to the medical profession in many countries, including Singapore, is the United Kingdom-based Medical Protection Society (MPS - see http://www.medicalprotection.org/uk). So, in Singapore, and for that matter Hong Kong or Malaysia, it is usually this organisation who would be responsible for providing representation for a doctor who is the defendant in a medico-legal case - accordingly, it is absolutely vital to take note that the MPS will not provide representation services for a doctor if such a case is being heard agaisnt them in a US court.
However, even if the case is not heard in a US court, there have in many other parts of the world still been huge payouts awarded against doctors and hospitals, and in theory such an adverse event has the potential to cause serious problems not only for hospitals and for the doctors, but also even for professional medical indemnity providers and hospital insurers.
International hospital accreditation may be one way for hospitals and doctors to prepare themselves optimally for any legal challenges of this type which might be directed against them. This may be especially important if a hospital chooses to take on the potential financial risks associated with medical tourism. If a hospital's medical tourist population comes from more than one part of the world (e.g. USA and UK), it may well be worth investing in dual accreditation.
Watch this space !