SCOTTSDALE, AZ – The Medical Travel and Health Tourism Quality Alliance has listed the 10 best hospitals in the world for medical travel.

The top hospital deemed by the MTQUA as providing the best treatment, care and management for medical travelers is Fortis Hospital in Bangalore, India.

Six hospitals on the list are in Asia, long a leading medical travel destination for Americans. Two hospitals are in Europe and two are in North America (though neither is in the United States).

"Medical tourism is more than getting good medical care abroad," said MTQUA founder Julie Munro, a medical travel facilitator and health tourism expert. "Safety and security, international patient operations and protocols, transparency and professional patient facilitation are key to achieving an excellent medical outcome for patients and more important than location and cost."

Munro said medical travelers, particularly Americans, have many choices in healthcare but need up-to-date and reliable information to take advantage of the opportunities. Accreditation status and word-of-mouth recommendations are better indicators of hospital quality than Internet sources, she said.

According to Munro, all 10 hospitals on the MTQUA list provide medical treatment and quality care with advanced technology, and all have good local and regional reputations. Many are accredited by the Joint Commission International, she said, while others may not have international accreditation but still have good international reputations.

The top five hospitals are Fortis Hospital in Bangalore, Gleneagles Hospital in Singapore, Prince Court Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Shouldice Hospital in Toronto, Canada, and Shoen-Kliniken in Munich, Germany.

Bumrungrad International in Bangkok, Thailand, probably one of the most familiar names in medical tourism, didn't make the list, Munro said, due to a strong potential for political turmoil in Bangkok in 2010. Bangkok has previously experienced airport closures and severe traffic disruptions.

Munro said other well-regarded hospitals were not candidates for the MTQUA's list due to geo-political or economic concerns that would trouble independent medical travelers.

Those hospitals rounding out the top 10 are Bangkok Hospital Medical Center in Bangkok, Thailand, Wooridul Spine Hospital in Seoul, Korea, Clemenceau Medical Center in Beirut, Lebanon, and Christus Muguerza Super Specialty Hospital in Monterrey, Mexico.

MTQUA officials employed strict assessment criteria and evaluation without any influence or remuneration from the hospitals, Munro said. The evaluation categories included:

• Medical quality and outcomes;
• International patient management;
• International patient marketing;
• Value for service;
• Patient safety and security;
• Transparency;
• Attention to the unique needs of the medical traveler.