ISO 22525:2020

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 22525
First edition
2020-12
Tourism and related services —
Medical tourism — Service
requirements
Tourisme et services connexes — Tourisme médical — Exigences de
service
Reference number
©
ISO 2020
© ISO 2020
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ii © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Contents Page
Foreword .v
Introduction .vi
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 General requirements . 2
4.1 General . 2
4.2 Visa arrangements . 3
4.3 Concierge services . 3
4.3.1 General. 3
4.3.2 Foreign languages and translation services . 3
4.3.3 Transportation services . 4
4.3.4 Accommodation services . 4
4.4 Medical tourist satisfaction monitoring and action plan . 4
5 Requirements for facilitators . 4
5.1 General . 4
5.2 Pre-travel and pre-treatment . 5
5.3 Treatment . 6
5.4 Post-treatment . 6
5.4.1 General. 6
5.4.2 Return home and follow-up . 6
6 Requirements for healthcare providers . 6
6.1 General . 6
6.2 Information . 6
6.2.1 Information about the healthcare provider . 6
6.2.2 Information about the treatments . 7
6.3 General service provision . 7
6.4 Staff . 8
6.4.1 Staff planning and coordination . 8
6.4.2 Qualification requirements . 8
6.4.3 Training . 8
6.5 Medical service provision . 9
6.5.1 Admission process. 9
6.5.2 Medical tourist history . 9
6.5.3 Informed consent . 9
6.5.4 Rooms .10
6.5.5 Discharge .10
6.5.6 The medical tourist’s follow-up .11
6.6 Nutrition .11
6.7 Safety and security .12
6.7.1 General.12
6.7.2 Food safety .12
6.7.3 Pest control and disinfection .12
6.7.4 Security measures and medical tourist properties .13
6.7.5 Fire risk assessment and protection .13
6.7.6 Emergency and evacuation plan .13
6.8 Cleaning, disinfection, sterilization and maintenance .13
6.8.1 Cleaning, disinfection and sterilization .13
6.8.2 Maintenance .14
Annex A (informative) Rights and duties of the medical tourist .15
Annex B (normative) Minimum competency requirements and recommendations for
facilitators .17
Bibliography .19
iv © ISO 2020 – All rights reserved

Foreword
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described in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 1. In particular, the different approval criteria needed for the
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iso/ foreword .html.
This document was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 228, Tourism and related services.
Any feedback or questions on this document should be directed to the user’s national standards body. A
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Introduction
The number of people travelling from one country to another searching for healthcare has quickly
increased in recent years. Some of the reasons for this are the competitive prices that certain countries
offer, the unavailability of treatment in medical tourists' home countries and the desire of medical
tourists to skip long waiting lists. Furthermore, the growing demand within this global market has
benefited from the ease and affordability of international travel as well as technological progress and
the possibilities that the internet offers. Treatments include cosmetic surgery, dentistry, laser surgery
for eyes, spinal disc replacement, brain surgery (e.g. cerebral valve adaptation), oncologic surgery (e.g.
tumorsexeresis or complete organ removal), bariatric surgery (e.g. gastric bypass) and cardiac bypass
surgery.
Multiple stakeholders are involved in the medical tourism value chain, including facilitators, healthcare
providers (e.g. clinics and hospitals), professionals (e.g. doctors) and other interested parties (e.g.
insurance companies and consulates). The development of medical tourism faces many challenges,
such as simplifying the administrative tasks, enhancing and adapting healthcare procedures and
post-treatment care, and coordinating travel arrangements. These might present some difficulties for
healthcare providers in meeting medical tourists’ expectations.
There is an obvious need, therefore, to define, at an international level, the min
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