Healthcare Poland

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Medical Tourism — MEDiTOUR

Value stream · MEDiTOUR · Department of Cross-Border Medicine

Medical tourism is a matter of patient safety, not destination marketing. What makes care valuable for a patient from another country is what happens before arrival, during the stay and after returning home: reliable information in a language the patient understands, informed consent, complete documentation and a named party responsible for continuity of care.

MK
Maciej Kornacki
Director, Department of Cross-Border Medicine, Healthcare Poland
The Department leads the MEDiTOUR stream. Its name reflects a broader mandate — medical tourism is a subset of cross-border medicine, alongside cross-border patient rights, health data flows and telemedicine across borders.

Scope of the Department

Strategy and cross-border readinessStandardised information, consent, continuity of care and billing for patients from other countries, in line with Directive 2011/24/EU.
Standards and certificationThe TQAMS standard for healthcare providers, preparation for international accreditation, separation of sales from certification decisions.
Trusted provider networkRegistry of facilities and operators, Healthcare Poland Trust Score, verification of intermediaries and facilitators.
International Patient OfficeSupporting hospitals in procedures, language services, coordination of records and care before and after treatment.
Hospitality and logisticsStandards for patient care outside the facility — including the Medical Tourism Ready hotels project.
Data and telemedicineSecure exchange of records under the EHDS, remote consultations and post-discharge monitoring, cybersecurity with the CyberC4HE coalition.
EducationCertified course for medical tourism coordinators and an international patient care module at Healthcare Poland Academy.
Funding and marketsNational and European programmes, cooperation with foreign markets coordinated with the Foundation’s other departments.

TQAMS — the standard for healthcare providers

TQAMS (Transborder Quality Audit of Medical Services) is Healthcare Poland’s own standard for providers treating patients from abroad. It combines clinical, organisational, legal and digital requirements in a single audit. It works on the principle of equivalence and complements — rather than replaces — Polish CMJ accreditation, ISO standards and international accreditation.

1 · Clinical processes and patient safety2 · Cybersecurity and data protection3 · Multilingual documentation4 · Informed consent in the patient’s language5 · Alternative dispute resolution6 · Transparent pricing and insurance7 · Continuity of care after departure
1. Self-assessmentquestionnaireapprox. 2 weeks2. Gap analysisreport and action plan4–6 weeks3. Implementationprocedures, training8–12 weeks4. Auditdocuments and site visit2–4 weeks5. Surveillanceannual auditsrecertification every 3 years
TQAMS certification pathway — from the facility’s self-assessment to surveillance after the certificate is granted.

Hospitals and facilities — the certification pathway

The stream is being built with the network of the Polish Federation of Hospitals (more than 250 member hospitals). Hospitals can join at three levels: listing in the provider registry, Trust Score assessment and full TQAMS certification.

  • 2026 pilot: gap analysis and implementation of the standard in the first pilot facilities (July–December 2026).
  • First certificates: certification audits are planned for Q1 2027.
  • Goal: more than 50 certified facilities by 2029.
The list of TQAMS-certified facilities will be published on this page once the first audits are completed. Until then, no facility holds a TQAMS certificate. Recognition of the standard within the GHSH network does not constitute formal ISQua EEA recognition or statutory accreditation by the Polish Minister of Health.

Projects in the stream

Medical Tourism Ready Hotels new project

A Healthcare Poland certificate for hotels and accommodation providers hosting international patients and guests who use medical care during their stay. For the patient, the hotel is a place of recovery and the first point of contact — so it must know what to do when a guest needs help.

Three guest care scenarios:

  • video consultation with a doctor,
  • doctor’s visit at the hotel,
  • guest’s visit to a facility in the partner network.

Model components: a multilingual contact centre (English, German, French, Arabic), laboratory sample collection by a nurse at the hotel, access to information via QR codes in rooms and apartments, and clear rules for billing medical services.

What the certificate verifies: staff preparedness, an emergency procedure, information for guests in their language, data protection, and a clear boundary between wellness services and medical activity, which is carried out only by authorised providers.

Video consultationDoctor at the hotelVisit to a facility
Medical Tourism Ready hotel — three ways for a guest to access medical care.

Status: certification criteria under development; hotels and hotel groups are invited to join the first cohort.

Off-season medical hospitality

Health-layer concepts for leisure properties: physiotherapy, longevity programmes, medical society conferences and a visiting-physician model. Healthcare Poland designs the care and safety standard; it does not guarantee occupancy or investment financing.

Provider registry and Trust Score

A registry of facilities with the five-pillar Healthcare Poland Trust Score (0–25 points; Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum). The pilot covers selected flagship centres. The score is a trust tool for patients and operators, not an advertising ranking.

Medical tourism portal

A map and profiles of facilities — from free listing for Federation hospitals, through extended profiles with benchmarking and gap analysis, to distinction for certified facilities. Healthcare Poland acts as a certifying and technology operator, not a travel agency.

Patient Coordination Centre

A concept for a single operational centre for medical tourism, cross-border medicine and access to innovative therapies — with defined patient access pathways, from the standard route to therapeutic experiment.

Education — Healthcare Poland Academy

The certified course “Medical Tourism Coordinator” for coordinators, heads of international patient departments and front-desk staff, and the module “International Patient Care and Medical Tourism”.

International cooperation

Developing care corridors with centres in Israel, the United Arab Emirates and Montenegro, and with members of the Global Healthcare Systems Hub network (GHSH — entity in registration). The umbrella layer for TQAMS is formed by the GHSH Cross-Border Care Standard and GHSH Care Corridor Assurance. Individual agreements are at different stages of preparation.

Silver Health Poland

Senior segment: stays and care in private senior homes for residents from Germany, delivered to the international patient care standard. Linked to the Longevity Center and Coordinated Care Center streams.

Legal framework

  • Directive 2011/24/EU on patients’ rights in cross-border healthcare,
  • Regulation (EC) No 883/2004 on the coordination of social security systems,
  • Regulation (EU) 2025/327 on the European Health Data Space (EHDS),
  • NIS2 Directive and the Polish national cybersecurity system, GDPR.

Principles of the stream

  • We do not promote destinations or specific procedures — we describe the conditions of safe practice.
  • We do not promise treatment outcomes or shorter waiting times.
  • Continuity of care after the patient returns home is a condition, not an add-on.
  • Certification decisions are separated from service sales; persons with a conflict of interest are excluded from assessment.
Apply as a facility or hotel
Hospitals, clinics, hotels and operators interested in the TQAMS pilot or the Medical Tourism Ready certificate: global@healthcarepoland.pl · Quality, Audit and Certification Center