A review of the United Arab Emirates healthcare systems on medical tourism and accreditation

This paper aims to review the healthcare system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the utilisation of international accreditation to improve the quality of healthcare services and to grow its medical tourism industry. Medical tourism has contributed to the UAE's economy. Hence, the country mandated international accreditation in public and private facilities to attract patients and boost medical tourism. Accreditation is recognised worldwide as one of the main drivers for implementing quality and patient safety standards, which has sparked considerable interest in studying the effects and outcomes of such assessments. Therefore, the second aim of this paper is to review the UAE's strategic goals to improve the quality of healthcare services using international accreditation. Although striving to achieve global accreditation attracts tourists, it is essential to understand the needs and outcomes of such assessments. This review showed how the UAE healthcare sector has evolved to improve the quality of its healthcare services through accreditation. While enhancing the quality of such services and increasing the medical tourism industry provided many opportunities for expatriates to move to the UAE, the country should aim to strengthen its medical services by expanding to other Middle Eastern countries. This paper could influence policymakers implementing international accreditation in the UAE and the Middle Eastern region

What Impact Does Accreditation Have on Workplaces? A Qualitative Study to Explore the Perceptions of Healthcare Professionals About the Process of Accreditation

Aim: This study seeks to explore the emerging psychosocial risks of healthcare accreditation in workplaces and to understandhealthcare professionals’ perceptions about work demands and the unexpected consequences such accreditation had placed uponthem.Methods: Twenty-seven semi-structured interviews and four focus group discussions were conducted with a variety of healthcareprofessionals, including doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and allied health professionals. The study was conducted in three publichospitals and a network of primary healthcare centers in the United Arab Emirates. Interviews and focus group discussions weretranscribed and analyzed using a thematic analysis approach.Results: The results have shown that a number of psychosocial risks were prevalent during the course of accreditation. Healthcareprofessionals faced increased work demands during such a process including increased working hours, increased working pace,perceived time pressure, and conflicted information. Such demands were perceived to influence their health and their families andpatients’ care. In contrast, teamwork and co-worker support were vital to mitigate the effect of such demands.Implications: This study has identified emerging risks during the process of accreditation. Findings show that the process ofaccreditation increases work-related risks before the inspection visit. These findings have significant implications in understatingthe way accreditation processes increase psychosocial risks; they also consolidate the idea that appropriate systems and supportfor HCPs should be a priority when planning for accreditation

Psychosocial Safety Climate Moderates the Effect of Demands of Hospital Accreditation on Healthcare Professionals: A Longitudinal Study

Hospital accreditation has been studied comprehensively, yet few studies have observed its impacts on the burnout and work engagement levels of frontline healthcare professionals (HCPs). With a sample of 121 HCPs working in the United Arab Emirates' public hospitals, this study used a two-wave, cross-lagged panel design to examine the direct effects of job demands and job resources during hospital accreditations on burnout and work engagement and the moderating roles of psychosocial safety climate (PSC) on burnout and work engagement 3 months after accreditation. The data were analyzed using moderated structural equation modeling. As expected, we found that job demands (i.e., accreditation demands) had a direct effect on burnout, while job resources (i.e., social support) predicted work engagement. PSC moderated both relationships; however, it was not able to directly predict burnout or work engagement. Findings from this study show a positive relationship between accreditation demands and HCPs' health. Future research needs to examine the link between PSC and job demands-resources concepts before and after hospital accreditation more closely by using multiple time points to assess the causality relationships between predictor and outcome variables