Indraprastha Apollo Hospital has been recommended for accreditation by Joint Commission International (JCI), an international institution that works towards standardising and increasing the quality of patient care in healthcare organisations.

With this, Apollo Hospital is expected to attract more medical tourists, especially from the west, whose numbers have been on the rise.

"While I do expect an increase in medical tourists coming down to get treatment at a fraction of the costs, that is not our primary motive in seeking accreditation," Anne Marie Moncure, managing director of Indraprastha Apollo Hospital, told .

"We want to be the pioneers in setting up a platform for change in the culture of quality in Indian healthcare. This is not just a quest for improving quality in our hospital but in sustaining that excellence," she said.

JCI accreditation standards are based on international consensus standards and set uniform, achievable expectations for structures, processes and outcomes for hospitals.

Apollo began preparations for the accreditation process 30 months ago in 2003 and applied for the accreditation in January this year, sources said.

A three-member panel from JCI visited the hospital last week to survey where the hospital stood in terms of 1,033 parameters on which it was assessed.

Moncure revealed that the accreditation process cannot be afforded by many hospitals as it includes a fee of $44,000 for the survey apart from the bearing the expenses of the panel members.

The hospital also has to prepare itself to be ready for the survey, and this too had added to the costs. This included the addition of over 50 smoke doors in the hospital structure at Rs.2.2 million ($50,500).

While the surveyors have recommended the hospital for accreditation, the certification will take about two months as the JCI board has to first ratify the recommendation, Moncure said.

The accreditation, currently held by 53 hospitals worldwide, is to be renewed every three years to ensure sustenance and improvement in standardised quality levels. Of the 53 hospitals, only five are from Asia.

Moncure said the panel had found Indraprastha Apollo Hospital to be in the international best practice bracket on two parameters - infection control and physician credentialing and appraisal.