First company certified to newly published telehealth service guidelines

06 November 2015

International SOS is the first organization to be certified in accordance with the International Organization for Standardization’s (ISO) newly published guidelines for the delivery of telehealth services, ISO / TS 13131. The certificate was awarded by BSI, the business standards company and a founding member of ISO.

International SOS provides medical and travel security services. Their telehealth services platform provides medical information, advice, and referrals 24/7/365 to clients travelling or working abroad.

Maureen Sumner Smith, Managing Director at BSI UK, said: “Telehealth services have become popular amongst organizations as employers look to reduce costs and improve productivity whilst delivering an enhanced quality of care. As a result, the number of companies trying to enter the telehealth space has increased dramatically. The guidelines for the delivery of telehealth services are there to ensure providers deliver consistent, quality remote medical assistance and have policies in place to safeguard a client’s private data.”

Neil Nerwich, Group Medical Director of Assistance at International SOS, said: “Our business is providing medical advice and travel security assistance for millions of people around the world. Therefore, it is vital that we employ strict processes to ensure quality in the delivery of telehealth services. We invest heavily in quality programmes and this certification recognises our industry leadership in developing and deploying user-friendly technological solutions and the high standard for medical services across our platform.”  

Pietro Foschi, Director, Strategic Delivery, Group Systems Certification & Training at BSI commented: “By achieving certification of compliance to ISO/TS 13131, International SOS has demonstrated that it has adopted best practice for its telehealth services, a requirement for delivering safe healthcare from a distance.”

For more information about ISO / TS 13131 Health informatics Telehealth services Quality planning guidelines please visit https://shop.bsigroup.com/ProductDetail/?pid=000000000030257848