European Health & Spa (Sustainable) Quality (EHSQ) Certificate

Wellness Clinic

The EHSQ umbrella brand includes various certifiable quality seals that apply to different sub-markets in the health, medical, tourism and hotel sectors.

1. EHSQ Spa Certificate with focus on the tourism wellness and spa industry.

2. EHSQ Wellness Clinic Certificate with a focus on

• Tourist establishments (hotels, spas, etc.) with overnight accommodation and a clear focus on high-quality medical services.

•  Clinics and special facilities of all kinds (also health cure, spa, rehab) that offer medical services and above-average service quality in their own building or through cooperation with nearby hotels.

Successful certification according to EHSQ Wellness Clinic does not replace recognition as a hospital (hospitals of all kinds), it is regarded as an additional certificate for special services with a view to national and international medical and health tourism that places special emphasis on attention, service quality, high-quality buildings and technology as well as outstanding medical quality in the treatment of guests and their fellow travellers.

1.       Structure

EHSQ is a certifiable quality management model that seeks to combine a strong company together with modern aspects of sustainability.

1.1   Recommendations

EHSQ Wellness Clinic is based on so-called "recommendations". These recommendations are subject to evaluation by the auditors. The way in which the recommendations are implemented is up to the company. EHSQ Wellness Clinic gives companies a lot of freedom because it believes that quality can be achieved in many different ways and that companies should develop their creative potential in this area:

1. Ethical & lead:
2. Resilience & preservation:
3. Learn & create:
4. Prosper & grow moderately:
5. Understand & respect:
6. Heal & strengthen:
7. Pamper & care for:
8. Protect & preserve:
9. Listen & engage:
10. Welness Clinic: Recommendations with a view to the entrepreneurial focus.

1.2   Sustainability

The sustainability model used by EHSQ shows four aspects:

• Economic sustainability
• Social sustainability
• Ecological sustainability
• Health-related sustainability

2.       Information: Procurement, evaluation and weighting

The methods for obtaining the necessary information are:

• Audit: visit to the company seeking certification. Minimum 4 days.
• Document analysis: The company is requested to provide relevant documents prior to the auditors' visit. This serves the preparation and efficient handling of the audit.
• Mystery check: Visit to the company, the auditor initially appears incognito.
• Collegial dialogue: Discussions with employees of the company.
• Indispositive interview: These are spontaneous interviews with guest patients, which are, however, systematically evaluated.
• Analysis of evaluation portals and other publications about the company.

2.1   Evaluation of the information

2.1.1 Continuous improvement

Each chapter with recommendations is measured against the ACTUAL state (situation now), but also against what actions will enable the company to successfully shape the future. For this purpose, the following can be applied

• Forecasting future problems and prioritizing them
• Developing concepts to avoid them.
• Securing resources for these tasks.
• Introducing measures to deal with them.
• Measuring whether measures have been successful.

3.       General

3.1   Duration of validity

The certificate is valid for 2 years and must be renewed thereafter. In the event of an unwanted or missed recertification, the certificate shall be removed from all communication media of the hotel.

3.2   Certification procedure

The certification procedure is as follows:

1.       Application for participation to the Agency for Health & Wellness (Vienna). Confirmation by them.

2.       Registration with European HEALTH & SPA Awards (EHSA) category Wellness Clinic.

3.       Applicant familiarizes himself with the procedure and framework conditions of EHSQ Wellness Clinic and submits documents to prepare for the audit.

4.       The auditors visit the company, analyse and evaluate the results.

5.       The result is communicated to the company and publicised by the certificate provider (Agency for Health & Wellness, Vienna).

6.       The company receives a report with recommendations for action and potential for improvement.

3.3   Gradation of the certificate

The following table shows the range of points that qualifies for "Bronze", "Silver" or "Gold":

3.4   Prices and fees

For administration, implementation and the awarding of certificates:

3.5   Data protection

The assessment methodology requires that the auditors also ask for relevant management documents in order to arrive at a balanced assessment. Documents handed out for inspection are either returned or destroyed after the test and not used in any way for further purposes.