Contact Medical Facilities

Contact a Medical Facility and Make an Appointment

Before you rush out and buy plane tickets, make sure that you have found a medical facility that can treat you properly.  Contact them directly and make whatever appropriate appointments are necessary.  It's best to have your medical records with you so that you can share whatever relevant information is necessary.  If the hospital or dental clinic needs to order supplies (example: a knee replacement), you want to reduce your wait time as much as possible.  Make sure you also ask how much time you should allot for your trip (including recovery), since this information will be very important when booking your flight. 

The following are important questions you should ask before agreeing to anything.  If a hospital or dental clinic is not forthcoming, move on to one that is:

• Who exactly will be performing the operation or medical treatment?
• What medical qualifications, certification, and experience do they have?
• What accrediting body certified the medical facility?
• What is the hospital's success rate for this procedure?
• What internationally agreed upon standards does the medical facility meet?
• Are their inspection reports available for your review?
• What nursing and administrative support is available before, during, and after your treatment?
• What liability will the medical facility assume in the event of negligence or accidents?
• What accommodations are available before, during, and after your treatment?
• What happens if the treatment is incomplete or unsuccessful?
• What party or parties are financially responsible if follow-up visits are required?
• Besides the cost of the operation or medical treatment, what other fees might there be (equipment, follow-up visitations, food, etc.)?

Although many medical tourism hospitals and clinics are some of the best in the world, making sure that you have clear answers to the above questions is extremely important.  You might even consider cutting and pasting these questions into an e-mail so that all of the replies will be documented in writing. 

Speak English? 

You will also want to ascertain whether or not the medical facility in question has staff who can speak your language.  In countries like India, Singapore, and Thailand, this usually isn't a problem for English speakers.  But if you feel more comfortable in Spanish, Japanese, or some other language, make sure translators or fluent personnel will be on hand.  Fortunately, some of the more prestigious hospitals actually offer a wide selection of languages ranging from Mandarin to Farsi. 

Contacting the Hospital

If you have difficulty making international calls to hospitals and dental clinics abroad, consider using Skype.com or other popular VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) programs, since their rates tend to be extremely affordable.  However, it's still best to make sure you have everything in writing as well.  This is why we recommend emailing questions in addition to making actual phone calls.

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