medical travel tips

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Travelling to a foreign country for surgery or any medical treatment is an important decision and if you are a smart

medical traveller then you can have a truly great experience. In this presentation we have made an

attempt to give you some tips that may help you to be a Smart Medical Traveller !

We have come up with these practical tips after getting

feedback and interacting with lot of patients from different countries whom we have served over the years.

Hope this helps you.


Tips to become a Smart Medical Traveller and Get the best out of your Medical travel to India

Be a Smart Medical Traveller


Travelling abroad for medical treatment or use of foreign medical services is a voluntary act by the patient.


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Get as much information as possible before you decide to travel abroad for medical treatment . This information may be pertaining to hospitals or doctors or cost or destination etc. You will get a lot of information on the internet and other media and if possible do talk to people who have been abroad for medical treatment.


2

Before travelling abroad for medical treatment, it is advised to first consult with the family doctor or a general practitioner, and thoroughly examine issues regarding post-treatment care after returning home as well.


3

You need a valid Passport and Medical visa to enter India. If you do not have a passport, please apply for one immediately. If you already have a Passport, please check whether it has more than 6 months of validity still left on it. Ask for a formal invitation letter from the hospital for coming to India for medical treatment and attach a copy of that letter with your visa application form while applying for Indian Medical Visa. For finding out the nearest Indian Embassy please check out the following link. http://www.mea.gov.in/indian-missions-abroad.htm


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http://www.mea.gov.in/indian-missions-abroad.htm






You must fully understand that long flight hours along with other necessary activities may be stressful and tedious in some cases. It is better to book an Aisle seat with better leg room and instruct your travel agent or airline in advance in case you need a wheel chair or help during the transit.


5

Understand your rights as well as obligations prior to travelling to a foreign country for medical treatment.


6

Get as many options as possible and do not forget to check all information regarding the hospital, healthcare provider's certification status, clinical data and clinical experiences.


7

Ask for profile of the surgeon or doctor who would be treating you. If possible talk to him/her over phone or video call and get answers to all your medical queries before you travel.


8

Ask as many questions that you may like from the hospitals or the medical travel facilitation agency and get a complete clarity. Do not hesitate even if the question may sound very trivial to you or others. It is your health and hence do not take chances or make unnecessary assumptions.


9

Most hospitals have hotel or guest house accommodations nearby with special rates for their international patients. Find out these details and make provision for the expenses for post hospital stay in the India . It is better to ask the help of the hospital or the medical travel facilitator to get the discounted rates or to get options. Do not forget to compare tariffs and the choose. Always stay near to the hospital post discharge for recovery and follow-up.


10

If all your questions are answered and the opinion/ estimate sent to you by the hospital or the facilitator matches your preferences then do not forget to ask them when is the best time to arrive for the treatment. By choosing right time you can save money on travel and hotel and also save time by getting all your appointments booked in advance. Also know about the climate during that period so that you and your attendant are prepared accordingly.


11

Check and confirm in advance the approximate cost for medical treatment, medication, as well as extra charges that may rise due to unexpected additional expenses. You should also understand the inclusions and exclusions of any package or cost given. If your surgery involves use of any implant/prosthesis then please ask for the make and type of implant. The cost of implant varies from manufacturer to manufacturer and also on specifications or materials used. Get a clear understanding of the implant that would be used in the surgery since it forms an important part of cost of surgery and we suggest that you do not compromise on quality of implant.


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You must check in advance the necessary documentation that may required (visa, diagnosis, transfer forms, prescriptions, insurance policy, etc) for traveling or for the treatment. It is better to do this work before you leave your country for the treatment so that once you are in India you do not face any problem.


13

You shall have the right not to be discriminated against based on your ethnicity, religion, race or gender.


14

Everything has to be clearly explained to you before undergoing any diagnostic test or treatment or surgery. Your consent is very important in every step. It is a patient's right to have his or her character and individual decisions respected.


15

There are many websites offering cheap medical treatment and promising world-class care. But do you know who the people behind it are ? Go to ‘About Us’ page and know more about people behind such websites and try to find more about them through social media websites like linkedin, facebook, google plus etc. Best thing, call them and talk to them and if possible get a video call using skype or gmail account. It is free. After all you want to deal with genuine human beings rather than good looking websites or lengthy texts with promises and assurances. At least when it comes to medical treatment let us play safe.


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Patients and the attendants who are residing or have passed through the Yellow fever endemic countries during the preceding six days, please do not forget to carry the original copy of ‘Yellow Fever Vaccination Certificates ‘when you come to India. Please note that the validity period of international certificate for yellow fever vaccination or re-vaccination against yellow fever is 10 years, beginning 10 days after vaccination. Yellow fever is a viral infection which is transmitted by the day-time biting Aëdes aegypti mosquito, typically found in urban, suburban, and rural areas. The 'yellow fever endemic zones' are areas where there is a potential risk of infection on account of the presence of vectors and animal reservoirs. Some countries consider these zones as 'infected' areas, and require an international certificate of vaccination against yellow fever from travellers arriving from these areas.


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Have you got any emails or text messages or mass mailers from unidentified sources promising cheaper medical treatment and a long list of attractive assurances? The emails are sent from email accounts which have a domain similar to or containing abbreviations of the names of some of the reputed hospitals in India. After getting an email, you may also get a phone call saying that they are the representatives of such and such hospital. If you come across such things then please do find out more about them. Do not just completely rely on the email or phone call. Find out whether they are genuine. One of the easy ways is, save the numbers and email addresses of the sender or the caller. Go to google.com or any other search engine and search for the phone number and email addresses or domain names. See what you get in search results. Is it genuinely the email address or phone number of the hospital or organisation which the sender is making you to believe? Is the email address or phone number mentioned in any website or the domain name represent any website? If yes, then who are the people behind that website? Go to ‘About us’ page and find out more about them from social media profiles and other sources from internet. Search engines like google , yahoo , bing etc. can help you a lot in this . Make use of them in a right way and deal with genuine people.


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Same person or organisation may send you emails from different email accounts with different domain names. Again these domain names may be similar to the domain names of some reputed hospitals or may contain abbreviations of the hospital names in the domain names making you believe that you are directly dealing with the hospitals. If you are getting such emails then save those email addresses and phone numbers mentioned in the emails and then do a google search to find more about them. Do the domain names of the email addresses have any website on it ? or Whether these email addresses or phone numbers are mentioned on any website ? Be careful about the fake domain names, people and phone numbers.


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Do not just rely on few hospitals with Big Brand Names. There are many other good hospitals and medical centres in India which offer equally good medical care at a much lower cost. The only challenge is to find the right one. There are some good hospitals that are doing some great work in providing world-class and very affordable medical care but you may not find them promoting themselves in form of advertisements, out-reach programs, online and offline media etc. Hence many people may not be aware of such hospitals and the kind of work they are doing. By choosing the right hospital you will not only get good medical care but also save a lot of money.


20

Choose appropriate Room Category. The cost medical treatment may vary with the type of room category you choose. Higher the room category, higher the cost of medical treatment. Before taking an admission in any hospital understand the different room categories. See the facilities in each room category and then ask for quote or estimate cost of treatment in various room categories. See the difference and check what you get for paying more in higher room category. Once you have done this, you can choose the appropriate room category that matches your budget and preferences.


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Traveling abroad for the first time! Lonely Planet brings out some very useful tips for safe travel. Now whether you are a Medical Traveller or Business Traveller or a Tourist, these tips may help you to be safe and enjoy your stay in a foreign country. Check out the following link for more information. http://www.lonelyplanet.com/asia/travel-tips-and-articles/76192


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http://www.lonelyplanet.com/asia/travel-tips-and-articles/76192







Carry your mobile phone. You can buy an Indian SIM Card and save money on local calling as well as be accessible to your Indian hospital or hotel staff.


23

Inform the hospital or your medical travel facilitator about your confirmed travel plans atleast 10-15 days in advance so that they have enough time to book your surgery, admissions , arrange for airport pick-up and book all the necessary appointments and plan your medical travel very well right from your arrival to departure from India. So when you come to India, everything is arranged for you well in advance and you need not wait or extend your stay for anything unnecessarily. This will help you to save time and money.


24

Carry all your medical record, reports, scan images and medicines (if any) while you travel to India for medical treatment.


25

Take photocopies of your passport, visa and other documentation and keep them with you and save a scanned copy in your email inbox. Also, leave a copy with someone at home.


26

At the time of discharge from the hospital, do not forget to collect a detailed Discharge Summary and copies of all the reports and scan images done during your stay.


27

At the time of discharge from the hospital or before leaving India after the treatment, do not forget to collect “fit to fly” certificate from your treating doctor or the hospital. If you have got a metal implant or prosthesis in your body then please do collect a certificate or letter for the same from your treating doctor or the hospital. The airline people or the officials at the airport may ask you for these documents. Keep these documents safely with you as you may need these in future while traveling.


28

Do not forget to take the email address and phone number from your treating surgeon or doctor in India. It will help you to be in touch with him later on once you go back to your home country.


29

It is advisable to take a travel insurance and if possible a medical tourism insurance. Nowadays you will find companies offering even medical tourism insurance.


30

Focus more on Medical part of Medical Tourism rather that Tourism part. It is advisable not to indulge in travel, tourism or sight seeing activities without the consent of your doctor. Your health and recovery is more important than tourism or shopping. Your first priority should be to recover well by following the instructions of your treating doctor.


31

If you want to use debit card or credit card for making payments in India then please inform your bank before you leave your country. This is very important since there are chances that for security purpose they may block your card for using it in new location or different country.


32

For the payments that you make at the hospital or hotel or while shopping, please do not forget to check and collect all the bills and invoices in original. Keep these things safely with you.


33

The hospital or your medical tourism facilitator arranges for your airport pick-up and drop when you are in India. The airport pick-up and drop is generally included in the treatment package or is complimentary. Confirm your airport pick-up with the hospital or the facilitator before you travel to India. It is advisable to use this service since it is free and you need not search for the hospital or the directions to get there. Moreover you need not look out for reliable cab service or bargain with cab drivers.


34

Do not carry too much cash for making payment for your medical treatment. Instead you can wire transfer the money directly into hospital's account. If you wire transfer then do not forget to collect the acknowledgement receipt from the bank.


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Apart from Yellow Fever vaccination certificate as per Govt. of India mandate, all passengers arriving India effective 14th February 2014 from Kenya, Ethiopia, Afghanistan, Israel, Pakistan, Nigeria and Somalia will have to carry Oral Polio Vaccination (OPV) Certificate taken six week prior to entry. This certificate is mandatory for both Adults and Children. All travellers from above seven countries will now be required to have in their possession a written record of vaccination (patient-retained record) for polio, preferably using IHR 2005 International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis from a hospital or Centre administering OPV.

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Medical Travel can help you to save you a lot of money and time on your

medical treatment. So make best use of it. Have a Safe and Great

Medical Travel Experience !


For more information on Medical Travel to India please write to us at

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