"Israeli doctors offered us to undergo treatment for $35,000. The price surprised us pleasantly. But during the treatment, the doctors demanded us to pay another sum - $80,000! Someone did not miss the opportunity to make money on our problem ". There are thousands of such a kind stories. So how do patients may protect themselves from cheating?
How can medical agents deceive you?
Many people think that they do not need help with the organization of treatment. They request to the clinic and hope that their treatment will be cheaper and faster. In fact, this opinion is wrong. Why?
Trying to find the most suitable clinic and do not use the agency service, you waste a lot of time. Most of the agencies are similar to the clinic. People cannot differentiate a real hospital from the agency.
If you find and contact the hospital, you have a risk to spend a lot of time in the large hospital or specialist queue. As a result, you will lose all those benefits that you could get from an individual approach and the choice of a specialized doctor.
The price in the clinic will be high. A partner company can receive a discount for its patients. An agency also controls patient’s treatment process and payments.
Nevertheless, the assistance in the organization of treatment is necessary. But the problem is existing of hundreds or even thousands of agencies in the medical tourism market. Over 10,000 are located in Israel. Not all of them work honestly and help patients.
What is the danger to get to an unhonest agent?
- he will not provide the promised treatment services
- plays for the time
- charges up the treatment
- offers the service at a lower price than actually and after the therapy will require additional payment
- provides the clinic with a more significant fee than in others
- provides a physician who will economically advantageous to him/her.
What is the solution of this problem? It is necessary to find a good agent who can find the most suitable hospital, can arrange the clinic staff about the discount for a patient, can provide the organization of treatment. Bookimed experts can help you in this.
How can a patient deceive his/herself?
Prices for medical services are vary depending on the country. They are different in various countries. Some states provide the medical services at lower prices than others. And the quality of the services is on the same level. For example, patients with orthopedic conditions can choose for the treatment the Czech Republic instead of Germany. For the obstetrics and gynecologic diseases a patient may make a point of Turkey, which offers the high-quality level of the healthcare services.
Also, prices can differ in the same country. Hospitals provide treatment at different cost depending on its class.
Patient stories:
For several years, one of our patients underwent PET-CT with Gali 68 in Israel. The price for this procedure was $ 5,000. In fact, this examination costs $ 1,900 in other medical centers. In the case of our patient, this diagnostics wasn’t necessary. Specialists could carry out another procedure instead of PET-CT with Gali 68.
Specialists of a Turkish hospital offered a patient from Georgia to undergo a biopsy of the thyroid gland for $10,000. In another clinic, the cost for the same procedure was $1,500.
Choosing a wright hospital is a complicated process for the patients because of a lot of clinics. And the number of agencies is higher than medical institutions. Finding out the real information about the hospitals and choosing the best one is extremely difficult. Only an expert can help to cope with this difficulty.
How can your bill be charged up unintentionally?
The hospitals offer their services for a lot of patients from the world. That is why clinics often provide patients with the standard treatment programs, where many unnecessary procedures are presented. A qualified medical coordinator who helps you in organizing treatment should check this program. Also, you can face some mistakes in the accounting department of the clinic.
Patient's story:
There were cases when Bookimed Doctor-Coordinators checked bills and found the misprints in them. For example, medical staff included 40 diapers per a day to some small patient’s bill. In fact, a patient did not need such an amount of diapers. But a baby’s parents ought to have pay for that. Fortunately, Bookimed Doctors found and fixed the mistake.
How to receive a correct bill?
If you are offered a meager price, you should seriously consider. Many agents attract patients by providing the minimum pricing for the treatment. But then the agents can demand the extra charges when a patient has already started the therapy and cannot refuse of the agent’s service.
Patient's story:
One patient underwent the treatment in Israel. The cost of the procedures in the bill was $35,000. But during the treatment process a patient needed more serious therapy and the price in the bill increased. So an agent began manipulations. The original version of the bill was checked carefully, and there was no mistake. But the additional payments during the treatment was difficult to control. As a result, a patient was presented 2 another bills. The price for the additional procedures in the first one was $35,000. And in the second one, the cost was $45,000. A patient requests Bookimed. Doctor-Coordinators found out that the last bill was charged up. Eventually a patient paid $15,000 instead of $45,000.
If you want to protect yourself from charging up the bills, you need to check your checks and the prices for the procedures in it. Or you can submit a request to Bookimed, and our Doctor-Coordinators will help you to pay the real price for the treatment.