Treatment in Germany without intermediaries

Many patients are questioning the possibility of treatment in Germany without intermediaries. And indeed, you can organize treatment by yourself without using the services of a company that will take over the organization for a fee.

Of course, you can organize your treatment independently, in our example, in Germany.

How? Here is an exemplary sequence of your actions:

So: 

1. To start you need to collect your current medical records, analyzes, research findings and translate them either into German or English.

Be careful! A professional medical translation is required, not all translation agencies make it qualitatively. Otherwise, your medical records will not be taken into consideration, as it will not be understood by your doctor.

2. You need to choose the right clinic and a specialist in the profile of your disease.

In order to choose an experienced specialist, you need to see his ranking in the German medical journals, as well as patient testimonials. Most clinics in Germany represent a big variety of specializations and without a detailed and comprehensive study of information, you could make a mistake in choosing and getting into a clinic that deals with your issues, but will be not his primary specialization.

3. The first stage is complete. Decisions were made, doctor and clinic have been chosen and documents were translated into foreign languages​​. Now you have to write a request to your specialist, briefly outlining the essence, or rather its secretary or to the international department (ie not all clinics), apply to the letter your translated medical records. If it is necessary to send CDs with MRI, CT, X-rays, to record the information on a CD and send the media to the clinic by mail.

Information placed on USB drives, as well as files exchangers will not be accepted.

In the same letter, you ask about the possibility of treatment in the clinic and ask for a cost estimate. In order to get a quick reply, you need to make a phone call after 2-3 days, to ask whether the documents have been received. Unfortunately, according to our experience, it is necessary to call the clinic every day and write letters more often, to accelerate the process.

Otherwise, the request processing can take up to 3 weeks.

4. The clinic agreement has been received and you are satisfied with the cost of treatment. You transfer the agreed amount given in the preliminary bill to the clinic bank account. Then write a letter to the clinic, in which ask you to prepare an invitation and apply the payment document.
Note that when you reach the minimum balance in your account, the clinic will ask you to pay a deposit, which is necessary for the continuation of treatment, otherwise treatment will be suspended.

Companies bypass that point, if they have their own capital. The company acts as guarantor for the patient, which is sufficient to continue the patient's treatment.

5. Upon receipt of funds to the clinicб they send the invitation letter for visa, which indicates the date the initial reception.

Be careful! Often clinics do not send an correct invitation, so you need to ask them to apply it and send in an e-mail for verification. The invitation should contain information about obtaining prepayment, the amount and date of the initial visit. Also, check your passport details.

6. After receipt of the invitation you fill out the form for a visa, apply all necessary information and hand it over to the visa department of residence.

7. To obtain a visa you need to book a hotel for the duration of the visa or in the invitation to the clinic should be noted that you will be treated stationary. If you are going to Germany for treatment with an accompanying person, the invitation should contain his passport details and the hotel reservation details for the duration of the visa.

8. You need to develop your routes to the clinic and back. This can be a taxi or special transport, if it is needed. To determine the price, look how far the clinic is from the airport of arrival.

9. You book the flight tickets.

10. You will need a translator in the clinic. You have to find one by yourself.

Please note that the translator must possess medical vocabulary, otherwise it may cause misunderstanding between the doctor and patient. If you have a sufficient level of the English language and know the medical terminology, you will be able to do it without assistance, as most German specialists speak English.

11. All the preparatory work has been done, you arrived in Germany and made ​​it safely to the hospital. Now you need to find the right department and register in the waiting room.

The translator can help with that, with whom you made ​​an appointment in advance.

12. If necessary, consult with other specialists, you will need to think through the further plan of treatment or examination.

13. Upon completion of the treatment, you request an extract documentation from the clinic, and translate the Epicrisis into your language of desire.

14. During your stay in Germany, you may experience unexpected situations both medical and in everyday order, with which you manage on your own.

Pricing for treatment in Germany.

Cost of medical services in Germany is calculated in accordance with unified standards DRG. For foreign clinic patients administered the so-called risk ratio for treatment, thereby increasing the cost of the treatment and covering their costs of administrative services for the provision of treatment for international patients.
Due to the large patient flow from different countries, the increased volume of administrative work necessary, organize international clinics departments and this requires to hire additional staff that is extremely disadvantageous, as the level of wages and taxation in Germany is quite high.
Therefore clinics are willing to cooperate with intermediary companies that take on the full organization of the treatment of foreign patients, making it easier for doctors and that clinics save a decent amount of money on the content of additional staff.

Refusing services of intermediary companies does not lead to savings, and sometimes even on the contrary increases the cost of treatment and the probability of choosing the "wrong" clinic.

In any case You have the right to choose the way you want to organize your treatment, on your own or using the services of a company!

If you choose a company, pick a reliable, honest and competent!