FAQs

A: Medical tourism refers to a patient traveling to a country outside of the patients’ home country or when a patient travels within their home country to a different city to seek medical treatment.

A: People travel internationally for medical treatment for a number of reasons which could include:

• Quicker results and quicker diagnoses – In many cases a client can get quicker results due to better equipped labs and diagnosis equipment.
• Specialist equipment – Our partner hospitals have the advanced equipment to be able to treat complex diseases, illnesses and injuries.
• Specialists – Our partner hospitals may have doctors with more experience in treating certain rare or advanced types of diseases or injuries many of whom have either worked in the US or UK.
• Quality – High quality, internationally accredited hospitals with world class medical capabilities and specialist medical care when compared to countries with a less developed medical sector.
• Affordability – Low cost destinations with cost-effective treatments. In India, for example, clients can save between 65%-90% when compared with the cost of medical treatment in the US.
• Accessibility – All our recommended destinations are only one or two flights away from capital cities across Africa.
• Availability – No waiting lists and waiting times for the treatment to begin.
• Comfort – some hospitals internationally have been built with extra comfort and amenities in mind to ensure the highest standard of care.

• Full service – Many other operators will simply pass on the client’s details to a hospital and do no more. At IMT we want you and your loved ones to get world class service, which is why we provide our clients a dedicated client coordinator to walk with them through the entire journey or process when seeking overseas medical treatment.
• Quality without compromise – Many operators will simply refer you to the hospital that pays them the best commission. For them, quality is a secondary consideration. At IMT getting high quality for our clients is fundamental, that is why we only partner with world class, Joint Commission International (JCI) accredited hospitals that have experts in various fields of medicine, advanced state-of-the-art equipment and the latest technology. To put it short, we only work with the top hospitals that have excellent services and exceptional customer care.
• Simplicity and a manageable level of choice – Some operators present a huge array of hospitals for the client to choose from. It makes it confusing and time-consuming for the client. At IMT, we have spent a considerable amount of time narrowing the choice down for you. We are ready to suggest the market leaders to you.
• A broad enough level of choice – Many operators have an agreement with one hospital only and so recommend that hospital only. With IMT, you are presented with options in terms of world class hospitals to choose from, different countries for convenience and options to suite your needs and budget.

A: We take a multi-pronged approach to selecting the hospitals with which we partner.

At International Medical Treatment Ltd (IMT) we pride ourselves by ensuring that you and your loved ones get world class service when seeking overseas medical treatment, that is why we ensure that we partner with only the best hospitals.

Using a Multi-level continuous model, we ensure that in the end we partner with hospitals that are high quality, accessible, affordable with exceptional customer service, best specialties in various medical fields and advanced equipment.

The model involves vigorous process of:

• Carrying out a comprehensive country and hospital assessment
• Undertaking a communication assessment to ensure quick feedback from the hospitals
• Assessing each hospital on various other metrics
• Continuous monitoring to ensure that we only continue to work with the best

A: Joint Commission International (JCI) is one of the world’s leading non-profit patient safety organizations and accredits hospitals internationally based on US standards.

Joint Commission International is one of the most reputed international medical accreditation services that works to improve health care in hospitals, so that patients get the highest quality of service. The company adopts a procedure of surveying the provided medical care for nearly three years, which includes a detailed evaluation of all the units of the hospital. It updates it standards on a yearly basis, to keep up with technology advancements, while expanding its safety procedures for the patients.

Advantages of JCI Accreditation to patients when seeking overseas medical treatment:

• It makes the organization constantly improve its healthcare quality and adopt modern amenities, based on the findings and recommendations of the accreditation boards.
• It reduces the risks and errors in treatment and identifies shortcomings, as supervision and expertise at each level of the procedure increases in an accredited hospital.
• It supports customer centric policies, rules and methods that provide maximum satisfaction to the patient.
• It provides a systematic approach towards the working conditions of the hospital, among the clinical staff, members, and the professionals.

Each hospital and health care organization that applies for JCI accreditation takes about two years to prepare. During this time, the entire organization works together to develop and implement the new high quality and patient-safe policies, practices, and procedures that are required to meet equivalent standards to those of accredited hospitals in the US.

For more information please visit JCI’s official website http://www.jointcommissioninternational.org/

A: After you have made your decision to proceed, we will set up a virtual consultation with your treating doctor.

International Medical Treatment Ltd uses various technologies that helps our clients to be able to have easy access to doctors and specialists prior to departure.

A: All the hospitals that we work with fluent English is spoken. For other languages, we are able to organize a translator for the most widely spoken languages such as Arabic, French and Portuguese for free.

A: All payments are made directly to the Hospitals. International Medical Treatment Ltd DOES NOT CHARGE clients to use our coordination services.

A: At IMT we receive a marketing commission from the treating hospital. This is the case because by us linking a patient with a hospital, the hospital has saved on coordination and marketing costs.

However, it is important to note that the commission paid to us does not increase the cost that the patient will pay for the medical treatment.

The patient will pay the hospital the same amount for the medical treatment if the client chooses to deal directly with the treating hospital her or himself and not use our services.

Despite the commissions, our primary aim is to secure the best quality service for our clients. Quality without compromise.

A: At International Medical Treatment (IMT) we understand that our clients have insurance from different providers and that insurance policies are different. Thus, we advise our clients to contact their insurance provide to see if their policy covers the cost of medical or health treatments overseas at our partner hospitals.

We have helped a number of people go overseas for their medical treatment that is covered by their local health insurance.

To add, with the permission of the client, we can help to discuss with their medical insurance provider on their behalf.

A: You will need a valid passport which has at least 6 months validity at the time of travel (or more depending on what treatment you are seeking and how long the treatment may last) and at least 2 free pages in your passport. You may need a visa to travel, however IMT can help with obtaining your visa.

A: It is important for clients to understand that International Medical Treatment Ltd (IMT) is not a healthcare service provider and as such we will never provide direct advice on your treatment. IMT is a medical tourism facilitator and we only suggest high quality hospitals that have been vetted by us, however it is up to the client to choose which hospital is right for them.

At IMT, we only work to help link you to high quality licensed hospitals and help to coordinate your trip. Any treatment plans given will never be from IMT, only from a licensed doctor at one of the hospitals we work with.

IMT accepts no liability for any advice given from any third part licensed doctors or hospitals and we always recommend that you consult your local doctor to discuss the treatment options given to you.

A: Transparency and honesty is very important to us. We would never claim that there are no risks when undergoing a medical procedure.

However we strive to limit the risk by only working with JCI accredited hospitals and market leaders in key medical tourism destinations. This helps to limit the risk as we know that due to the hospitals JCI accreditation there are strict policies and procedures in place to ensure a high level of care.

We do advise that you also consult with your local doctor to discuss the risks and if you do choose to proceed with your international medical treatment, also discuss the risks with your licensed treating doctor at the hospital you have selected.

A: Not as yet. However, we are in discussions with potential financing partners who may, in time, offer financing clients.

A: No direct help yet. However, we have created a blog post which contains some ideas on how clients could develop an effective fundraising campaign tapping their own networks and by seeking donations from the general public.