The article was reviewed by an expert in the field of medicine Dr. med. Andrej Bitter
Patients frequently begin thinking about receiving medical treatment abroad when domestic medical assistance is unavailable. Many people view medical tourism as a legitimate way to obtain cutting-edge medical services in nations with highly developed healthcare systems. International patients seek safer and more effective medical care abroad since, in certain situations, their previous medical treatments at home were unsuccessful or even hazardous.
In order to better their health or deal with complicated medical conditions, over 7 million people travel for medical purposes each year, and this trend is only growing. Even while families plan for high treatment costs, they frequently find that the true costs of receiving medical care overseas are shockingly less than they anticipated, all the while getting better healthcare than they could have ever imagined. For this reason, a lot of patients choose to receive treatment abroad and then come back for regular checkups and preventative diagnostic procedures.
How the Cost of a Medical Program Is Determined
The cost of medical programs abroad can vary greatly, even for two patients with the same diagnosis. This is why it is not advisable to rely only on the experience of friends who have already undergone treatment abroad. Before hospitalization or outpatient examination, the financial department of the hospital prepares a preliminary estimate, which includes the expected medical costs for the required medical services.
Several factors influence the total treatment costs:
- Age of the patient: whether care is provided in a children’s institution or an adult clinic
- Type of medical care: surgical intervention, conservative medical treatment, or rehabilitation program
- Level of the medical institution: a multidisciplinary university hospital or a specialized private hospital
- The doctor’s qualification: professor, doctor of medicine, or resident physician
- Severity of the medical condition: whether monitoring in the intensive care unit is required
- Concomitant diseases: the need for multidisciplinary consultations
- Inpatient program details: type of room (single or double) and accommodation for an accompanying person
- Overall length of stay in the hospital or rehabilitation center
It is also important to consider the federal state in which the treatment is provided. Local regulations affect healthcare costs, and an additional charge of approximately 10% may be applied to the basic rates in different regions.
Finally, when an official request is made through the International Office, the admission of international patients can further influence the invoice. Since such cases are rarely covered by insurance, the healthcare system does not require justification of additional charges for medical services, which may increase the overall cost of medical treatment abroad.
What are the approximate costs
The basic costs for medical interventions are approved on the state level in Germany. It is determined by the G-DRG tariffs (German Diagnosis Related Groups), German system for calculation of the price for treatment based on the similarity of diagnoses. This system is used for insured German citizens and international patients as well. The information about G-DRG tariffs is open and available for every patient. Below you can find average costs of treatment of the most common diseases.
Neurology and Neurosurgery:
- Cervical spinal disc herniation treatment — 10,730 €
- Lumbar spinal disc herniation treatment — 10,770 €
- Surgical removal of the brain tumor — 37,020 €
- Removal of the brain tumor using the latest Gamma knife model — 12,340 €
- Epilepsy: diagnosis and treatment of complex forms — 10,280 €
Orthopedics and Joint Replacement:
- Hip replacement and rehabilitation — 26,870 €
- Hip osteoarthritis treatment — 11,060 €
- Total knee replacement and rehabilitation — 27,230 €
- Pacemaker implantation — 13,080 €
- Stenting of coronary vessels — 10,590 €
- Aortocoronary bypass surgery — 28,030 €
- Operative closure of the patent foramen ovale defect — 18,420 €
- Surgery of complex combined heart defects — 32,570 €
Oncology and Hematology:
- PSMA-therapy in the prostate cancer — 18,010 €
- Sectoral resection in the breast cancer — 13,230 €
- Stomach cancer surgery — 39,400 €
- Lung cancer surgery — 31,980 €
- Proton therapy in brain cancer — 77,890 €
- Transurethral resection of the prostate with a green laser — 16,210 €
- Prostatectomy by the da Vinci robot in prostate cancer — 18,920 €
- Non-invasive lithotripsy of kidney stones — 9,210 €
- Correction of erectile dysfunction — 2,350 €
- Varicocele surgery — 9,550 €
- Retinal detachment surgery — 8,310 €
- Lens replacement in cataract — 8,329 €
- Treatment of myopia with LASIK method — 8,470 €
- Varicose veins treatment with laser therapy — 6,980 €
- Surgical removal of kidney stones in the case of hydronephrosis — 11,460 €
- Endoscopic inguinal hernia surgery — 7,482 €
Gynecology and Obstetrics:
- Natural childbirth — 6,540 €
- Childbirth with Cesarean section — 9,920 €
- Diagnosis of infertility causes — 3,570 €
- Artificial insemination — 3,640 €
- Uterine fibroids (myoma uteri) endoscopic surgery — 7,260 €
- Basic check-up — 3,350 €
- Gynecological check-up — 2,020 €
- Orthopedic check-up — 1,780 €
- Ophthalmological check-up — 1,860 €
- Complex examination of the whole body — 14,170 €
Rehabilitation (recovery after the main course of treatment):
- Cardiac rehabilitation — 783 € per day
- Outpatient orthopedic rehabilitation — 360 € per day
- Neurorehabilitation phase C after a stroke or injury — 887 € per day
The fact that German clinics require prepayment is very unusual for our understanding. Before admission to the clinic or the beginning of the out-patient examination the necessary amount of money has to be fully transferred on the account of the medical institution. Usually initial fees are rather high, but if there is any unclaimed sum of money, it will be refunded after receiving the final invoice. In case of serious diseases, for example, oncology, the deposit increases.
If you want to know the price of a medical program in a particular case, you need to contact the financial department for receiving a preliminary invoice. Obviously, it is better to do it with the help of a competent representative in Germany and not via the International Office.
The company Booking Health is a such representative. The specialists of the company will fully organize the process of treatment, represent the patient's interests during the treatment and control the invoices from the clinic, in order to avoid unreasonable overprice. The individual preliminary price of the program will be also determined under the control of the company's financial department.
What kinds of additional expenses you should consider
It is not always possible to compare the expenses for medical services in Germany and in your home country, because such surgeries and medicines are simply not available in home country. Nevertheless, it is worth to remember about the additional non-medical aspects of the treatment organization in German clinic.
The main non-medical costs are:
- Passport and visa arrangements
- Traveling or air flight
- Transfer from the airport to the clinic or to the hotel
- Accommodation and meals during the outpatient program or accommodation and meals of an accompanying person outside the clinic
- In case of an out-patient treatment — daily fare for the trip to the doctor and back to the hotel
- The translation of medical reports and the results of preliminary check-ups into German
- Interpreter services for communication with medical staff
- Purchasing of the recommended by the doctor medicines
- Personal expenses
The costs by every aforementioned point depend on your preferences. For example, your flight tickets can be business, economy or first class. Interpreters are also rewarded differently; sometimes the quality of work depends on their salary. You can live in a hotel or in a budget apartment not far from the clinic.
The company Booking Health offers special prices for flight tickets, selects the best option for accommodation and provides patients with professional medical translators. A personal coordinator will always help you with transportation, purchasing of medicines or personal matters. We will also send a medical invitation, which will help you to get visa as quickly as possible.
How to receive treatment in Germany without any overpayment
The main method to use German clinic’s services at an affordable price is to apply there in the same way as German citizens do, that is with the help of the company Booking Health. Our company guides the patient from the stage of choosing the physician till receiving the reports from the hospital.
The company Booking Health takes care of the patient's financial interests and makes treatment abroad real for everyone.
- Our financial specialists control the preliminary and final invoice. Unclaimed sum of money will be refunded on your bank account
- We ensure that clinics will not increase the fixed price of services for international patients
- We control the process of examination and treatment, that is why there will be no unnecessary expensive procedures
- We select specialized institutions for each case, that is why the treatment will be effective and will pass with minimal risk of complications
- Even in complex cases there will be no additional costs, we provide insurance against complications with coverage of 200,000 euros
With the help of the company Booking Health treatment in Germany will be comfortable, it will bring the desired result and will be inexpensive. To contact us you can leave a request on the official web-site of our company.
Choose treatment abroad and you will for sure get the best results!
Authors:
This article was edited by medical experts, board-certified doctors Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova, and Dr. Bohdan Mykhalniuk. For the treatment of the conditions referred to in the article, you must consult a doctor; the information in the article is not intended for self-medication!
Our editorial policy, which details our commitment to accuracy and transparency, is available here. Click this link to review our policies.
Sources:
Why Booking Health - questions and answers
How to make right decision when choosing the clinic and specialist
7 reasons to trust to the rating of clinics on the Booking Health portal
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