Online Consultation – Treatment by the Leading German Doctors Without Going Abroad
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Currently, it is recommended to limit visits to clinics on planned medical issues (for example, chronic diseases, aesthetic problems, preparation for surgical interventions). That is why, Booking Health offers patients the opportunity to receive treatment recommendations from the best European specialists, without leaving their home. We make health care easier and safer.
Content
- The types of online consultations
- When can online medical consultation be helpful?
- Preparing for a medical consultation
- How will a medical consultation proceed?
- Leading European specialists
- Remote consultations in oncological pathologies
- Additional benefits of the remote medical consultation
The types of online consultations
The cost of the Booking Health consultation packages and services depends on the format of the medical consultation and its content. A written medical consultation without personal communication with a professor is the most budget option, the cost of which is 800 €. As a result, you will get detailed answers to all your questions in writing. The recommendations will be written on official letterhead, with translation into your native language.
The medical consultation with personal communication via Skype or another video communication channel allows you to ask your questions directly to the professor. At the same time, the German doctor will study the results of your diagnostic examinations in advance. During the video link, he will conduct a medical examination and ask additional questions. The face-to-face diagnostic examination by video link allows the professor to better assess the condition of the musculoskeletal system, and skin, identify specific developmental stigmas, etc. The cost of the medical consultation via Skype is 1,500 €.
Medical supervision for 1 month involves accompaniment in severe diseases, when recovery takes several weeks. The professor is in touch with you; responds to changes in your health; and diagnostic test results, and makes adjustments to drug treatment. The cost of medical supervision for 1 month is 3,700 €. If during treatment you need more than 1 medical consultation with the doctor, then this option will be more beneficial for you.
The option "Family doctor for 1 year" involves prophylactic observation or treatment of chronic disease for 1 year. You can contact the professor on various issues up to 4 times a year. If necessary, specialists from related fields (up to 3 additional medical consultants) can be involved in the medical consultation. The cost of observation by the leading specialist for 1 year is 5,400 €.
The option "Family doctor for 1 year" allows the medical observation of 3 family members for 1 year. This includes 3 detailed consultations on video communications, all subsequent requests, and medical consultations of 3 related specialists (with the possibility of holding a board of German doctors). The cost of monitoring 3 family members during the year is 8,700 €.
Please fill in the form on the right of this page, and the managers of the Patient Case Department at Booking Health will contact you within 24 hours to select and arrange the most suitable option for the remote medical consultation for you.
When can online medical consultation be helpful?
Online medical consultation can effectively solve a number of issues and improve the quality of medical care. The main tasks of this type of consultation include:
- Second opinion for complex or controversial diagnostic cases. In a number of clinical situations, an accurate diagnosis can be established only by a highly specialized expert who has experience with a rare pathology (for example, genetic syndromes, lysosomal storage diseases, myopathies, etc.). Also, a second opinion is of great value when choosing a treatment regimen; for example, a course of chemotherapy, a combined treatment of autoimmune diseases, etc.
- Independent or expert evaluation of MRI, CT scans, angiograms, and functional studies with detailed recommendations on the need for treatment and its optimal method. The E-doc system allows the doctor to evaluate studies to the nearest tenth of a millimeter. This is especially important when planning stereotactic interventions on the brain, stenting of coronary, and cerebral vessels, minimally invasive catheter interventions on the heart valves, etc. If the patient's condition allows delaying invasive treatment, the German doctor recommends pathogenetic treatment and the timing of follow-up examinations in dynamics.
- Independent evaluation of indications for surgery. European experts prefer conservative or minimally invasive therapeutic methods. Due to the effectiveness of conservative treatment, the list of indications for surgical interventions in European countries is relatively small. In some cases, online medical consultation makes it possible to replace the operation recommended at home with a more sparing and cost-effective conservative treatment.
- Online outpatient support for patients with chronic pathologies and oncology. Of course, it is more optimal to prescribe starting therapy for chronic diseases within a medical facility. As for the correction of the treatment regimen, according to the results of follow-up tests, it can be done remotely. The electronic medical history represents the dynamics of laboratory parameters and past changes in the dosages of medicines. Online outpatient support can be provided to patients with diabetes mellitus and hypothyroidism, inflammatory bowel disease, obstructive pulmonary disease, autoimmune pathologies, and other conditions.
- Prescription of drug treatment, prescription of innovative medicines, and assistance in their buying. The online medical consultation of European specialists gives patients a chance to start treatment with innovative drugs that did not have time to go through the registration procedure in their home country. Based on the results of the medical consultation, the doctor will make an electronic prescription, while the Booking Health employees will assist in buying and forwarding medicines.
- Online presence of world experts during operations as consultants. The operating rooms equipped with high-resolution optical systems allow attracting world-renowned doctors to surgical interventions as well. In the operating field, indicators of life support systems, and imaging systems (CT, MRI) are displayed in great detail on a specialist's monitor. This allows for monitoring the progress of the operation and giving recommendations to surgeons instead of personal coming for treatment in Germany.
In those clinical situations where online communication is not able to completely solve the problem, the doctor gives detailed recommendations for maintenance or symptomatic therapy, and determines the optimal further therapeutic tactics.
Advantages of online consultation:
- Opportunity to get an independent second opinion.
- Consultation with a specialized doctor in Germany, Turkey, etc.
- Opportunity to get recommendations from a TOP oncologist, cardiologist, etc.
- Comfort and convenience.
- Cost and time savings.
Preparing for a medical consultation
The first step to an online medical consultation with the necessary doctor is to fill in a form that will include your contact details and basic medical information. You can fill in the form in the lower right corner of the page. If you know which specialist or clinic you want to contact, our website offers an option of sending a request for medical consultation by selecting the desired clinic and doctor in the website menu. The button "Online medical consultation" is available on the web pages of those clinics that provide this service (more than 250 leading clinics in Germany, Turkey, and other countries).
If you are not sure which of the many specialists is best to contact, then a preliminary consultation with Booking Health will help you. Based on objective international statistics and personal success rates of clinical practice, the consultant will give advice on choosing the best specialist for your problem. If necessary, they will recommend a basic medical examination at home. For example, in case of hematologic problems, a fresh complete blood count will be useful. In the case of joint pathology, an x-ray study or an MRI scan will be informative. The preliminary medical examination will make the consultation more effective.
How will a medical consultation proceed?
After choosing a doctor and preparing the necessary medical information, the Booking Health specialists will select the time convenient for you and the clinic. As a rule, world-renowned specialists can devote to remote medical counseling, not more than 3-4 hours a week. Thanks to direct contracts with the clinics, the patients of the Booking Health company have a priority, among others, and get an appointment for medical consultation or treatment in Germany, first of all, without a long wait.
The online medical consultation is the same as in-person: the doctor listens to complaints, studies the results of diagnostic tests, makes an examination, and asks additional questions. It is worth writing down the names and dosages of the medications you are taking, information about previous illnesses, allergic reactions, etc in advance. All this information will make it easier for you to answer the doctor’s questions.
In most cases, communication takes place via Skype or another program with the option of video communication (this depends on the equipment of a particular clinic). Medical consultations are held in a comfortable environment for you, confidentially.
It is important to understand that the E-doc medical document management system used by BookingHealth in its work provides reliable protection of personal data during their transfer between countries. Under the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) of the European Union, the system transmits information to the attending physician in encrypted form, after obtaining the consent of the patient.
Leading European specialists
The maximum number of online medical consultations is provided by world-famous doctors or medical teams of specialized clinics. Both doctors and clinics dedicated to the treatment of a specific pathology regularly demonstrate high rates of success in diagnostics and treatment. Regarding treatment in Germany, these are:
Adult and pediatric neurosurgery
Charite University Hospital Berlin
Surgery, transplantology
University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Urology
Prof. Dr. med. Christian G. Stief
University Hospital of Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
And many others. You can contact any of the specialists represented on the Booking Health portal online.
Remote consultations in oncological pathologies
Cancer treatment requires comprehensive preliminary examination, including laboratory tests, visualizing studies, and biopsy with the subsequent immunohistochemical examination of the harvested material. Based on the received results, German doctors elaborated on individual cancer treatment schemes. Remote consultations allow specifying the list of diagnostic procedures, reviewing their results, and administering treatment, as well as estimating treatment efficacy and adjusting the therapeutic scheme, if necessary.
In most cases, oncologists specialize in the treatment of certain tumors, e.g. stomach cancer, pancreatic cancer, lung cancer, etc. Thus, remote consultations in different oncology types will be somewhat different.
Breast cancer. Diagnosis of breast cancer should be confirmed with a biopsy (needle aspiration, needle biopsy, or vacuum-assisted biopsy) and visualizing studies (CT scan, MRI). Laboratory tests are also important, as they provide an oncologist with information about the activity of hormonal receptors and epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2) in the tumor. During the remote consultation, a doctor goes through the receiving results and gives recommendations on the most suitable surgical interventions (lumpectomy or mastectomy, plastic interventions), radiation therapy (external-beam or Intraoperative radiation therapy, brachytherapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy, proton therapy), chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, targeted therapy, and immunotherapy.
Stomach cancer. In stomach cancer, oncologists recommend undergoing endoscopy and imaging tests (CT scan or PET). The biopsy may be performed during the endoscopy or during the exploratory surgery, with immunohistochemistry and FISH tests for the HER2 gene. Once an oncologist sees the results, he offers one of the following options for stomach cancer therapy: surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy (HER2-targeted, and anti-angiogenesis therapy), and immunotherapy (pembrolizumab). Stomach cancer treatment is always supplemented by symptomatic drugs, including painkillers, digestive enzymes, and vitamins.
Liver cancer. Tests for liver cancer include laboratory tests for liver enzymes and tumor markers (AFP), ultrasound, computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, angiography, bone scan, and biopsy (a needle, laparoscopic or surgical one). Possible therapeutic options include surgical tumor removal with / without the subsequent liver transplant, heating or freezing cancer cells, injecting alcohol or chemotherapeutic agents into the tumor, radiation therapy, immunotherapy, and systemic chemotherapy.
Pancreatic cancer. The volume of the required examinations in pancreatic cancer includes primarily imaging tests, such as CT scan (including the multiphase CT scan and pancreatic protocol CT scan), MRI (including MR cholangiopancreatography and MR angiography), PET, US examination, endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography, tests for tumor markers (CA 19-9, CEA). In pancreatic cancer, biopsy is performed in a limited number of patients, as it is an invasive intervention, and during it, a whole tumor may be removed. Treatment of pancreatic cancer includes surgery (Whipple procedure, distal and total pancreatectomy), radiation therapy (conventional radiation therapy, SBRT, proton beam therapy), chemotherapy, targeted therapy (Erlotinib, Olaparib, Larotrectinib), and immunotherapy (pembrolizumab).
Prostate cancer. For the elaboration of the prostate cancer treatment scheme, a doctor needs to see the results of the PSA blood test, prostate biopsy, genetic tests (BRCA gene mutation), and imaging examinations (TRUS, MRI, CT scan, bone scan). Therapeutic options include watchful waiting, active surveillance, surgery (open, laparoscopic, or robot-assisted prostatectomy, TURP), radiation and radiopharmaceutical therapy, hormone therapy (androgen deprivation therapy), chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and bisphosphonate therapy for improving bones condition.
Lung cancer. Basic diagnostic methods for suspicion for such diagnosis as lung cancer include sputum cytology, imaging tests (CT scan) and biopsy (during bronchoscopy or mediastinoscopy, needle biopsy). Depending on the lung cancer type, the following treatments are considered: surgery (wedge resection, segmental resection, lobectomy, pneumonectomy), radiation therapy (including stereotactic body radiotherapy, chemotherapy, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy. A number of complementary and alternative medicines are also administered in lung cancer.
The cost of remote consultations with oncologists in different countries is as follows (regardless of the diagnosis):
| Country | Average price |
|---|---|
| Oncologists in South Korea | 420 USD |
| Oncologists in Turkey | 440 USD |
| Oncologists in Austria | 500 EUR |
| Oncologists in Spain | 550 EUR |
| Oncologists in Germany | 800 EUR |
| Oncologists in Israel | 950 USD |
Additional benefits of the remote medical consultation
The opportunity to receive detailed recommendations from a doctor without visiting the clinic makes medical care more accessible and comfortable, while personal communication with a world-famous specialist without going abroad significantly increases the effectiveness of treatment. The online medical consultation on the Booking Health international portal offers:
- Speed. If you compare the speed of conducting an in-person appointment at the clinic and the online medical consultation, the online medical consultation is usually held the same week that payment is made, while the waiting time for the in-person appointment is at least 1-3 weeks. Thus, remotely you will receive the medical consultation a few weeks faster, which is especially important in cases of oncology or life-threatening conditions.
- Caring attitude of the doctor towards the patient. You will receive medical care from 2 doctors. These will be a consultant physician from the Booking Health company who helps to choose a foreign specialist and prepare medical documents, as well as a foreign specialist who carefully studies the prepared medical documents before communicating with you.
- Save time and money on flights abroad for treatment in Germany. In addition to saving on accommodation, meals and transfers, this becomes a significant benefit in case of a limited budget.
- Secure online payment for the medical consultations. You do not need to bring a large amount of money to another country or pay fees for converting foreign currency abroad.
- Convenient format for recommendations. You will receive all recommendations in electronic form, while our translators will translate them into a language convenient for you. If necessary, the specialized consultant physicians of the Booking Health company will explain recommendations and answer your additional questions.
- Medical interpreter accompanying during the communication with the doctor. If you speak different languages with your doctor, a medical interpreter will join the consultation.
Booking Health takes care of patients, so it always stays in touch after completing the online medical consultation. If necessary, we can arrange a second medical consultation based on the results of follow-up tests or monitoring in dynamics, while all medical documentation will be stored in a secure electronic medical history. A multidisciplinary team of specialists (for example, gynecologist and urologist, pediatrician and neurologist) can be involved in medical consultation and remote treatment in Germany.
The online medical consultation will also become an excellent preparation for arrival for interventional treatment in Germany or rehabilitation in Germany. You will be able to personally discuss in advance with the doctor the peculiarities of the diagnosis, the benefits, and risks of specific techniques, which will help make the best and most informed choice. European experts attach great importance to the personal contact with the patient, while Booking Health helps organize this contact with patients from 75 countries.
Choose treatment abroad, and you will get the best results for sure!
Authors:
The article was edited by medical experts, board-certified doctors Dr. Nadezhda Ivanisova, Dr. Farrukh Ahmed. 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!
Sources:
IMTJ – International Medical Travel Journal
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