Is it feasible to go abroad to see a doctor by yourself? How to operate?

The following will introduce you in detail how to realize self-help in seeing a doctor in Germany without going through a medical intermediary, which is roughly divided into the following steps:

1, collect information and choose a suitable hospital.

If you have a certain foundation in English, you can surf the Internet at home, directly search official website in the corresponding hospital and click International.

Office or international

The patient (international department of the hospital) found the email address of the person in charge in contakt us, and sent a consultation email such as "I am from China and want to go to your hospital for treatment". What materials do I need to provide? "Generally, within 24 hours, I will receive a list of required case materials or a website link email (which must be translated in German or English) to submit the case materials online.

If your English is not very good, it doesn't matter if you can't surf the Internet. You can "get" the contact information of overseas hospitals for free through the existing medical intermediaries, or you can search for "German self-service medical care" online, for example, using the existing Lezhi self-service medical platform, or through some high-end medical intermediaries, such as Shengnuo Family and Hangzhou Wuzhou, whose websites all have more accurate Chinese introductions of German hospitals.

2. Organize the case materials and apply for a medical invitation letter (Terminbestaetigung).

Arrange the data according to the list of case data needed by the hospital. At this time, you can find medical students/doctors in this city to translate medical materials in some local German forums or local Chinese WeChat /qq groups. If you want to save time, you can also translate medical materials through the Lezhi self-service medical platform. The cost is about 2000 yuan to 4000 yuan. The case materials can be translated in about 3 days, and then sent to the German hospital as an email attachment to apply for the estimated treatment plan and estimated treatment cost. The handling efficiency of each hospital in Germany is different, and the handling of events is also related to the complexity of the disease (whether it needs expert consultation from multiple departments, etc.). ). The estimated treatment plan, treatment cycle, estimated cost and prepayment amount can be collected from the International Department of the hospital within 3 days to 10 days.

At present, public hospitals affiliated to individual universities in Germany have begun to charge for the second diagnosis and treatment advice, and patients need to pay an extra 450 to 600 euros to get the estimated treatment plan, treatment cycle and cost estimate issued by the hospital.

If you accept the treatment plan or can bear the treatment cost, you can pay the advance payment to the hospital by international remittance, and you can receive the invitation letter from the hospital within 48 hours at the latest.

Important note: Many medical intermediaries seek cooperation from overseas Chinese private clinics, and the so-called "treatment plan" can be issued soon. First of all, the level of doctors who come up with this "treatment plan" is very different from that of doctors taught in large public hospitals in Germany; Secondly, the cost estimate made by this "treatment plan" is often very different from the actual treatment plan and expected treatment plan when going to a German public hospital for treatment. Therefore, it is necessary to identify the name of the issuing unit of the treatment plan.

3. Apply for a medical visa

This piece is the most troublesome and the simplest. Because the German Embassy in China does not directly accept the patient's visa application, you must submit the materials through an institution called Cizhide Sign (which is introduced in the visa column of the German Embassy), so you only need to contact Cizhide Sign (all in Chinese) and prepare the materials as required. The first application requires on-site fingerprint collection, which can be completed without face-to-face signing, and it costs about several hundred yuan per person.

4. Book overseas accommodation, pick up and drop off the plane, accompanied by a medical interpreter.

Three ways to book overseas accommodation:

The first is to release the rental demand through forums and qq groups. There are many Chinese forums in Germany, such as Ju Ping and Kaiyuan. Or search the local Chinese qq group or WeChat group on qq and post the rental information in the group, which is low in cost but inefficient. There is little difference in the rent prices in the core cities of Germany, mainly depending on the geographical location. The monthly rent for one bedroom and one living room (2 Zimmer Wohnung) is 500 euros to 800 euros, and that for two bedrooms and one living room (3 Zimmer Wohnung) is 800 euros to 1300 euros. There is a separate kitchen and bathroom for cooking. If you have enough time, you can consider this method.

The second is to book overseas accommodation through professional rental platforms such as airbnb and Ctrip. The advantage is that the housing is more reliable, but the disadvantage is that it belongs to the hotel category in short rent, starting at 40 Euros to 80 Euros per day. Although there is a discount for weekly or monthly payment, the rental cost is still high.

The third is to make appointments through some reliable self-service medical platforms, such as Lezhi Global Self-service Medical Platform and Yimei Health, which have their own local service teams and long-term rental partners in Germany, so the rent is relatively moderate. You need to consult their customer service for details.

About three ways to book a pick-up:

The first is to find the hitchhiking service personnel through forums and qq groups. In German Chinese forums, people in Chinese qq group or WeChat group often post small advertisements for pick-up and drop-off. The price is moderate, generally around 200 euros, but you must carefully screen according to the evaluation before making a decision to avoid economic losses.

The second is to make an appointment through third-party service platforms such as Ctrip and Lezhi Global Self-help Medical Platform. Advantages: safety and service are guaranteed, and the price is low. Generally, it is about 800 yuan for family cars, and only 1.500 yuan for business luxury cars or large cars.

The third way is to book through a medical intermediary. The advantage is that the service is very good, but the corresponding service price is slightly higher (generally from 200 euros), and many of them need to be packaged for consumption (local turnkey service agreements must be signed), which infringes on consumers' right to choose independently.

Three ways to make an appointment to accompany medical interpreters;

The first way is to publish the demand for medical interpreters through forums and qq groups. Many German/English-speaking foreign students find part-time jobs in this way. The advantage is that the service price is low, which is the first choice for working-class patients, but many of them are non-medical students with different levels, so we must make a decision after careful screening.

The second is to make an appointment through a third-party free service platform such as Lezhi self-service medical platform. The platform does not charge any fees for patients and medical translators, and the service personnel accessing the platform will undergo strict interview and written examination screening, thus ensuring the low price and professionalism of services.

The third way is to book through a medical intermediary. The advantage is that the service is very good, but the corresponding service price is slightly higher (generally 2 to 3 times), and many of them need to be packaged (local turnkey service agreement must be signed).

Remarks: There are three important tips about accompanying medical translators.

First, medical translation must have a clinical medical background (for example, a medical undergraduate has studied for at least 3 years, and a doctor of medicine is studying or working as a doctor). Many medical professional terms and vocabulary are different from those used in daily life, and it is difficult to translate them accurately even for German majors. The blunt translation of non-medical terms will affect the communication with German doctors. If German doctors feel that communication is not smooth, they usually only treat without explanation, which will have a certain impact on the treatment results, and patients will often be confused about what they know, but they don't know why.

Second, although the accompanying reading price of medical translation varies from person to person, there is a market price range. For example, the hourly salary of non-medical students is 10 to 15, that of medical undergraduates is 15 to 25, that of medical doctoral students is 20 to 30, and that of on-the-job doctors is 60 to/kloc.

Third, the work of medical translation escort (whether medical students or doctors) is generally only responsible for medical translation and interpretation, and cannot give treatment suggestions or provide treatment plans. I hope patients can understand.