How to get medical treatment without being cheated
Israel’s health care has been known and praised worldwide due to the enormous experience of the local physicians. Getting medical treatments in Israel is an undoubtedly wise decision but some insincere dealers may spoil the good reputation of Israel’s health care. The Internet is full of attractive offers and not all of them are made by professional medical companies. The leading specialists of The Israel Association for Medical Tourism have decided to help foreign citizens get proper medical treatments in Israel without falling victim to crooks.
Opinion 1
Michael Chigirinsky, Business Director of Top Clinics, suggests foreign citizens should be aware of mediators. “We have recently heard of many incidents when trustful patients were cheated by medical service agents.
Recommendations
- Mediators are often agents without any medical education who provide various logistics services to foreign patients. Their income is based on commission and in the good case they would charge a fraction of what the patient paid in Israel. In the worst case they would overcharge the client and leave him helpless and penniless.
- In recent years appeared a number of pseudo-medical centres which offer their services to foreign citizens. At the first glance, they seem trustworthy but in fact their activities may harm the client. If you don’t want to fall victim to crooks, pay attention to the office of the medical centre and to the quality of the medical translation it provides. The pseudo-centres can be recognised by their websites which offer medical treatments in a number of Israeli clinics.
Opinion 2
Managing Director of Sapir Medical Clinic Mark Catznelson believes the foreign citizen who plans a treatment in Israel should do a market survey. It is appropriate to ask people who went through treatments in Israel about the quality of service they received. In the case of health care, word-of-mouth is important.
Recommendations
- If you cannot find people who have experience of dealing with an Israeli medical company it is a good idea to look for information in social networks. It is best to rely on video testimonials of people and not only on written opinions.
- It is worthwhile checking the websites of companies and see what people write about the various clinics.
- Please pay attention to the address and phone numbers of the company. Very often mediators don’t rent offices and publish their mobile phones.
- It is important to see what hospitals the companies represent. Beware of agents who hide behind “hospital” websites and publish private mobile phones.
- If you are in the process of negotiations with a company please ask for the details of a person who received its services and can advise on their quality.
- Analyse the treatment plan the company sends you. Please check who composed it and whether your query had been studied properly.
Opinion 3
Senior doctor, Founder of Lev Israel Clinics Victor Levi suggests foreign citizens ensure they deal with a medical organisation. A truly medical company employs a specialist who has 10-year experience in the Israeli health care system and can guide the patient in a professional way. Managers and other employees may take care of logistics but the foreign patient should have a doctor who can advise on his treatment in Israel. In this way the patient will get more efficient service and save money.
Recommendations
- Do not transfer advance payments before arrival in Israel. In decent companies the client pays in cash, by credit card or by transaction, when he is in Israel.
- Make sure the company you work with employs a medical doctor who will accompany the process of your treatment. The doctor should have an Israeli licence. In this case he will be cautious about his reputation.
- Beware of empty promises, such as: “Come, we can cure all diseases.” Some people feel helpless in the face of medical problems and fall victim to insincere mediators who promise miracles. In these cases suffer the patients and the image of Israel’s health care abroad.