We have put together step-by-step instructions for our patients and published them in the section How It Works

Please send us current (no older than 3-4 months) extracts from your medical records in German or English (if you do not have them, you can order medical translation services from us), diagnostic reports and images (X-ray, ultrasound, MRI, CT, PET-CT, etc.). The records must contain information on the main and concomitant diseases, an interim summary of your case, details of the diagnostics and treatment already carried out, and your current drug therapy.

A scan of the valid passport of the patient and of the accompanying person, a scan of the national identity document showing the registered address of the patient or of their legal representative, information on convenient travel dates and on any Schengen visas you already hold.

If you already hold a valid tourist Schengen visa covering the whole period of the planned examination and/or treatment, there is no need to apply for a separate medical Schengen visa. If neither you nor your accompanying person holds a tourist visa, then, once the estimate for the medical services has been paid in full (100%), the clinic you have chosen issues an invitation for treatment for you, and an invitation for each of your companions to accompany you for treatment. In particularly urgent cases our company petitions the German consular authorities in your country of residence for the visas to be issued without delay.

German medical institutions work with international patients only on the basis of 100% advance payment of the preliminary cost of the clinic's medical and administrative services. If you hold a valid Schengen visa, you may pay for the treatment in cash at the clinic's cash desk on the day of your first appointment.

Only a limited number of German clinics accept credit cards issued outside the EU. Please make sure you have the necessary amount in cash, or use cashless payment for your treatment.

Once we have received all the documents needed to prepare a request for diagnostics and treatment, and once the patient has paid the service fee for our information and consulting services, we inform the patient of the approximate cost of the examination and/or treatment, the name and description of the clinic, and the qualifications and name of the treating physician. If the patient accepts our proposal, we conclude an agreement on arranging the patient's trip for treatment, naming the specific clinic and  the specific doctor, and issue an invoice for the organisational services and medical management provided by our company.

Please do not worry. We will certainly help your family enter Germany for treatment on any Schengen tourist or business visa.

We recommend arriving in the city where the clinic is located on the day before your first appointment, so that train delays, motorway traffic jams, changes to flight schedules caused by the weather or strikes by transport staff do not get in the way.

You sign the contract for medical services directly with the clinic on the day of admission, and only in the case of inpatient diagnostics and/or treatment. When signing this contract you may choose to use the services of the head of the department or decline them, and you may also choose the type of room and accommodation. For outpatient diagnostics you sign a consent to treatment by the clinic's chief physician (or their deputy) and an agreement to their medical fee rate.

One of the most important principles behind the organisation of healthcare in Germany is  the principle of subsidiarity, or decentralisation. This organisational and legal principle means that medical services of the very highest quality are delivered at the most local level possible, far from the federal and state capitals, that is, where they are most effective. This is why the best specialists may well work outside the major capitals. When selecting a clinic and its specialists, we are guided first and foremost by the quality of the medical care. Accommodation, meals and interpreter services outside the capitals will also cost you far less.

Hospitals in Germany belong to a wide range of  public,  charitable, religious and private commercial organisations, which are responsible for their direct  management. The cost of services is exactly the same for patients at every type of clinic, because a single pricing system applies throughout the country. Outpatient care  is provided mainly in the practices of private primary-care physicians and of specialists licensed to deliver medical care outside hospitals.

If you wish, a relative or a friend may travel with you for diagnostics and treatment. A minor patient may be accompanied by two adults, as well as by minor siblings. We provide them with visa support free of charge. When a minor child is hospitalised, one parent stays in the room with the child on a separate bed and is provided with three meals a day. When an adult patient is hospitalised, the accompanying person may, where possible, stay in the same private room with full board.

Yes, you may state your preference as to the room you would like — a single room or a twin room (shared with another patient),  or a twin room with or without your accompanying person. When a department is extremely busy, it is sometimes not possible to allocate a private room to a patient and accommodate the accompanying person at the clinic; in that case you will be given a twin room shared with another patient of the same sex.

During all major examinations and consultations the patient is accompanied by  a certified medical interpreter. Doctors and nursing staff speak English. In emergencies the interpreter will come to the clinic or contact its staff by telephone.

Where possible, one accompanying person may stay with you in your room with full board, or stay in a hotel, in apartments or in a rented flat.

Your stay at the clinic depends entirely on the extent of the inpatient diagnostics, the complexity of the treatment or operation and the individual characteristics of your body. If the diagnostics and/or treatment do not require hospitalisation, they are carried out on an outpatient basis.

Certainly. It is your choice; German doctors never force anything on anyone and never impose any treatment. You can resume your treatment in Germany at any time. However, in the case of serious, long-term treatment it is wiser to decide where you want to be treated, in Germany or at home. This is a matter of continuity of care, of responsibility and trust in your doctor, of the quality and  uniqueness  of the medical services and medicines, and of the  differences between the treatment protocols used for the same conditions in Germany and in your home country.

Certainly. The staff of the clinics, like the staff of msp group germany  guarantee that your private and medical information will be treated with respect and in confidence; at your request it will not be disclosed to third parties, including your spouse, partner, parents or children, or any other relatives.

You can pass the translation of the medical report to your treating physician, who can consult German colleagues directly or through msp group germany as an intermediary. In addition, you can come to Germany for follow-up examinations or to continue your treatment.

The final settlement is prepared by the international department once treatment is complete, after the accounts department has received the medical invoices from every clinic unit and external laboratory involved in the treatment. Preparing the final settlement takes up to 8 weeks. If the actual cost of treatment proves lower than the prepayment, the remaining amount is refunded in cash at the cash desk or transferred to the patient's bank account. In some cases, in particular if expenses not foreseen in the estimate arise during treatment, an additional payment may be required at the final settlement. At some medical institutions, an outpatient appointment is settled on the day of the appointment.

Yes, it can. The cost may, however, either increase or decrease. As a rule, the estimate issued by the clinic for diagnostics and/or treatment contains a warning that the estimated cost and duration of treatment are preliminary, because they are calculated on the basis of the medical information provided, which is often incomplete and not always reliable.

Once the diagnostics and treatment are complete, you will be given medical reports in German or English containing your medical history, the complaints you presented with, the results of all examinations and consultations carried out, and details of the treatment given, for example surgery, together with recommendations for further treatment and follow-up, the  operation report and a CD with the MRI, CT and PET-CT images.

We will do everything possible to help you travel for diagnostics and treatment sooner, especially in urgent situations, including petitioning the consular departments for the expedited issue of a treatment visa for you and of an accompanying-person visa for the person travelling with you.

It is difficult to give a definite answer to this question in advance. Establishing an accurate diagnosis and prescribing appropriate treatment often requires differential (clarifying) diagnostics and an interdisciplinary approach to examining the patient. It is therefore better to book flights with a flexible return date, or not to book the return flight in advance at all.

In Germany, cancer is treated in specialised clinics or in the departments of multidisciplinary hospitals: gastrointestinal cancers are treated in gastroenterology clinics, urological cancers in urology and nephrology clinics, and gynaecological cancers in gynaecology clinics. Germany has a carefully designed system of psychosocial support for patients with all types of cancer: unlike in other countries, they are not sent to oncology centres where patients feel as though they were in a leper colony. In Germany, cancer patients are treated alongside all other patients, which strengthens their confidence that they can overcome their illness.