Medical Travel Services
and Planning
Throughout this site we recommend repeatedly to not take any aspects of medical travel lightly. In this section, we offer a list of services arranged in the logical sequence of the various stages. We also give you information about service providers both in the United States and in Mexico that will be a huge help as you put together your travel project.
For practical matters, we’ve divided the various components of a complete medical travel package into three general sections:
- Preliminary planning and services
- Services during the medical travel
- Post-hospitalization services
We suggest you investigate all the details involved with medical travel in advance, even though you won’t need some services until the end. We find it’s best to always book everything before you leave home.
Although it’s not necessary to deal with the different stages all at once, doing so is better for everyone involved because it helps avoid price changes and problems that could arise in the event the patient is diagnosed with a new medical condition or complication that changes the conditions of the surgery.
Just imagine that you get a proposal for your medical travel package today, but you postpone it four or five months and during that time the prices go up, or you gain weight and can’t be cleared for surgery until you lose the weight.
Now we’ll explain each stage, one by one:
Preliminary planning and services
1. Medical travel destination:
- Choosing the destination city
- Picking the hospital
- Selecting the surgery
Remember to make your selections based on practical reasons, putting your safety above the leisure part of your package. It’s strongly recommended to choose general hospitals over small clinics, and metropolitan areas over beach destinations (or really small cities).
2. Send all required medical information to the surgeon and their team:
- Medical files (the radiography images, exam results, photos, etc., that are necessary for your type of surgery)
- Fill out and send the medical forms (authorizations, medical history and expectations).
- For a relatively small amount of money, you can take your medical files to a copy center and convert them into digital form.
- It’s strongly advised not to omit any type of information about your current state of health. Remember: the doctors and other professionals are there to help you and take care of you. No one’s going to judge you because of some prior clinical treatment you had, or for your bad habits. Giving true and exact information contributes to the success of your medical travel and makes everything easy and simple.
3. Wait for the proposals.
- Hospital price quote
- Doctor and medical team quote
This is the main reason you’re considering all this, right? So, carefully review what the hospitals and doctors are offering; compare it to what you can get in the United States and don’t hesitate to ask for clarifications regarding any information you’re unsure about in the proposals.
4. Payments and financing.
Although medical travel offers you the opportunity to obtain an affordable surgery, you still have to think about how you’re going to pay for all the costs involved with medical travel. The last thing you want is for your credit cards to be rejected just as you’re settling your account at the hospital or checking out of your hotel.
Some insurance plans are reportedly starting to consider covering surgeries abroad. Investigate to see if yours is one of them.
5. Visas and vaccinations.
Some countries that offer medical travel services require you to obtain a visa. For practical purposes, though, you might find it easier to choose a destination that
doesn’t have this requisite.
Mexico does not require a VISA for Americans.
Apart from visas, you’ll need to verify whether the destination you’re going to for your medical travel requires any vaccinations.
Mexico is free of any type of exotic diseases that require some type of vaccination. In metropolitan zones, such as Guadalajara, this is especially true. The sanitary management of potable water and drainage is ranked first world, so there’s no risk of cross contamination.
6. Setting the surgery date.
Once you’ve done your homework (and only when you have checked off all the previous steps) you need to request a minimum of two surgery dates, at least three to five days apart to you give yourself some flexibility in case your preferred flight or hotel isn’t available on the days you want them. Once you confirm availability for the flight and hotel, don’t forget to confirm the definitive date for the surgery.
Services during the medical travel Only when you’ve passed through all the previous steps and have covered all the details, do we suggest that you continue here with the following steps:
1. Buy the plane tickets.
Practically all American airlines have flights to the principal cities in Mexico, especially Guadalajara.
2. Reserve your hotel room.
Verify that the hotel is as close as possible to the hospital that you’ve chosen.
3. Get traveler’s insurance.
It’s always a good idea to get some kind of insurance coverage for unexpected situations such as flight cancellations, lost luggage, accidents that don’t have anything to do with medical travel, etc.
4. Set up your means of communication (cell phones and phone cards).
Check in advance to see what rates your cell phone company charges to make calls to your family from the country you’ll be in. If necessary, modify your plan before you leave to avoid excessive roaming charges.
It’s also recommended to get a pre-paid phone card that allows you to make international calls at reasonable rates.
5. Ground transportation (for before and after the surgery).
Even though regular taxi service is reliable, it’s best to request private taxis because regular taxis drivers might be tempted to overcharge you for the simple fact that you’re a tourist.
Post-hospitalization services. This part is very important. While you won’t need some of these services until after the surgery, it’s best to deal with them before you even leave home.
1. Buy special compression footwear or clothing.
Important: Ask if you’re going to need some type of compression footwear or clothing after the surgery. If so, it’s better make your purchases in the United States before you leave. There are lots stores dedicated to this type of clothing and the staff will be able to recommend the best items for your paraticular case.
Mexico also has stores that offer top quality post-surgery accessories, but the sizes are different so you’ll have to figure out the equivalent in order to find what you need.
2. Wheelchair or walker, if your surgery requires it.
It’s necessary to arrange for these items beforehand. You can either ask the hospital to provide wheelchair service to you, or have them put you in touch with a company that will rent you one.
Crutches or walkers likely won’t be available to rent, but will be available to buy at very reasonable prices.
Important: This detail is crucial. It’s unwise to try to arrange this service the day they release you from the hospital.
3. Personal nurse.
This is another important matter: ascertain from your doctor if you’ll need to have a nurse take care of you the first few days after your operation.
In Mexico, 24-hour nurse care isn’t very expensive, so it can really be worthwhile to have this extra support for at least the first two to three days of your recuperation before returning home.
4. Back home.
Although it can be easy to overlook, it’s a good plan to have someone pick you up at the airport when you return to help you get home, unload your luggage, help you up any stairs, etc.
Of course, the excitement from your medical travel can be so overwhelming that you forget to make some adjustments to your home for your convalescence.
We know of a person who after returning home from his medical travel, had to stay in a hotel for five days because he couldn’t go up or down the stairs in his home. On top of that, he lived alone and his two bathrooms had tubs that he couldn’t get into.
That scenario might seem kind of funny, but these details can really put a damper on your medical travel experience if you don’t take care of them in advance.
We sincerely hope this information has helped you make your decision. If you think you need more concrete information about your particular situation, we ask you to fill out our information form and request a preliminary proposal for your case.
We guarantee that your information won’t be used for any other purposes outside of the objectives of this site.
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