Frequently Asked Questions

Three practical reasons. Capability: China has built serious depth in specific fields — heavy-ion and proton radiotherapy centers, CAR-T cell therapy for blood cancers, and very high surgical volumes in cardiac, orthopedic and cancer surgery. Cost: published hospital fees are a fraction of US billed charges — CAR-T at roughly $150,000–230,000 versus $550,000–850,000 reported in the US, surgery from around $9,000–12,000. Access: international departments give written cost estimates in days, not months of waiting. That said, China is not the right answer for every diagnosis — our free review will tell you honestly if it is not.

Those countries have well-established medical tourism industries, and for many procedures they are valid options. Where China stands apart today is advanced technology: heavy-ion and proton therapy centers and approved CAR-T treatments that most destinations do not offer at comparable scale or price. Where those countries are ahead is English-language service maturity — and that is precisely the gap our interpreters and ground team fill. We are happy to discuss your specific case against more than one destination during the free review.

Our service is built on physical presence: a coordinator who accompanies you to appointments, an interpreter at your bedside, someone who can be at the hospital within hours. Our team and our established hospital relationships are in Guangzhou, Wuhan, Shanghai and Wuwei — so that is where we coordinate. Beijing is China's political center, and its hospital resources tilt toward domestic officialdom rather than international patients; we do not consider it a good option for foreign patients and advise against it, so our team does not place cases there. We do not sell what we cannot personally deliver.

It is the opposite of the US system, and the reason is structural. In China, the best physicians, the most advanced techniques and the newest equipment are concentrated in large public tertiary hospitals — the state system concentrating talent and investment there — while private hospitals focus on dentistry, cosmetology and routine checkups. In the US, the top-known doctors tend to sit in prestigious private hospitals. So for complex treatment in China, public is where the capability is. Most of these public hospitals maintain international patient departments specifically for foreign patients: English-speaking staff, dedicated billing and visa invitation letters. And because we take no money from hospitals, we can say this plainly: we suggest a hospital because it fits your case, not because it pays us.

We are a medical case coordination service for international patients considering treatment in China. We help you understand your options, organize and translate your medical records, communicate with hospitals, request written cost estimates, and coordinate the practical side of your journey — appointments, admission, visas, travel and interpretation. We are not a hospital and we do not provide medical care.

No. We are an independent coordination team, and we take no money from hospitals. We work on your side of the table — helping you compare hospitals and understand quotes. All medical fees are paid by you directly to the hospital, never through us.

No. Our income comes only from the coordination fees listed on our Pricing page, paid by you. We do not take commissions from hospitals, and we do not mark up medical bills. This is deliberate: it keeps our advice aligned with your interests, not a hospital's.

No. We are a non-medical coordination team. We do not diagnose, prescribe or treat, and we do not interfere with clinical decisions — treatment suitability is always determined by qualified physicians at the hospital. What we do is everything around the medicine: records, translation, hospital communication, travel, admission and interpretation.

It depends entirely on your diagnosis and treatment. As reference points from published hospital fees: heart bypass surgery from around $12,000, joint replacement from around $9,000, CAR-T cell therapy from around $170,000 (reported range $150,000–230,000), and carbon-ion radiotherapy with a total commonly in the $35,000–60,000 range. Final costs are always determined by the treating hospital — see our Pricing page for how this works.

The price difference comes from the structure of the health system, not from the medicine: lower labor and operating costs, a lower-cost currency, and no US-style billing chain of insurers and intermediaries between you and the hospital. Public-hospital charges are also regulated rather than market-set. The equipment in the centers we work with — linear accelerators, heavy-ion machines, operating theaters — is the same class used in the US and Europe, and many senior physicians have trained internationally. What we will not do is promise you outcomes: quality varies hospital by hospital, which is exactly why we put everything in writing before you commit.

You pay the hospital directly. Every medical fee — surgery, therapy, ward, medication — goes from you to the hospital. Our coordination fees are separate, fixed, and published on the Pricing page before you commit to anything.

No. Our full fee list is published: case review is free, our coordination fees are fixed ($2,000 case processing; $3,500–6,500 depending on coordination complexity). Interpreter accompaniment is included throughout your hospital treatment plan, with no cap on days or consultations. Hospital charges are set by the hospital, in writing, before you travel.

Six steps: 1) you send us your basic information and questions — a free review, where we honestly confirm whether China is a realistic fit; 2) an optional but strongly recommended second opinion, where a senior specialist at a partner hospital gives a written clinical opinion on your case; 3) we help organize and translate your medical records; 4) we place your case with the center best suited to your condition and bring back its costs in writing; 5) we coordinate travel, visa documents and admission; 6) we support you on the ground during treatment and after you return home. See the How It Works page for details.

Hospitals typically ask for: your biopsy/pathology report, imaging (PET-CT, contrast-enhanced CT or MRI — DICOM files plus the radiology reports), previous treatment records, and recent blood test results. Large files can be shared as a Google Drive or any other online drive link. We will tell you exactly what is needed for your case.

Initial written reviews commonly come back within 3–5 working days once records are complete, and a second opinion is delivered within 3–5 working days of payment. Written cost estimates and a concrete admission plan usually take one to two weeks depending on the department. We give you a realistic timeline for your specific case before you commit to anything.

This is the situation we most often work with. Different countries have different approved treatments, different clinical thresholds and wildly different prices — a case turned away at home is sometimes routine at a center in China, and a treatment priced out of reach at home may cost a fraction here. Send us your records for the free review: we will tell you honestly whether a Chinese center offers a realistic option for your specific case — and if the answer is no, we will say so.

You can still write to us. Describe your situation and what you know so far; the free review will point you to the right department, and we will tell you which tests and records the hospital will need first. For patients who mainly need a thorough check, our partner hospitals also offer full health screening programs — see Treatments.

Most treatment stays use an M visa with the hospital's official medical invitation letter, which we help coordinate. The hospital issues it once the treatment plan is confirmed and your deposit has been paid — usually within 5–7 working days, and typically within 3 working days through our own handling. If a visa is refused, prepayments to the hospital are refunded in full and our Treatment Coordination fee is refunded in full as well; we have not yet had such a case. Many nationalities can also enter visa-free or use transit visa-free entry for short consultations; we will confirm the best route for your nationality.

Yes. An interpreter is included with our on-the-ground coordination — at appointments, at the hospital and for daily practical matters. Hospital international departments work in English, but they generally do not have Russian-speaking staff; if you prefer Russian, we arrange a Russian interpreter so nothing is lost in translation.

Surgery cases typically stay 2–3 weeks including recovery before flying. Radiotherapy courses such as carbon-ion treatment usually require 4–7 weeks of continuous treatment. Your written quote will confirm the expected duration for your case.

Hospitals provide an English discharge summary and itemized billing statement. We remain reachable for follow-up questions, and if you need a review visit or a medication refill we coordinate it — one flat $750 per trip, covering the round trip, the doctor's appointment and an interpreter. Medication and any treatment you receive are paid by you directly to the hospital; we charge nothing beyond the $750. If further treatment is ever needed, repeat coordination is charged at half the original coordination fee.

The written estimate from the treating hospital is the basis everything is planned on. If your clinical situation changes during treatment — a different surgical finding, an adjusted therapy plan — the hospital issues a new written estimate before the additional treatment happens, and nothing proceeds without your approval. What never happens is a surprise bill at discharge. The full terms are in our Terms & Conditions.

Our complete refund rules are published on the Pricing page, covering visa refusal, medical refusal on arrival and cancellation by you. In short: money paid to the hospital for treatment that never took place is refunded by the hospital, and we help you obtain it; money paid to us follows the published table. And because your medical fees never pass through our hands, no failure on our side can ever put your treatment money at risk.

Your records are shared only with the hospitals you have approved for your case — never with anyone else, and never for marketing. We collect only what the hospitals genuinely need to assess your case, and you can ask us to delete your information at any time. The full policy is in our Privacy Policy.