You do not have to buy a plane ticket to find out whether a Chinese hospital is right for your case. Most international departments handle remote enquiries: you send records, a specialist reviews them, and you get a written opinion and a treatment plan with a price. It costs a fraction of a flight, and it doubles as your evidence file when comparing hospitals. Here is how the process works and where it stops.
What a remote consultation can and cannot do
✓Realistic
- A specialist reviews your existing records and imaging
- You receive a written preliminary opinion and proposed treatment plan
- You receive an itemised cost estimate tied to that plan
- You learn whether your case is accepted at all — some complex cases get referred elsewhere, which is itself valuable information
×Not realistic
- A definitive diagnosis — no responsible doctor issues one without examining you
- “Guaranteed outcome” statements for any treatment
- Emergency or rapidly evolving conditions — those need local care, immediately
- A binding fixed final price — remote estimates are estimates; the in-person assessment can change the plan
How to run one, step by step
- Shortlist two or three hospitals using our hospital and tier guides — the same verification you would do before a deposit.
- Prepare your records pack: recent imaging (on disc or in DICOM/electronic form), lab reports, discharge summaries, and current medication list. Have them translated if they are not in English or Chinese — our records guide covers the options.
- Email the international department with a short case summary, the records pack, and three explicit asks: a preliminary opinion, a proposed treatment plan, and an itemised estimate.
- Compare the replies side by side — not only on price, but on whether they answer your actual questions, name the doctor, and state what would change the plan.
- Use the best reply to pressure-test the others: a hospital that cannot match the clarity of a competitor’s written plan is telling you something about your future in-person experience.
Fees for remote opinions
Some international departments review records without charge to attract patients; others charge a consultation fee. There is no published national schedule for this, so we publish no numbers — simply ask in your first email: “Is there a fee for a remote second opinion, and what does it include?” A fee is not a red flag; an undisclosed one is.
Getting your records ready?
Translation and documentation options are in the records guide: