Checklist
Be cautious of any medical travel facilitator that promises results, will not name the hospital or doctor, hides how it is paid, pressures you to pay quickly or offers to speed up a visa. A trustworthy facilitator tells you who treats you, lets you check accreditation and registration yourself and explains its fees in writing.
A facilitator can make a medical trip easier. Coordination, translation and local support are valuable. But you are trusting them with your health information, your money and your safety. CDC advises medical travellers to check the qualifications of the clinicians and the accreditation of the facility themselves. The Indian e-Visa portal warns applicants against agents who promise faster processing. Use these warning signs to test any facilitator, including IndiaMedica.
Red flags about medical claims
- Promises of a specific result or outcome.
- Outcome figures quoted without a clear, checkable source.
- A treatment plan offered before any specialist has seen your reports.
- Pressure to choose a procedure your own doctor has advised against, without a clear medical reason.
- Claims that a hospital is ‘the number one’ without evidence.
- Advice about medicines or treatment from non-clinical staff.
Red flags about transparency
- Refusal to name the hospital or treating doctor until you pay.
- No clear answer about how the facilitator is paid.
- An estimate on the facilitator’s letterhead instead of the hospital’s.
- Requests to pay the facilitator rather than the hospital for medical costs, without a written reason.
- No physical address, company details or named staff.
- Reluctance to let you contact the hospital directly.
Red flags about law and documents
- Offers to speed up an e-Visa or to apply on a visa type that does not match your purpose.
- Suggestions to enter India on a tourist visa for planned treatment.
- Any offer to find or arrange an organ donor for you.
- Advice to leave out or change information on a visa form or hospital record.
- Requests to send passport copies or reports over insecure channels without explanation.
Red flags about pressure and privacy
- Deadlines to pay a deposit before you have had time to think.
- Discounts that expire within hours.
- Discouraging you from telling your doctor at home.
- No privacy notice explaining how your health data is used and shared.
- Sharing your reports with many hospitals without asking you first.
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What should a good facilitator do?
A good facilitator names the hospital and the specialist. It sends the hospital’s own written estimate. It explains in writing how it is paid. It lets you check NABH or JCI status and the doctor’s registration on the Indian Medical Register yourself. It asks before sharing your reports and tells you who will see them.
How IndiaMedica is paid
IndiaMedica’s case review is free. Partner hospitals pay us a referral fee, which we disclose, and it never changes the price you pay the hospital. We do not source organ donors and we do not give medical advice.
Questions people ask
Is it a red flag if a facilitator is paid by hospitals?
Not in itself. Many facilitators are paid by hospitals. The red flag is when this is hidden or when it changes the price you pay. Ask in writing how the facilitator is paid and whether using them affects the hospital’s price to you.
Can a facilitator get my e-Medical visa faster?
Be wary of anyone who promises this. The Indian e-Visa portal tells applicants to apply on the official site and warns against agents promising quicker processing. A facilitator can help you gather documents, but the applicant fills in and is responsible for the application.
Sources
- CDC – Medical tourism: travel to another country for medical care
- Indian e-Visa portal, Government of India
- National Medical Commission – Indian Medical Register
- NABH – National Accreditation Board for Hospitals & Healthcare Providers
General information, not medical or legal advice. Rules change: confirm with the official source. How we write and check.