Important legal contracts for medical tourism facilitators
Medical tourism companies are necessary for patients looking to receive affordable and safe healthcare abroad. As such, high-quality patient care is a priority from all ends – the healthcare providers, medical tourism companies, and the patient. However, mistakes can happen and may result in patients suing if they don’t get their desired outcome.
It’s crucial that you protect your medical tourism business from any possible lawsuits. Legal issues in medical tourism can be handled in numerous ways, but the best method is to always ensure that you have all the necessary contracts in place. These contractual agreements not only protect your business but also help your clients understand the benefits and risks associated with traveling for healthcare.
Pre-screening prospective clients
Before working with a patient, you need to send them a medical history form to collect all the information you need before taking the person on as a client. The form will provide a detailed health profile of the patient, including their medical history, previous surgeries, and medications they’re taking.
It’ll help you determine if you want to accept the patient as a client in the first place. It’s a great way to find out if a patient may be high-risk or needs a physical examination before the medical trip. This will also help protect your company from the risk of legal action.
Create a solid medical tourism contract between the facilitator and doctor
A contract between yourself as the medical tourism facilitator and the healthcare provider doing the procedure is essential. In your agreement with the healthcare provider, you can state all your expectations when you send patients to them.
You want your patient to only work with doctors of the highest standard. Ideally, the healthcare facility should have someone on staff that speaks the patient’s native language as well. These key things will ensure that your patient has a better experience. They’ll also be able to voice their opinions and concerns comfortably. That’ll go a long way in mitigating risk for your company.
The facilitator-doctor contract will also include things such as the fees you’ll be paid, when those fees will be issued to you, and what you expect from the hospital.
Ensure you have a patient waiver agreement
This contract is especially important because it acknowledges that the patient understands the risks and benefits associated with medical tourism. Through the waiver agreement, they also accept responsibility for their health.
The patient waiver also helps prevent you from getting sued down the road if a patient is unsatisfied with the results of their procedure. Patients can still try to sue, but the agreement will address that and help you avoid that situation.
Related Article: EVERYTHING You Need To Know About Medical Tourism Contracts (VIDEO)
Include a ‘governing law’ clause in your medical tourism contract
Medical tourism is a business of multi-national interactions. The three primary parties involved – the medical travel agent, doctor, and patient – could be from three different parts of the world. This can result in a jurisdiction issue in case of legal proceedings, and a governing law clause will prevent that.
Governing law refers to the country in which your agreement will be interpreted if a dispute or lawsuit arises. Ideally, you want the contracts interpreted in your country. You should never leave out the “governing law” clause from your arrangements because it’s a proactive step that’ll put you in the best position if a lawsuit takes place. We have medical tourism contract templates you can use that include clauses such as governing law.
Always offer complication insurance in your medical travel packages
You should provide or offer complication insurance to all your clients. Whether they accept or reject it is entirely up to them, but you want to provide it as an option. If the patient rejects the complication insurance, make sure you clearly state so in your contract. That way, if something comes up, you’ll be protected. In your medical tourism contract, you also need to address who the responsibility falls on if there’s a complication.
These are the different things you want to put in your contracts. You want to make sure that the client understands how medical tourism works, what the risks and benefits are, and that they agree to accept this medical tourism trip’s risks and benefits and then go from there. So, offering a client complication insurance is a proactive thing that you want to do, just in case something unexpected happens on this medical trip; it’s already addressed in your agreement. The best way to protect your company from lawsuits is to make sure you have all the necessary medical tourism agreements in place and make sure your clients sign them.
Our legal contract templates were written by lawyers who specialize in medical tourism and global healthcare. Contact us today for more information.
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*These pre-made agreements were drafted by legal professionals and individuals experienced in the medical tourism industry but are only examples to be used as guidance for medical tourism facilitators, healthcare providers, and the clients they serve. As an example, the contract may not meet the needs of your circumstances and must not be relied on as legal advice or guidance. Any recipient of these forms should seek legal counsel or other professional guidance to ensure their rights are protected. No attorney-client relationship or other fiduciary relationship of any kind is created between the recipient of these forms and the provider of these forms, its drafters, users, or any other related entities. The provider of these forms expressly disclaims any liability for errors, omission, or any other direct or indirect results arising from its use.
