How it works

Medical concierge vs a hospital's international patient department

A hospital's international patient office and an independent medical concierge look similar and are not. The difference is who pays them, and it decides which hospital you end up in.

By Dr Madina Khadartseva, MD, PhD · 22 September 2026

The short answer. A hospital's international patient department is employed by that hospital and can only route you to it. An independent medical concierge is paid by the patient and can route you anywhere, including to a competitor or to no treatment at all. Both help with logistics. Only one of them can tell you that the recommended procedure is unnecessary.

They look identical from the outside

Both give you a named coordinator. Both speak your language. Both arrange the visa letter, the airport transfer, the interpreter and the appointment schedule. Both are courteous, responsive and genuinely useful at the logistics. If you judge them on the first three emails, you cannot tell them apart.

The difference does not appear until the moment a medical decision has to be made.

The difference is who signs the paycheque

An international patient department is a department of a hospital. Its budget, targets and career incentives are internal, and its function is to convert international enquiries into admissions at that hospital. This is not dishonest, it is simply what the role is. Nobody in that office is going to tell you that the hospital two countries away does more of your operation per year.

An independent concierge is paid by the patient. That is the whole architecture. It is why the fee exists and why it is separate from the medical cost, and it is also why the recommendation can be "do not have this operation" or "have it at a hospital we have no relationship with".

Ask any facilitator one question: who pays you, and do you receive anything from the hospital? The answer sorts the market.

Where a referral commission changes the outcome

Commission-funded facilitation is common in medical tourism and it is not always harmful. It distorts outcomes in three specific places:

Destination choice. You are shown the countries where the facilitator has agreements, not the countries best suited to your condition.
Surgeon choice. You get the surgeon with availability and a contract, not necessarily the one with the highest volume in your procedure.
Whether to treat at all. A commission model has no way to be paid for advising against a procedure, so that advice is rarely given.

What each is genuinely good at

Use a hospital's international office when you have already decided on that hospital, for good independent reasons, and you need the practical side handled. They are close to the clinical teams, they know the building, and they are free.

Use an independent concierge when the medical decision is still open: when you do not know which country, which hospital, which surgeon, or whether the recommended procedure is the right one. That is the decision the fee is buying, and it is the decision that determines the outcome.

How Delegata is structured

Delegata is physician-led and paid by the client. It takes no referral commission from hospitals, which is why it can present options across the UAE, Georgia, Turkey and Switzerland, and why the shortlist changes with the case rather than with the contract. Fees are two, both separate from medical costs: a consultation fee from AED 300, credited toward a case-based arrangement fee confirmed in writing before any payment.

More on how the Medical Family Office works, or see the seven-step journey.

Questions

Frequently asked

Is a medical concierge worth paying for?

It is worth paying for when the medical decision is still open. If you already know the hospital and the surgeon and just need logistics, the hospital's own international office does that for free. The fee buys independence in choosing, not the coordination itself.

Do medical tourism agencies take commission from hospitals?

Many do, and it is not always disclosed. Ask directly whether the facilitator receives anything from the hospital. A commission model has no way to be paid for recommending against a procedure, which is precisely when independent advice matters most.

Can a concierge send me to a hospital they have no relationship with?

An independent, client-paid one can, and should when the case calls for it. A hospital-employed coordinator cannot. That single constraint is the practical difference between the two models.

What does Delegata charge?

Two fees, both separate from medical costs: a consultation fee from AED 300 that is credited toward the arrangement fee if you proceed, and a case-based arrangement fee confirmed in writing before any payment. Delegata takes no hospital commission.