The Pre-Booking Checklist: 2026 Guide
Quick answer: before you pay anyone — including us — get written answers to the questions below. They separate what you can verify from what you cannot. Put them to TFUCare, to any agency and to the hospital directly: a provider that resists a reasonable question has told you something useful.
Who will actually treat you
- Which named hospital, and which department? Not "a top hospital in Chengdu" — the hospital's name and the department that will admit you.
- Which named physician? The name, and ideally the Chinese characters, so it can be checked independently.
- Is that physician's licence verifiable? China publishes a public physician registration query (医师执业注册信息查询). Ask for the registration number and check it: a licence confirms the right to practise, not quality.
- What is their annual caseload for my procedure? How many does that physician personally perform a year, and how many does the department? Volume is one of the few quality signals you can obtain.
- What is the written treatment plan, and who signs it? Diagnosis, procedure, expected length of stay, follow-up — signed by the treating physician or department, not written by a coordinator.
What it costs, and what is not included
- Total expected cost, itemised. A line-by-line estimate: surgeon and anaesthesia fees, bed and nursing, implants, laboratory and imaging, medicines, follow-up. A lump sum hides every surprise.
- What could make it go up? Complications, extra nights, a different implant, intensive care, another specialist — and how often that happens.
- What is your fee, exactly? A percentage of treatment cost or a flat fee? What does it cover, what is charged separately, and are interpretation, pickup and accommodation inside it?
- What is NOT included? Ask about flights, visa fees, accommodation and meals, travel insurance, take-home medication, follow-up at home, anything found incidentally.
- Who receives my payment? The account holder's exact legal name and bank. If the payee is an agency rather than the hospital, ask why, and insist on a receipt for every transfer.
- Can I pay the hospital directly? For hospital charges this is usually possible and safest. It is also our own rule: medical fees go to the hospital, never through us.
Declines, cancellations and refunds
Get refund terms in writing before any transfer, in the language you would rely on in a dispute.
- If the hospital declines my case after reviewing records, or after I arrive — what happens to money already paid, and how long does a refund take?
- If I cancel — at which points, and how much is refundable at each? Hospital charges follow the hospital's rules; keep them separate from the service fee.
- If treatment stops part-way — is the unused hospital balance returned, and who decides?
- Who holds the money meanwhile, and under which entity's name?
Outcomes, risks, and the plan after you fly home
- What are the realistic outcomes for someone with my profile? Not the best case: ask about complication rates here for patients of your age and history, and what "success" means.
- What are the main risks, including any that would mean a longer stay or a second operation?
- What is the plan if there is a complication after I fly home? Who do I contact, in which time zone and language? Will records reach my own doctor? Ask for a named clinician, not a general inbox.
- How long should I stay before flying? Ask for a minimum in-country window, and which symptoms would mean you should not board.
Your coordinator, your languages, your records
- Who is my named coordinator — direct contact, and hours in my time zone? Who covers when they are off duty?
- What languages do they speak, and at what level? Is interpretation at appointments done by a trained medical interpreter, or by whoever is free that day?
- Where are my records stored, who can see them, how long are they kept, and can I have them deleted? Ask before you send anything; send only what the hospital needs.
Printable summary — and how TFUCare helps
Print this page: a question left unanswered in writing is an answer.
| Question to ask before paying | Written answer received |
|---|---|
| Named hospital, department and physician, with a licence number | ☐ |
| Annual caseload for my procedure, for the physician and the department | ☐ |
| Itemised cost estimate, and what makes it rise | ☐ |
| Your fee, exactly, and what is excluded | ☐ |
| Who receives payment, and whether I can pay the hospital directly | ☐ |
| Refund terms if the hospital declines my case or I cancel | ☐ |
| The written treatment plan, and who signs it | ☐ |
| Realistic outcomes, and the main risks for my profile | ☐ |
| The plan for a complication after I fly home | ☐ |
| My named coordinator, their languages and hours | ☐ |
| Where my records are stored, and who can see them | ☐ |
Our side: records translation, appointment coordination with the international department, airport pickup and bilingual accompaniment. Medical fees go directly to the hospital, never through us, and our fee is in writing before you commit. Start with a free case review — and put these questions to us first.
Questions we get about this
What if a provider refuses to answer these in writing?
That is your answer. Every question on this list is one a legitimate service can answer before you pay anything — including the uncomfortable ones about refunds, who receives your money, and what happens if the hospital declines your case. A provider who will only answer by phone, or who says the details are “confirmed later”, or who cannot name the treating department, is telling you what the whole engagement will feel like. Print the page, mark each question off as it is answered in writing, and treat an unanswered question as a no.
How long does it take to get an answer?
About 24 hours on business days from the free case review. That first reply names one hospital we would point you to, gives a realistic cost range drawn from published figures, and says whether China is a sensible option for your condition at all. If the hospital has to review imaging before it will commit, expect two to four working days instead — we tell you which of the two it will be before you send anything, so you are never waiting without knowing why. Cases that need a named specialist's opinion rather than a department's take weeks, not days, and we say so rather than let the clock run.
What do you charge, and who do I pay?
The case review is free and carries no obligation. Two paid levels follow it, with the amounts published on our pricing page: a Hospital Acceptance Check, which puts your case in front of hospitals and brings back their written answer, and Full Journey Management, which covers preparation, appointments, visa invitation letter, airport pickup, bilingual accompaniment and follow-up. Medical fees are always paid by you directly to the hospital — we never handle treatment funds, and no invoice of ours ever contains a hospital charge. That separation is deliberate: it is the strongest protection against the deposit scams this industry is known for.
Can I enter China visa-free for treatment?
Not on the ordinary visa-free route, and this is the correction most websites get wrong. The officially listed permitted purposes are business, tourism, family visits, exchange and transit — medical treatment is not among them, and border inspection may refuse entry where the stated purpose does not match the visa-free rules. A trip whose main purpose is treatment therefore needs an M visa, normally supported by an invitation letter from the treating hospital, which we help prepare. Short consultations, check-ups and imaging can legitimately sit inside an ordinary visit, and we will tell you honestly which side of the line your case falls on.
Does anyone speak English at the hospital?
Inside the international department, yes — the coordinators and many of the physicians are bilingual, and some trained in the US, UK or Germany. Outside it, English is limited, and that boundary is where problems start: the pharmacy, the billing window, the imaging reception and the ward nurses may have no English at all. That is precisely why a coordinator accompanies you through registration, consultation, imaging, admission and discharge rather than leaving you to manage alone, and why we translate your records into Chinese before you arrive rather than during the appointment.