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?

As of October 2026, 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.

Medical Concierge vs Hospital International Desk

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.

Why do they look the same 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.

Who pays each of them?

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 does a referral commission change the outcome?

Commission-funded facilitation is common in medical tourism and it is not always harmful. Researchers have flagged the risk, though: a 2016 paper in the Croatian Medical Journal (opens in a new tab) describes referrers paid according to the number of patients they send as a significant conflict of interest, and a 2011 study of facilitators in the Journal of Medical Ethics (opens in a new tab) found many had formed personal relationships with surgeons abroad and called for more regulation of their industry. In practice, commission distorts outcomes in three 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.

Which one should you use?

Hospital international department and independent concierge compared
Question	Hospital international department	Independent, client-paid concierge
Who pays it?	The hospital	The patient
Which hospitals can it recommend?	Its own	Any, including ones it has no agreement with
Can it advise against treatment?	Rarely; its role is admissions	Yes; that advice is part of what the fee buys
What does it cost the patient?	Nothing directly	A fee, separate from the medical bill
Best used when	You have already chosen that hospital	The country, hospital, surgeon or procedure is still open

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. That is the decision the fee is buying, and it is the decision that determines the outcome. Whichever you use, check the hospital's accreditation yourself on Joint Commission International's (opens in a new tab) site rather than taking it from a brochure.

How is Delegata 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. As of October 2026 there are two fees, both separate from medical costs: a consultation fee from AED 300, credited toward a case-based arrangement fee that is confirmed in writing before any payment.

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

Medical concierge vs a hospital's international patient department