Iran has become a popular destination for medical tourism, especially in the field of plastic surgery due to the mastery of the doctors, high quality of care, and lower prices. Therefore, many international patients choose to have their procedures in Iran every year.

To facilitate this affair and to support tourists traveling to Iran for medical purposes, a new line of service known as medical tourism facilitator agencies, or simply medical tourism companies, were developed in collaboration with several organizations involved in this field including the Organization of Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism, Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

An accredited medical tourism company is a team of experts trained in different fields related to the affairs of a health tourist from A to Z, which includes giving medical consultation, helping with visa and accommodation, supporting during the tourist’s stay in Iran, and following up on them after leaving. All steps of a certified medical tourism agency are according to the standards approved by the relevant organizations.

With the rise of medical tourists coming to Iran, there came a rise in the number of random people starting to work as dealers, usually those knowing a foreign language but without having the required knowledge of medical tourism.

Fixers or Dealers are non-accredited facilitators who do business without acquiring legal permission and required certificates. Today, dealers could be found in different domains, and medical tourism is no exception.

Many dealers claim that they can handle medical tourism just because they’re translators/interpreters and know a foreign language. But medical tourism is not a single task and can’t be handled only by translation. A medical tourism company consists of a team of professionals in different fields supervised by medical experts. The ability to communicate in a foreign language is only one of the many expertise required for medical tourism. Moreover, even a mere knowledge of the language is not enough to be a qualified interpreter in medical tourism, you must be instructed about the medical procedures your patients are going to have in Iran.

Dealers’ contracts, transactions, and quality of work usually remain unchecked, since unlike a registered agency, their affairs are not recorded anywhere which makes it difficult to be monitored by legal authorities. In many fields, unregistered businesses develop to make more money in a shorter time by creating illegal shortcuts to cut expenses such as evading taxes or weaseling out of required steps and training.

Dealers in the fields related to healthcare could bring about significantly negative results. The results could be even more critical when you’re having a medical trip to a foreign country to receive treatment.

Let’s review the 11 reasons you must not trust dealers to arrange your medical trip to Iran. But before that, let’s see why anyone would want to go on a medical trip arranged by a dealer instead of an accredited medical tourism facilitator agency.

WHY WOULD ANYONE EVER WANT TO GO ON A MEDICAL TRIP WITH A DEALER?

For sure, everybody finds it easier to trust a registered and accredited center rather than a non-official center or just an unknown person working as a facilitator. So why may some people choose dealers over registered companies legally in charge of medical tourism facilitation?

There should be reasons that could appeal to some patients and convince them that they’re making a profitable decision. Our research shows that the following items have been the most tempting factors forming someone’s decision.

THE APPARENTLY LOWER PRICE

It is true that dealers may offer you a lower price. And the cost is always an important element when making a purchase. We would all enjoy gaining a service or product for a lower price. But how transparent is this pricing and what are we paying for?