How to accept payments from international patients

The four ways clinics get paid by patients abroad

Most clinics that treat international patients use one or more of four methods: international wire, card, cash on arrival and local bank transfer. Each one fits some situations better than others.

• International wire. The patient's bank sends money by SWIFT to the clinic's bank. It works anywhere, but the patient needs the clinic's SWIFT code and account number, and banks in the chain can deduct fees before the money lands.
• Card. Familiar to patients, but it puts a card processor between you and the money, converts currency at the patient's bank, and leaves room for a dispute after the procedure.
• Cash on arrival. Simple for the clinic, but patients carry large sums across a border and the booking is less certain until they show up.
• Local bank transfer. The patient pays into a bank account in their own country and currency. The money is then converted and sent to the clinic over a local rail in the clinic's country.

What patients worry about

A patient sending several thousand dollars to a clinic in another country has to trust that the money will arrive and reach the right place. Bank details in their own country, in their own currency, make a payment look less like a leap.

Patients also want to know what the payment will cost them. Showing the amount that will be debited, before they confirm, avoids the surprise of a lower amount arriving after intermediary banks take fees.

What clinics worry about

The first concern is certainty: has the deposit arrived, and is it from the patient who booked the surgery? The second is the exchange rate, because a clinic quotes in dollars and pays staff in reais, pesos or lira. The third is the time staff spend matching payments to patients.

When a local bank transfer makes sense

A local bank transfer fits clinics that take payments from patients in several countries, that quote in a foreign currency, or that want one record for each patient. It is less useful for very small payments or for patients who strongly prefer to pay by card.

MedFX provides this method. You can read how it works on the how it works page, or book a call to talk it through for your clinic.