Guidelines before you travel for your treatment

At MGM Cancer Institute, our international patient relations coordinator with work with you closely to ensure that everything is well planned before you start to out hospital for admission and treatment.

Here are some guidelines and checklist which you can refer to as you embark this journey to better health.

• Please make sure you have a valid visa and have made all the travel arrangements right from planning your travel, booking ticket, transport from airport to your place of stay and booking your accommodation.
• Please carry with you your medical records, blood reports, scan reports, any letter issued by the doctor/hospital, any prescriptions, immunization records, your photographs, health insurance details, mobile phone and electronic devices, comfortable clothing, local currency cash/credit card/forex card, toiletries, your glasses/mobility aids/dentures/hearing aids if any, ticket, hotel booking details, hospital contact details, etc
• Make a file or folder and ensure all the necessary important documents along with their photocopies is well organized. Keep the originals in a safe place.
• Please ensure you are aware about the treatment and procedure that you are seeking so that your expectations from the surgery are realistic. He or she must also have knowledge about physical therapy, period of recovery, and post-surgery care.
• Please schedule online video consultation with the doctors/surgeons/medical care team and discuss with them clearly about the treatment and procedure that you are seeking so that your expectations from the surgery are realistic. Also discuss about physical and rehabilitation therapy you might need during the recovery period and what are the post-surgery care that you should take while recovering in the hospital and once you return to your home country.
• Please discuss with your doctors and understand how long will it take for recovery, how should you plan your discharge and what arrangements you have to make back at home so that you can come back and recover smoothly.
• Please discuss with your doctors, any travel related medical guidelines that you have to follow while travelling. For example, there are certain pointers to overcome Deep Vein Thrombosis (DVT) which includes taking short walks down the aisle on the plane, exercising the muscles of your lower legs, which act as a pump for the blood in the veins, wearing loose fitting clothes, drinking enough water, avoiding alcohol and other caffeinated drinks

Before you travel to MGM Cancer Institute in Chennai, India, you need to secure a valid visa from the Indian embassy located either in your city or a city close to where you live, for the purpose and duration of your travel. We help you by providing any necessary documents from our side for your visa application. Please clearly understand and thoroughly check if you have all the required documents in place before you submit your application so that your visa gets processed smoothly. Here are some links that you may find useful

List of Indian Embassies in other countries

Indian Missions Abroad

Guide to Consular Services

MGM Cancer Institute has collaborations with some of India’s top medical travel companies and agencies to provide smooth travel and stay arrangements for our International Patients. Travel and accommodation services provided by us include the following:

• Travel arrangements to reach India
• Visa Services
• Hotel Booking (Budget, Deluxe and Luxury Hotels)
• Pickup and drop at the International Airport in Chennai
• Post-discharge stays in Chennai in a choice of hotels
• Sightseeing in Chennai
• Travel arrangements for the journey back home

Patient Centricity is what MGM Cancer Institute believes. Deeply rooted in its value, the hospital understands the communication between the caregivers and patients impacts patient care, thus MGM Cancer Institute offers language assistance to the patients whose preferred language is other than English. Language barriers must not stop you from availing the best healthcare in the country. We, at MGM Cancer Institute, understand that the communication between the healthcare providers, caregivers and patients can deeply impact the quality of the complete healthcare experience. Conversations and exchange of information is one way you gain the confidence and faith that we have your best at heart. To ensure free flowing communication, we offer language assistance to the patients and their caregivers who may not be able to effectively converse in English. We have cultural support officers trained and fluent in Russian and Arabic to help patients. On special request, language assistance in your preferred language can also be provided.

We have a dedicated team who handle patient relations with International Patients who are travelling to MGM Cancer Institute for surgery and treatment. They will be your point of contact right from the beginning when you get in touch with us for an appointment to discuss with a doctor, till you go back home after getting treated at our hospital. Patient experience matters to us the most, and hence we always strive to provide a seamless, hassle-free and pleasant stay at the hospital and a wonderful patient experience to you and your caregivers who will be travelling with you.

If you have concerns about your treatment plan, your travel arrangement, your stay at the hospital, any concerns regarding hospitalization, any questions regarding hospital policies, how to recover once you are back home, what kind of post-surgical care and recovery care you need, any other special needs that you might have, please feel free to discuss it with our international patient relations coordinator who will be with you throughout your journey.