Second Opinion International

Second Opinion International

Second Opinion International specializes in the development and management of subscriber centered interactive medical systems - virtual clinics via which a wide variety of health services are delivered to its ever growing numbers of subscribers by top hospitals all over the world.

Its flagship service is the Second Opinion Service. If diagnosed with a critical condition or if you have any medical problem or query, before you decide on the way forward as regards treatment and after you’ve been given a complete first diagnosis by a suitably qualified consultant, apply for an additional review of the case with top specialists from major US hospitals to obtain a reliable, professional and independent second medical opinion.

The service includes the support and advice of a local medical team which summarizes and translates the medical file to English if written in another language. The file is then sent to the medical center in the USA by innovative technology. The advanced technology and over 15 years experience ensure that the service is quick, efficient, and easily adaptable to suit the unique requirements of all our clients and patients.

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About the Second Opinion Service

The idea is based on a very simple principle. A second medical opinion is when a second specialist studies the patient's medical file and gives another opinion on the diagnosis and treatment options.

The Second Opinion Service incorporates this idea and takes it one step further:

• Provides assistance and advice to the patient by helping complete his medical file with a full first opinion.
• Analyzes the medical file, edits and summarizes it as a basis for the second consultation.
• Specifies the nature of the queries that the Consultant is being asked to address.
• Translation of the medical file to English.
• Chooses a hospital that specializes in treating the relevant condition.
• Transmits the medical file to the hospital of choice.
• Receives the second opinion from the hospital and forwards it to the patient.
• Meets the patient to explain and clarify the second opinion.
• Entire process is overseen by Second Opinion's local medical team.
• Evaluates clinical research trials being carried out internationally to determine whether they can be of help to the patient.
• The service is subject to the provision of a complete first opinion and to the contents of the Second Opinion Service Agreement.

About the company

Second Opinion International is a world leader in the development and management of an international network of virtual clinics. Backed by a medical infrastructure of doctors and hospitals, the virtual clinics enable the interactive delivery of health services by innovative technologies (“telemedicine”). Second Opinion was established over 15 years ago and since then it has become a pioneer in the development of telemedicine, condensing the world onto a computer screen or mobile app and divesting geographic location of all meaning.

The Second Opinion service is only delivered to subscribers via a designated virtual clinic. Subscriptions are distributed by b2b collaboration with insurance companies all over the world. The Virtual Clinics are customized to the insurance companies’ specific needs, values and distribution channels.

Over the years, Second Opinion has given thousands of second consultations in all areas of medicine to a wide variety of clients in all five continents. Some subscribers come for the information, others want a second diagnosis, others still want a larger selection of treatment alternatives or they just want to avoid a medical mistake, to be sure that they are doing the right thing. All of them come looking for hope, personal attention and a reliable and professional service.

Innovative technology and years of experience bring the best that 21st century medicine has to offer to the very doorstep of our subscribers and the aim is one; to empower the patient with the knowledge and information that will enable him to make an informed decision when faced with a medical dilemma.

The importance of the service

Our knowledge of the human body and how it works has never been as advanced as it is in our age but human beings remain humans and notwithstanding the wonders of 21 century medicine, humans still make mistakes. Sometimes the mistake is due to human error but often the system is at fault. Whatever the cause of the mistake, the result is the same and all over the world, even in the Western World thousands of people are victims of medical mistakes every year.

The correct diagnosis is crucial for the avoidance of a potentially fatal medical mistake. The Second Opinion Service brings the best that modern medicine has to offer to the very doorstep of our patients, giving them access to some of the most respected hospitals and specialists in the world with an objective and independent second diagnosis that can have a crucial and life saving effect in the avoidance of a medical mistake, for quite simply, for us, a medical mistake is simply not an option.

Medicine is constantly developing and advancing as are the patients who unlike their parents are no longer blindly reliant on the word of the doctor. The internet has empowered the modern day patient with information, which in turn has made him more involved in the management of his healthcare and by extension unwilling to compromise. If there is a treatment or hope, geographic location is no longer a bar. This is perhaps the crucial importance of the service, the empowering of the patient with a medical dilemma, with information that allows him to make an educated decision based on knowledge imparted by world class specialists.

How does it work?

The procedure is simple:

• Obtain first diagnosis and apply for a second consultation from Second Opinion International.
• The first diagnosis must include a summary from a consultant who is a specialist in the field.
• Apply by filling in application form
• Or by contacting us.
• A meeting with the medical team will be arranged to examine the medical file.
• The medical team will summarize the first opinion and convert it to the company's standard format, emphasising the medical question that has to be answered.
• Translation of the medical file to English (where necessary).
• Choice of the USA hospital taking the patient’s preferences into account.
• File sent to hospital of choice by the medical team which will receive constant updates from the hospital as to the progress of the case.
• Second Opinion received after about ten days.
• Second Opinion given to the patient.
• If so desired, the patient may meet the medical team to have any questions answered or the Second Opinion clarified.
• The cost of the service to the patient depends on the terms of his insurance policy.
• Service will not be provided when the company has reasonable grounds to suspect that it may be used in future legal proceedings.