FAQs

The Justimed team has built a model which will connect patients with the world’s top doctors and medical professionals. For us, it’s all about eliminating risk and ensuring success.

“We try to find the best matches,” Justimed co-founder Stas Samarin said. “Between patients, prices and doctors. And to democratize healthcare by offering a cheap platform. It’s similar to travel sites, where you know exactly what you are paying for. And you also have a guarantee of the quality. You have user ratings on the travel sites. You’ll have those for doctors and hospitals. And you’ll have their national accreditations.”

We double and triple check all documents and accreditations, making sure that all logistics are handled for you to enjoy a comfortable vacation and take advantage of cheaper healthcare. 

Families come from all over the world to revel in the beaches and white shores of Costa Rica. In its beauty, the European flair of San Jose, the capital city. It has Spanish churches and streets, gorgeous weather and plenty of green. A miniscule crime rate and outstanding ecosystem place the country among the world’s greatest travel destinations.

But Costa Rica is well regarded for another metric: its advanced medical tourism infrastructure. For the last half century, Costa Rica has attracted thousands of conscientious shoppers a year; for dental procedures and elective surgeries, nothing beats the high quality and low cost-of-care that abound in the central American country. 

It’s got a state-of-the-art medical infrastructure, with doctors who are more than capable in fields such as gynecology, orthopedics and plastic surgery. And that hasn’t been a secret. In 2011 alone, 46,474 foreign patients came to Costa Rica to undergo elective procedures. They recognize value. It’s a unique chance to package a once-in-a lifetime vacation with medical work, at around the same cost of any procedure in the United States.  

Many of Costa Rica’s doctors, nurses and dentists are multilingual, and the nation’s government has a strong regulating body -- it upholds medical standards and ensures that all patients are cared for at the highest level. Costa Rica’s healthcare system was ranked by CNBC as the second best in the world. The United States took the 27th spot. The Island’s healthcare system is cheaper and in many ways better than what we have here at home.

All that is why Costa Rica ranked seventh in the 2020-21 Medical Tourism Index, ahead of countries such as France, Germany and South Korea. The country is recognized as having one of the world’s most advanced medical tourism industries. It’s safe, proven and effective. 

Israel: a multicultural mecca of food, music and ambiance -- home to stunning geographical diversity in a landmass the size of New Jersey. Rolling hills and rainy gorges in the north, isolating deserts and tropical heat in the south. It’s an excellent country to visit, with facilities that make it a perfect spot for anyone considering travelling alongside a medical procedure. 

It boasts massive and metropolitan cities -- such as Tel Aviv. As alluded to by world-famous singer Omer Adam, Tel-Aviv is like a middle-Eastern Miami, rife with colorful communities and social experiences, jumbling with all the modern amenities. 

Israel ranked eighth in the 2020-21 Medical Tourism Index, ahead of medical powerhouses such as Germany, France and South Korea. It’s an exciting window into the future of medicine in Israel -- a rapidly evolving and high-quality field which has coincided with the country’s growth as a technological nexus in the last decade. 

A macroanalysis of 40 countries by our Justimed team found that the price of a medical procedure in Israel, including the price of plane tickets and other travel related expenses, pales in comparison to what it would cost in the United States. And the Israeli Knesset has invested in medical tourism -- the government wants to strengthen its commitment to serving foreign clients. The implication: it’s cheaper to schedule an elective procedure around an international vacation to Israel than to have that same work done at home. 

The results -- a once in a lifetime trip to a land of consequence and historical value, a chance to see the Westing Wall, an opportunity to revel in the gematria of Tzfat, built around a needed medical opportunity.

Despite a tumultuous history, Colombia today is one of the safest countries in South America, boasting a vibrant economy and a colorful social climate. And it has incredible geographic diversity -- the country is home to incredible environments and ecosystems such as the Andes Mountain Range, the Amazon Rainforest and Pacific ocean coastlines. 

Contrary to what you may read in popular culture, safety is not a major issue in Colombia. The country’s murder rate is half of what it was in the 1990’s. Any concern regarding organized crime in the country is largely moot as a result of the 2016 peace accord that ended a decades-long conflict between Colombia's government and the Paramilitary group FARC. The resultant cultural renaissance must be seen to be believed. Tourism has exploded there -- as vacationers flock to take in the foods and culture of the vibrant and temperate landscape. Two burgeoning metropolitan areas, Medellin and Colombia, have become the centers of a fresh and rapidly growing tourism-centered economy.

For plastic surgeries and reconstructive procedures, the medical facilities in Colombia rival those of the world’s most technologically advanced countries. Medical tourism in the country has exploded, increasing by 500% in the last decade.

It’s proven, safe, effective and fulfilling.

Panama. It’s the connecting point between North and South America, boasting a world famous canal and a capital city full of wonky skyscrapers. Visit Panama for its national parks and sandy beaches — or for Casio Vjeho, the colonial district of Panama City, which looks like the French Quarter and New Spain all rolled up into one.

Panama is beginning to develop a reputation of pacing the world in medical tourism opportunities. Americans are traveling to the nation for elective medical procedures at record rates — buoyed by a fully Americanized healthcare system, in which many doctors in nurses boast degrees from the United States.

It’s got a state-of-the-art medical infrastructure, with doctors who are more than capable in fields such as cosmetic surgery, dentistry and orthopedics. And clients save big. The average hip replacement patient saves 40% by getting the procedure done in Panama City rather than in the United States. 65% for a rhinoplasty, 75% for a root canal. For quality results at one fourth the cost, Panama is your best bet.

Two hospitals in Panama enjoy international certification by the Joint Commissions International. All other hospitals in the country, which are privately owned, are still all accredited by local and national agencies — attesting to the country’s rapid growth in health care efficacy and capability.

All that is why Panama was one of just 46 countries ranked in the 2020-21 Medical Tourism Index, alongside countries such as France, Germany and South Korea. The country’s medical tourism industry is new, complex and effective — part of a technology moonshot THaTs accompanied building at the capital.

Justimed only works with the very best doctors, who must each come with a requisite number of certifications from their home countries, with degrees from top medical programs. We make sure that you are comfortable with the doctor performing your procedure before you even set out on vacation. It’s the top priority.

“We only match patients with providers that have international certifications and the high reviews,” Svirnovskiy said. “At Justimed, you won't even get in the door if you aren’t one of the best.”

The Centers for Disease Control has a list of ways to take care of yourself before going abroad for an elective surgery. By following those rules, patients and tourists can enjoy the best of the country they're visiting, safely and with lots of fun. 

One of our main objectives heading into the prototyping phase for Justimed was to design a business model that virtually eliminated the risk of system failures within our ranks. Logistics are hard to ensure. But before any medical provider may join the network on our Justimed site, we make sure that doctors certify they’ll work on time and steer clear of any financial surprises when treating our patients.  

Our public facing app is built to address questions of risk. The timing and cost of each appointment is agreed to well in advance, and our team checks in with doctors in the days and weeks leading up to our clients’ medical procedures. 

We’re working hard to eliminate your logistical risk.

A meta-analysis run by the Justimed team found medical tourism to often be a more cost-effective option than having elective surgery in the United States. 

The financials of medical procedures in the US are convoluted and confusing, often to the detriment of the patient. A certain elective surgery in Miami costs $17,000 more than that same procedure 180 miles north in Palm Bay. Doing the math, a patient would save $100 for every mile they drive south on I-95.

Global cost disparities are just as pronounced. In a variety of countries around the world, it is cheaper to schedule family vacations around medical procedures than to do it here.

A knee replacement that in the US costs $40,000 is just $7,200 in Colombia. Dental implants that can cost up to $80,000 in the US run for just $10,000 in Costa Rica. Instead of shelling out $9,500 on a liposuction procedure in the States, you can spend just $1,000 for that same procedure in Costa Rica. 

It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. A chance to save thousands of dollars and take your family to another country all in one foul swoop, be it a tropical paradise or an unexplored mecca of history.

Since March, lots of Americans have been forced to postpone elective surgeries in the U.S. The price of many elective surgeries in this country has skyrocketed in the last nine months, and  fewer people than ever before will be able to afford to have their medical procedures done stateside. We’ve spent the last year optimizing our model. In May, it was reported by US News that the COVID-19 pandemic would postpone 28 million elective surgeries worldwide. With the number of people needing a procedure skyrocketing globally, we expect medical tourism to jump back to life early next year. 

With current and very promising vaccine news, Americans can expect for life to be back to normal by summer of next year. It takes a long time to plan vacations and trips, and airline tickets are cheaper than they’ve ever been before -- but not for long. You should be thinking about your medical tourism opportunity now!

Despite having the most expensive healthcare system in the world, the US cannot say the same about its general quality of care and accessibility. For example, hospitals in other regions of the world often boast lower mortality rates than those in the United States. This is especially true in South Asian countries, where the success rates of complex cardiac and orthopedic surgeries is greater than 98.5%, greater than in the US, where cardiac surgeries see a success rate of 96-97%. That said, not all hospitals and providers are the same.

Therefore all hospitals in the Justimed network have passed a rigorous series of criteria to confirm their quality of care, efficiencies and technological capacities. They’re also accredited by the world’s top agencies, and each of them places a premium on the health of the patient and draws talented teams of doctors and professionals from all over the world.