Fee transparency

The first layer is case assessment. The initial specialist review of submitted records is free of charge, with no fee payable upfront. If a written assessment with department and physician recommendations is required, it is quoted as a fixed amount and disclosed before you commit.

The second layer is the coordination fee. This is the only payment that goes to us. It covers records structuring and translation, department and specialist matching, hospital scheduling, medical visa documentation support, travel and escort coordination, in-country interpreting and follow-up. The coordination fee is quoted as a fixed amount per stage, with a stated range and ceiling before signature, and it never moves as a percentage of the eventual hospital bill.

The third layer is the hospital bill. Registration, investigations, admission, surgery, medication and rehabilitation are invoiced by the hospital directly to the family, who pays the hospital or its designated account. We do not handle that money, do not add a margin to the hospital's quote, and receive nothing from the hospital in return.

If a platform is paid by hospitals according to referral volume, then which hospital, which department, which technique gets recommended is shaped by that payment structure. The child's clinical interest can be displaced by a commercial one. This is the most common conflict of interest in cross-border care.

We therefore treat the refusal of referral-based commissions or rebates from hospitals as a hard commercial term, written into partner agreements as an explicit exclusion. The only criterion we use when recommending an institution or a physician is whether that institution's actual capability matches this child's condition.

If any member of staff implies an 'internal price', a 'rebate', or a discount tied to how many patients you bring, report it through the channel at the foot of this page. We will investigate and reply in writing.

Paediatric critical care consumes resources far more intensively than adult care: PICU beds, paediatric anaesthesia and sedation, child-specific consumables, developmental and rehabilitative assessment, genetic and metabolic panels. Unit prices are typically well above adult equivalents. Our proposals itemise these separately and explain why each is necessary.

Where multidisciplinary input is required — oncology, cardiology, neurology, metabolic genetics and rehabilitation on the same case — the consultation fee is counted per participating department. The list of participating departments and the corresponding cost are given before signature.

For clinical trials, compassionate-use access, or medicines not approved in China, we do not apply on your behalf, do not collect fees for them, and do not assume trial-related risk. Those processes run through the hospital's and sponsor's own ethics and regulatory channels. We provide information and liaison only, and are not the paying party.

The following are neither our coordination fee nor hospital charges, and are borne by the family or arranged on request: international air tickets, visa fees and expedite charges, accommodation in China, local transport, meals, private companions beyond the included interpreter, insurance, notarisation and legalisation, and international courier of records.

Anything we arrange is shown on the quotation as a separate line marked 'arranged', which does not change who the cost belongs to and carries no additional service charge. Refunds on arranged items are passed back at actual value.

Exchange rates and cross-border payment fees are charged as incurred. We state the receiving currency and the approximate fee range before signature so that no dispute arises after the money lands.

The standard schedule has three points: the first instalment of the coordination fee on signature; the second when the hospital confirms acceptance and issues an admission plan; the final instalment after the child's first in-hospital assessment in China. The exact proportions are set out in the agreement and are not added to later.

Hospital charges sit outside this schedule and are paid by the family on the hospital's own billing cycle. Late payment penalties or bed cancellations imposed by the hospital follow the hospital's rules.

We issue VAT invoices for the coordination fee. Hospital invoices are issued by the hospital; we neither issue them on the hospital's behalf, nor merge or split them.

Assessment not yet started: the assessment fee is refunded in full.

Assessment started, proposal not yet issued: fifty per cent of the assessment fee is refunded; translation and search costs already incurred are not refundable.

Proposal issued, hospital booking not yet confirmed: seventy per cent of the coordination fee is refunded.

Hospital booking confirmed, child not yet arrived: forty per cent of the coordination fee is refunded; costs actually incurred for visa, accommodation, translation and transfers are deducted at cost.

Child has arrived and completed the first in-hospital assessment: the coordination fee is not refundable.

Where the hospital withdraws acceptance unilaterally, or the child's condition changes so that the original plan is no longer clinically appropriate, the remaining balance after deduction of costs incurred is refunded with a written explanation.

If the plan changes during treatment, complications arise, or admission is extended, the hospital issues a revised estimate. We forward it to the family within twenty-four hours, explain the reason for the change, and set out the alternatives. We do not decide on the family's behalf.

If any charge is unclear, you may ask us for the corresponding hospital line items and explanation. We do not issue hospital bills, but we will help you verify them with the hospital.

Where a new charge appears that we did not disclose in advance and that is not a hospital-driven plan change, the family may refuse that portion and require a written explanation.

This page is a public statement of pricing principles. Specific amounts, payment points and refund percentages are governed by the signed service agreement. Where the two differ, the agreement prevails.

The commitment not to accept hospital commissions is a hard term and does not change with any commercial arrangement.