The Riga-based company recruits Swedish patients, mainly in orthopedics, to private hospitals in the Baltics. We collaborate with everything from occupational health care to Region Norrbotten.
– We offer a package solution aimed at Swedish patients, where we help them from the first assessment meeting, match them with a suitable hospital in the Baltics, meet them at the airport and then we also help them apply for compensation from the Social Insurance Agency, says Tatjana Jakushina.
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Runaway costs
Right now, roughly 160,000 people are waiting for an operation in Sweden. Some seek help abroad. There has been a slight increase in recent years. It is about everything from cancer treatments in Helsinki, to knee operations in Riga or ADHD investigations in Copenhagen.
The bill for the approximately 1,300 trips per year is covered by the Social Insurance Agency. For the state, it will not be more expensive than if the treatment had been carried out in Sweden, but means that money for Swedish healthcare goes to foreign healthcare companies.
– I think it’s a good alternative because those who go abroad reduce the queue time for those waiting for treatment in Sweden, and you also avoid unnecessary sick leave because these patients can go back to work faster, says Tatjana Jakushina.
SKR: “A failure”
According to Sweden’s municipalities and regions (SKR), it is important to check yourself whether there is insurance that covers all costs that may arise if something goes wrong.
– It is more difficult to get help if something were to happen abroad compared to in Sweden, where there is a very developed system. You have to be careful what you do and do research before you set off, says Johan Kaarme, head of care and care at SKR.
In most cases, the patient needs to be able to pay for the treatment themselves, sometimes hundreds of thousands of kroner, and it can then take a long time to receive compensation from the Social Insurance Agency. SKR, which is responsible for Swedish healthcare, sees both problems and opportunities with trips abroad.
– The waiting time is not where we want it to be, so if it can contribute to the improvement of care, then it is good, but if you apply abroad for reasons of dissatisfaction, it is a failure. You don’t want to have to send a patient abroad unnecessarily, says Kaarme.