· Medtu Care Team
How an Online Second Opinion from India Works: Records, Fees, Timelines
How a written second opinion from an independent Indian specialist works: the steps, the published $150 fee, exactly what to send, and what the report covers.
If you have been given a serious diagnosis, or advised a major surgery, a second opinion is one of the most useful things money can buy, and one of the cheapest relative to what is at stake. India has a deep bench of experienced specialists, and you can get a written opinion from one of them entirely online, without a visa, a flight, or a hospital visit.
This article explains how our paid, independent second opinion works: the steps, the fee, what to send, and who pays the doctor. That last question is worth putting to anyone who offers you the service.
Have a case to discuss? Message us on WhatsApp or use our contact page. We respond within four business hours.
How the process works
- You tell us about your case. A short summary is enough to start: the diagnosis, what treatment has been advised, and what you want a second pair of eyes on. Nothing sensitive goes through the website form. After we connect, we send you a secure link for your records.
- You upload your records through a secure link. The link is single-use and specific to your case. The checklist below tells you what to gather.
- We match your case to an independent specialist. The specialist is relevant to your condition and paid a flat fee for the review, never a percentage of anything, and never rewarded for recommending treatment.
- You receive a structured written report. It is yours to keep, in plain language, and written to be shared with your own treating doctor.
- You decide what happens next. That may be proceeding with your current plan, exploring treatment in India, or doing nothing further. The report is designed to support any of those outcomes, not to funnel you toward one.
If you would rather talk before committing to a written report, the $50 remote consultation is a live video call with a specialist. That fee is credited in full toward the written opinion if you continue.
What to send
A second opinion is only as good as the file the specialist reviews. Gather:
| Document | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Most recent discharge summary or clinic letter | The clearest statement of your current diagnosis and plan |
| Imaging reports (X-ray, CT, MRI, ultrasound) | The written reports, plus the films or disc/DICOM files if you have them |
| Recent laboratory results | Blood work, biopsies, pathology reports |
| Current medication list, with doses | Interactions and prior treatments change the options |
| A one-paragraph history in your own words | When it started, what has been tried, what your doctors have advised |
| Your three most important questions | The report should answer what you need decided, not just restate the file |
Records do not need to be translated in advance. Tell us what language they are in and we will let you know if anything is needed. We ask for the minimum set of documents required for the review. We do not ask for your passport, and we do not ask for payment details before you have seen exactly what you are buying.
What the written report covers
The report follows a set structure rather than offering a paragraph of reassurance. It addresses:
- The diagnosis review: whether the findings in your file support the stated diagnosis, and what, if anything, is missing or worth re-testing.
- All reasonable treatment options: including conservative and non-surgical routes, and including the option of not treating. An independent reviewer has no admission target, so “wait and monitor” appears when it is an option.
- Risks and trade-offs in plain language: what each path asks of you, and what it offers.
- Questions to ask your treating doctor, so the report strengthens that relationship rather than bypassing it.
What the report deliberately avoids: outcome promises, success percentages, and hospital sales language. If a claim cannot be responsibly made from your file, it is not in the report.
The fee, published
| Service | Fee (USD) | INR equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Remote consultation (teleconsult) | $50 | ₹4,300 |
| Written independent second opinion | $150 | ₹12,900 |
| Full journey coordination | $1,000 | ₹86,000 |
INR equivalents are approximate, at about ₹86 per US dollar. The USD figure is the fee.
Each fee is credited in full to the next step. Start with a $50 consultation and move to the written opinion, and you pay $100 more, not $150 again. Move from the written opinion to a full treatment journey, and the $150 comes off the $1,000. The complete schedule, milestone structure, and refund rules are on our fees page.
Why “who pays the doctor” is the question that matters
You can find free second opinions online, usually from hospital international desks. Free is not a scam, but it is not free of purpose either. A hospital’s remote opinion exists to bring you to that hospital; it is a well-made sales document, and the treatment plan it proposes will be a treatment plan there.
At the other end, large Western academic medical centers sell remote second opinions to international patients at prices that commonly run from several hundred to several thousand US dollars, based on their published programs as of mid-2026.
A paid, independent opinion from an Indian specialist sits between those two poles: far below Western institutional pricing, and structurally different from the free hospital version, because you pay the reviewing doctor a flat fee, through us, and that doctor earns nothing from what you decide. We take no commissions from hospitals. Our fees are paid by you, published upfront, and itemized separately from your hospital bill.
That independence is the product: if a free opinion and a paid one did the same job, there would be no reason to pay for one.
When a second opinion is most worth it
- Before any major planned surgery, especially where a non-surgical route might exist
- After a serious new diagnosis, before committing to a treatment line
- When two doctors at home have told you different things
- When you are considering travelling for treatment and want an independent read before spending on flights and hospitals
- When family abroad are funding treatment and want a document everyone can read and trust
What happens after the report
Nothing, unless you want it to. Some patients take the report to their local doctor and are treated at home with more confidence. Some proceed to a coordinated treatment journey in India. Some conclude that no further treatment is the right answer. We price the report to be worth its fee on its own, whether or not you ever come back to us.
If you do continue with us, everything you have paid so far counts toward the next step, and you always pay any hospital directly, on the hospital’s own invoice. We never hold treatment money.
Ready to start, or still deciding? Either is fine. Message us on WhatsApp with a sentence or two about your case, or reach us through the contact page. We respond within four business hours, and telling us about your case costs nothing.
Sources
- FAQs on Telemedicine Practice Guidelines — Board of Governors in supersession of the Medical Council of India, April 2020. Remote consultation by a registered practitioner is recognised practice notified under the Indian Medical Council Act, 1956, and the practitioner is authorised to charge a fee and issue a receipt; where a physical examination is necessary but not possible on the mode being used, the consultation is to be stopped and the patient referred for in-person review; the practitioner must retain the records, reports and images used in the review. Accessed 28 July 2026.
- Indian Medical Council (Professional Conduct, Etiquette and Ethics) Regulations, 2002 — National Medical Commission. Clause 6.4.1 bars a physician from soliciting or receiving any commission or bonus for referring, recommending or procuring a patient and from splitting or rebating a fee: the rule behind paying a reviewing specialist a flat fee rather than a referral reward. Accessed 28 July 2026.
- The Digital Personal Data Protection Act, 2023 (Act 22 of 2023, text as on 19 November 2025) — India Code. Section 8(5) requires personal data to be protected by reasonable security safeguards, section 8(6) requires intimation of a breach to the Data Protection Board and each affected person, and section 8(7) requires erasure once the purpose is no longer served: the Indian statutory basis for the record-handling described above. Accessed 28 July 2026.