Second Opinion
What is “second opinion”?
- “Second opinion” means medical advice given by an expert other than one’s primary care doctor.
- A second opinion is provided for a patient who is not comfortable with the explanation about his/her illness and possible treatment received from the primary care doctor, and is wondering whether that is the best possible treatment and thus desires to seek opinions of another medical expert about his/her symptoms and therapeutic strategy.
- Our purpose for giving an “opinion of a second medical expert” to a patient and his/her family members is to make the patient and the family members better understand the illness and the therapeutic strategy and get satisfactory treatment of his/her own choice from the primary care doctor.
- Although we are not going to conduct tests and provide treatment to a patient, we give advice based on the test data provided by the patient’s primary care doctor and by taking time to listen to the patient’s concerns.
Who can get a second opinion?
We give a second opinion to a patient himself/herself in principle. However, we may provide a consultation with a member of the patient’s family with a letter of consent from the patient in case the patient is unable to visit the hospital due to compelling reasons.
We cannot accommodate the patient’s request for a second opinion in the following cases.
- When the patient’s primary goal is to be transferred to our hospital for treatment
- When the patient is consulting with regard to dissatisfaction with his/her primary care doctor as well as matters related to medical errors and legal disputes
- When the patient is consulting with regard to details of medical fees and medical care benefits
- When the person is consulting with regard to the treatment approach for a patient who is already deceased and for the purpose of evaluating the appropriateness after the treatment
- When the patient’s primary care doctor has not given his/her consent to seek a second opinion
- When the patient desires to be referred to a particular doctor/medical institute
- When the patient does not have the materials necessary for the consultation (referral for second opinion, test data, radiograph, etc.)
General rules for getting a second opinion
- This is by appointment only.
- We do not conduct re-examination of patients.
- Unless there is a particular doctor designated, we select the most appropriate expert for a patient’s consultation.
Any patient, who is seeking a second opinion, should:
- Ask his/her primary care doctor to write a referral for second opinion and send it along with the test data, radiograph, etc. to our hospital at least a day before his/her appointment.
- Ask his/her primary care doctor to make an appointment with the Second Opinion Outpatient Clinic for him/her.
- Wait to be informed by his/her primary care doctor of his/her appointment date and time.
- Bring the “Confirmation of appointment with the Second Opinion Outpatient Clinic” with you when you visit the hospital.
Please bring the following.
- Referral for second opinion
- Test data (including pathological findings in some cases)
- Radiograph (CT, MRI, etc.)
- Only in the case of a visit by a family member: A letter of consent from the patient (free form)
Fees and Duration
- We give explanations to the patient and his/her family members as well as a response in writing to the patient’s primary care doctor.
For a session up to 30 minutes 11,000 yen
For a session over 30 minutes 16,500 yen - A session shall not exceed 60 minutes due to scheduling issues.
Note:
We are unable to accommodate a patient’s request for a second opinion if he/she visits the hospital without a referral for second opinion, test data, radiographs, etc. In such cases, we will direct the patient to the Miscellaneous Consultations Window.