Flagship pathway · Traditional Chinese Medicine
Traditional Chinese medicine, practised where it is part of the hospital system.
In China, traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is delivered inside the hospital system, by licensed TCM physicians, frequently alongside conventional care. Patients travel for structured programs — daily acupuncture, tuina (therapeutic bodywork), and individualized herbal prescriptions — most often for chronic pain support, rehabilitation support after stroke or surgery, sleep and stress difficulties, and supportive care during and after conventional cancer treatment.
Our position, stated plainly: TCM on this pathway is supportive care that complements your conventional treatment. It is not presented as a cure for serious disease, and it never replaces diagnosis or treatment by your physicians.
Request a Care Pathway Review How Fees WorkHow the TCM pathway works
Start from home — consultation review
You describe what you are seeking support with, and your relevant history and current medications are reviewed — through a separate secure channel where records are needed — so the TCM physicians can say whether a program is appropriate for you, and what it would realistically involve.
Before you travel
Your written pathway outline names the institution, sets out the program's length and daily structure, and gives an itemized quote. Where the program runs alongside conventional treatment, the outline states how the two are coordinated, and your own physicians are kept informed.
During your program
Daily sessions over typically two to four weeks: acupuncture, tuina, and other modalities as prescribed, with herbal prescriptions adjusted by the treating physicians as the program proceeds. Interpretation is coordinated throughout.
After you return
You receive a translated summary of your program and prescriptions, prepared for your own physician. Any herbal medicine you take home is documented in that summary — tell your physicians about everything you are taking, and check your own country's import rules for herbal products before you travel; we raise this in your pathway review.
Herbal medicines are medicines: they can interact with prescribed drugs, and their quality and contents are the responsibility of the prescribing institution's pharmacy. Do not stop or change any prescribed medication on the basis of a TCM program — changes of that kind belong to the physician who prescribed it.
Who this is not for: anyone seeking an alternative to emergency care, or to disease-modifying treatment for a serious condition. Where a review concludes a program would not be appropriate alongside your current treatment, we will say so.
Process and timeline
Inquiry
Day 0. A short text inquiry; first reply within 24–48 hours. No medical records at this stage.
Consultation review
Typically 1–2 weeks: whether a program fits your situation, and what it would involve.
Program & written quote
Typically within a further week: named institution, program structure and dates, and an itemized written quote.
Program in China
Typically 2–4 weeks of daily sessions, with a translated summary and take-home plan at the end.
From first inquiry to starting a program, most TCM pathways take three to five weeks.
Cost
| Program (institution charges) | Institution charges for TCM programs vary by institution, by program design, and by the individual case. We therefore do not publish prices for acupuncture sessions or structured programs. Longer or inpatient programs are likewise quoted per case. Before you make any commitment, your full charges are confirmed in a written, itemized quote prepared for your specific program. Paid to the institution. |
|---|---|
| Our coordination service fee | Quoted in writing before booking, as a fixed figure. The pathway review is a paid first step, its fee confirmed in writing before you proceed. Our revenue is this service fee only — we receive nothing from the institution. |
| Travel & stay | At cost and arranged to your preference. Programs run over several weeks, so accommodation suited to a longer stay is set out in your written quote. |
We do not publish indicative prices for TCM programs: the spread between institutions, program designs and individual cases is too wide for a published figure to be meaningful. Your binding figures are the ones in the written, itemized quote prepared for your specific program, confirmed before you commit to anything.
Pricing policy — no TCM program prices are published on this page. Institution charges are confirmed per case in your written, itemized quote, before any commitment.
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