We are here as the Patient's advocate, not the doctor's

I realized my responsibility as an American with my peers' safety, of course, comfort, and indeed their lives in mind, would be to be an advocate for the PATIENT, not the doctor, and to give my peers as many options in skilled, innovative, English-speaking Doctors that I could, rather than being "loyal" to one or a select group of doctors that would compensate MNB for our services to them. From my own experience at being a patient there, I knew that my bi-lingual fluency in Portuguese, cultural understanding after living in Brazil for several years, and my local contacts and savvy could help me screen a surgeon, hospital or practice like no other, helping to insure YOU have your choice of the best and that certain standards and expectations of care would be met. You have options for doctors in your own city and can dig up his local reputation, why should it be any different going abroad?

Since we welcomed our first patient in May of 2003, and hundreds of patients later, MNB has constantly been evolving and GROWING and has spawned many others in Brazil, trying to duplicate MNB's business idea, however without the dedication and commitment to the PATIENT that MNB has and definitely without our Soul. Remember that I and most of my staff has actually BEEN a patient just like you. Other services have remained dedicated (exclusive) to the Surgeon, preferring to advocate and work for the surgeon in spite of certain concerns that MNB does NOT overlook or tend to "gloss over," rather than acting as an advocate for the patient. There are plenty of excellent surgeons in Brazil, and you deserve access to them and to know that they have been LOCALLY screened and have proven credentials and local reputations, but you also need to know that they are responsible, ethical and confident enough to NOT demand exclusivity and to align themselves with a partner that can provide truly individualized and specific support for their foreign patient. The overwhelming attitude of MNB's medical providers is, "Let me do what I love and do best and let MedNetBrazil do what they do best."

Our Service is multi-layered:

"Patient Advocate": inquiring sincerely and without bias, to find the most respected and skilled English-speaking surgeon and ancillary care providers who would act with responsibility and integrity with our patients.

"American Front Office Staff": assisting the patient with technical, medical and planning information about what to expect and how to prepare and book their trip and surgery, as well as follow-up once they return home should the patient have any questions or needs post op.

"Surgeon's Receptionist": assisting the surgeon and providing all up front contact as his "Front Office Staff" to the foreign patient, scheduling pre-op tests, reviewing labs, providing paperwork in English, creating a Medically thorough Treatment Plan, etc.

"Travel and Trip Planning Assistance". Offering searches for airfaire and helping the patient schedule, plan and coordinate the airline trip, make hotel accommodations, instruct them on visa requirements, etc

"Medical Concierge Service": completely bi-lingual accompaniment and 24/7 phone support for the patient from the moment they arrive, coordinating not only all their medical appointments but also other needs, providing transportation, daily contact and Nursing/Home Health care for the patient. This also benefits the surgeon in knowing the patient has 24/7 support that he could never provide adequately for them.

Do YOU pay for this service and integrity, absolutely. Does the surgeon pay for what we do and provide for him?  Absolutely.  We are not exclusive to one doctor or city and we will NOT have a certain specialist on our list of providers in a certain city just because “we should” if they cannot meet our standards. When ethical and reputational concerns surfaced regarding a surgeon in one of our first cities in Espirito Santos, we did not replace him with another surgeon in that city simply because there were no other viable alternatives of surgeons that met our criteria of experience, surgical expertise and favorable local reputation and could responsibly accommodate our clients.  Although other WLS surgeons in the city approached MNB to take his place, we turned them down.  Did this cost MNB revenue and slack??  Yes. But they either “founded” their own “service” or aligned themselves with the Brazilian copycat services that have sprung up in MNB’s footsteps there.  I wish them luck, but MNB simply won’t compromise.  Events that have occurred since the parting of ways have proven this a most wise move on MNB’s part.