Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) in 1 Spine surgery clinic in Köln

Context: Foreign patient/tourist Lack of signage for foreign patients is what exacerbated this horrible experience not knowing what is the correct entrance, the fact that you can't go any doctor and must go straight to the emergency reception for example (flat fee is also 200 EU which luckily was refunded by my travel insurance) 1 receptionist out of 7 was friendly, rest were horrible to an ill person despite being polite as possible 1 doctor in the emergency ward was pretty careless after dismissing me from the hospital (and was dismissive), not even providing a proper dressed bandage for my wound after removing a drip needle that was never used to give fluids (something usually done for pain or dehydration - I was expecting some for relief but none was given) A trainee had better bedside manners The doctors in the gyni section were absolutely fantastic, explaining everything, being friendly etc. However, nothing was found for the cause of my pain which was distressing and no pain relief was offered even. A traumatic experience for someone traveling alone. I hope this review helps someone in the future. Will never be traveling back to Cologne as the reception to tourists is 99% of the time cold as ice.

First , I can not comment on medical services , but the buildings and the arrangements, the wide variety of specialties and advanced equipment all are amazing. Well organized campus.

My wife gave birth there. This was the only good experience we had in hospitals. I want to give thumbs up for the best team in the world and especially to Frau Hannah. 🙏

Waiting time was about 1.5 hours It was already borderline. I urgently sought an orthopedist because of a herniated disc. Unfortunately, the reality is this. Several people rejected me on the phone. I asked for an appointment by email. After about a week the answer came. You can come on November 23rd. After a few days, a lady called me and gave me an appointment to see the gentleman on November 17th due to the pain Kubosh. This doctor did everything right for me. He chose the right therapy for me. He took his time and explained every step. I am very satisfied with this clinic.

Badly organized. After waiting four months for an appointment for a stress fracture in the foot, it was postponed again two days beforehand. There was an alternative appointment at short notice, but I had to cancel it after waiting two hours. It was not possible to say how long I would have to stay in the waiting room and I had to go back to work. If it's already so long to find an appointment, I unfortunately don't understand why the waiting time on site is still so long. Conclusion: The clinic only seems suitable for people with an exceptional amount of time. It may be easier for private patients.

In March of this year, my wife received an artificial hip joint at the joint clinic. She was very well informed in advance by Professor Konstantinidis. She spent a total of 4 days in the clinic... Room top...food great.... Nursing staff very accommodating! The physiotherapist is great! Today she is fully mobile again and has no restrictions. This clinic can be recommended 100 percent.

I had a great experience giving birth at UKE. everyone working there was super nice, cooperative and friendly at the registration and at the Kreißaal as well as in the postpartum care. We requested the family room, which became available in few hours post our request ( you do need to keep following up the availability status of the room til you get it though ) For the mom, you need to get a shirt/ dress to give birth in. And pjs for afterwards as well as the bathing supplies For the baby, you will only need to have the go home outfit and maybe a pacifier. All else will be supplied by the hospital. The meals served are really good too. Not the typical tasteless hospital food .. you will need to have some snacks with you for in between the meals especially if you’re planning on breastfeeding. All in all, i had a really good experience and highly recommend the hospital

Waste of time! I got food posioned and waited for hours! Nobody checked me and I had to leave because another patient came and told us she was waiting for 7 hours. I mean this is an emergency, it shouldn't be like that. Aside from all these stuff there was very rude. I was fighting with pain and with the people at the same time. Not even talking about the money I paid for the taxi because I thought I can get help here. I don't know what I am gonna do if I ever have more risky situations like that. This has to be changed.

18 year old friend of mine has been hospitalized due to a tumor. because of a so called "emergency" a vacation had to be cancelled and he didn't even make it into the infirmary. during the operation they managed to injure the liver (which isn't exactly spottet on the head) and he was in a critical state. he died less than a week after the operation and the doctors had the audacity to say "have a nice evening". worst hospital ever. will make sure none of my loved one's ever go there again.

My worst experience in a hospital for far. My room is beside a place that are remodeling, 12 hours of the sound of a hammer constantly. Due my operation I can not eat solids, so the only thing they are offering me is pocket soup, no veggies no fruits, nothing. And forget about to find the manager, she is never in the office, and she will never pick up the phone. The personal in my station are good the most of them, the problem in hospital is systematic.

The most irresponsible and unprofessional team I've ever met. My oparation was cancelled one day before the last minute, after all the preparation. Even worse, for more than one month, no apologize, no explaination and no call back to arrange a new time for the oparation.

Worst hospital I have ever been too. They are under staffed and under funded and care more about making money then care of patients. Cancelled appointments without letting patients know due to broken equipment and staff shortages. You would get batter care in a third world country hospital. Asklepios is a shinning example of how broken the German Medical System is.

Drink water taste is terrible. Food is disaster. Often I got completely different meals than the one I ordered or miss a lot of options like fruit or vegetables. You can’t even have proper hot water for tee. Coffee is too privileged to be discussed here!!! All this would have been solved if i wasn’t locked in the nuclear medicine station, but since I’m not allowed to be visited or to go out, i couldn’t provide myself with proper water or nutrients. I really hope when i come back in 6 months from now, that you improve the situation. If i can give you negative star i would have done.

The care provided to our child before, during, and after birth was exceptional. Both my wife and baby are now in excellent health, thanks to the dedicated team's utmost care. We appreciated the English-speaking doctors and nurses, which made it easy to understand our family's health progress during our 5-day stay. While there was a minor concern about the lack of a doctor's visit for my wife, it's worth noting that doctors were regularly visiting for our baby's health. Overall, we are grateful for the excellent service and care received at Helios Hospital. Thank you! ❤️❤️❤️

So far, so good. Easy parking, lovely location, good restaurant. And the service I have received from the 3 departments I visited was 1st class. Well done.

Never go here, Please. Dr. Julia Brzoska promotes in Doctorlib reception of publicly insured patients, but they do not. They have unqualified personal on the front desk unaware fully of regulations. It wasted my time in such a delicate topic. They are another private clinic sustained by marketing.

Most Traumatizing Medical Experience Ever! While the Meo clinic might impress with its aesthetics and cordial staff, its administrative and financial aspects are deeply flawed: Lack of Transparency: I never received a clear financial breakdown for my treatments, and attempts to seek clarity were met with resistance. Billing Issues: A year post-treatment, I got bills escalated to collection agencies and court by PVS, an outsourced payment firm used by many of the clinic's doctors. The initial bills of approximately 3800 EUR more than doubled. Worse, the bills had incorrect patient details. Missing Medical Records: Despite continuous requests over two years, I've only gotten records from one out of the four doctors I saw. A recent visit revealed a mere two notes from 22 visits and a few prescription copies – no record of MRI/MRT scans, ultrasounds, cancer tests, or blood tests. Poor Communication: The clinic's staff claim that doctors operate autonomously and aren't answerable to them. The doctors, on the other hand, blame PVS, their invoice firm. PVS remains unresponsive, creating a maddening loop of non-accountability. Legal Issues: While withholding necessary medical documentation from me, the clinic keeps adding to my bills via lawyers. They know I need the documents for insurance, but continue to stonewall all communication attempts, even from my insurance provider. In summation, my experience with the Meo clinic has been nothing short of a nightmare. Despite promises of proficient service and clear English communication (given my expat status during the Covid lockdowns), I've received neither medical results nor proper documentation of treatments. Their blatant disregard and lack of support have left me feeling abused and overlooked. I warn potential patients, especially international and EU visitors to Germany, to be cautious before visiting this clinic! Expect zero documentation, no effective communication, and exorbitant bills. This clinic seems indifferent to the profound impacts such negligence might have on your life, expecting you to bear costs out-of-pocket despite insurance coverage. The only "documentation" you might get are bills from PVS that state amounts without any clear patient context. When reaching out to the clinic for help they clearly state that they aren’t responsible for any of “their doctors”… but at the same time advertise their clinic as a fully integrated medical institution that takes care of everything for you as their patent! It’s absolutely scandalous!

**EDIT TO RESPOND TO COMMENT*** While I understand the reply is mainly to manage reputation for people reading this review, I spent 35 minutes trying to 'rectify' the issue in the clinic and was met with eye rolls and sighs from unhelpful management. I understand there are protocols to follow in regards to billing, it is just a shame that this time it seems those protocols weren't adhered to and extra charges were added. I believe my email address and phone number are on file so I am happy to discuss further if you wish to reach out. ------ ORIGINAL POST Quoted €80-150 for a doctors consultation and after a 12 minute consultation was given a bill for €394,88. Was eventually discounted by €80 euros as was able to show I was charged for services I didn’t receive but still was grossly overcharged and my lack of speaking German was taken advantage of (one small example was my 12 minute consultation was charged as “Mind. 20mins” which the obnoxious manager tried to tell me means “under 20 minutes” and wouldn’t change). Even when you do the right thing and ask for a price upfront you still get ripped off. Please think twice before attending this clinic as they are not upfront at all and are very deceitful. The receptionist was good and very apologetic but all other staff dealt with were rude and unhelpful. The final explanation is “I’m sorry but the professor can charge what he wants and won’t change anything”. Be careful if you don’t speak German as you will likely get overcharged too.

Very kind and caring staff who took care of me when I was admitted with an ambulance in the middle of the night. Big respect!

Good services, but the emergency wasn't fast! Reception of emergency was so unfriendly, and rude!

Experience with this hospital could be described in two words - HORRENDOUS and UNPROFFESIONAL.. At the reception they lost my ID card. After two phone calls and one visit, the hospital reluctantly assured me that they didn't have it, which is why I couldn't fly back to my country and my flyticket was forfeited. After a few weeks, without notifying me by text/call/email (even though they had all my contact info) they sent me this ID card by post (after it had already been blocked).. The invoice that came home cost 190 € even though the hospital told me the price would be around 60 €. This whole situation was made worse by the unhelpful and unpleasant attitude of the staff. It had cost me lot of time and money and the hospital didn’t do anything to make up for the inconvieniences caused.