Glossary · Types of transport · also: repatriation, patient repatriation, medical return transport
Medical repatriation — also called return transport — brings a person who has fallen ill or had an accident abroad or far from home back home or to a hospital near where they live. It can be carried out by road, on a scheduled flight with an escort or by air ambulance. Basic health insurance generally does not cover repatriation from abroad.
Also called: repatriation · patient repatriation · medical return transport · return transport from abroad
Anyone who has an accident or falls seriously ill on holiday often wants to continue treatment at home: in their own language, close to their family, with their familiar doctor. People who cannot yet travel on their own after an operation abroad also need accompanied return transport. The prerequisite is that the patient is fit to be transported — the treating doctors on site assess this.
From neighbouring countries and nearby European countries, return transport by road in a patient transport vehicle is often the simplest solution: lying down or seated, with breaks and without changes. For long distances, a scheduled flight with medical escort is an option, and for seriously ill patients an air ambulance — these are usually organised by the insurer or an assistance organisation.
Mobimed carries out repatriation by road within Switzerland and from other European countries, lying down, in a wheelchair or seated. Intensive care and ventilation transport are not included.
Compulsory basic health insurance generally does not cover repatriation from abroad. It is often covered by travel insurance, supplementary insurance with cover abroad, a credit card travel protection plan or an assistance organisation of which you are a member. Important: many insurers require the repatriation to be agreed with them in advance.
So first clarify with your insurer what is covered, and obtain cost approval before the transport is organised.
Helpful are a medical report on fitness to travel, the address of the hospital abroad with a contact person, the destination address in Switzerland and the insurance details. With this information, the journey can be planned quickly. At Mobimed, we discuss the process, time window and costs with you personally in advance.
Return transport does not have to cross a border. People who fall ill or have an accident in Ticino, Valais or the Bernese Oberland often want to be transferred to a hospital or home in the Basel region as quickly as possible. We carry out such return journeys within Switzerland lying down, seated or in a wheelchair.
Here the rules of basic health insurance for transport apply: if medically necessary, it covers half of the costs, up to a maximum of CHF 500 per calendar year. Supplementary insurance often covers more — ask in advance.
Thomas, 58, from Pratteln, breaks his leg skiing in the Black Forest and has surgery in a German hospital. After a week he may go home, but is not yet allowed to sit. His travel insurance issues the cost approval, and Mobimed collects him lying down and takes him straight to the Kantonsspital Baselland (Cantonal Hospital Basel-Landschaft) in Liestal for further treatment.
With our medical repatriation service, we organise ground-based return transport home or to a clinic for further treatment – within Switzerland and internationally.
Learn more: Medical repatriation & journeys abroad
In a stretcher transport, the patient is carried on a patient stretcher in a vehicle specially equipped for the purpose.
Learn more: Stretcher transport
We take you from your front door to the terminal – in your own wheelchair, seated or by stretcher.
Learn more: Airport transferBasic health insurance generally does not. It is usually covered by travel or supplementary insurance or an assistance organisation — often only if agreed in advance.
Yes, by road within Switzerland and from other European countries, lying down, in a wheelchair or seated. We discuss the process and costs with you personally in advance.
Client, patient, appointment — one form that goes directly to our dispatch team. Prefer to call? That works too.
Recognition by the Swiss Interassociation for Rescue Services (IVR/IAS) is not a self-assessment but the result of an external audit of vehicles, equipment, training and procedures. Mobimed was the first patient transport provider in north-western Switzerland to receive it — and still holds it today.
Check the certificate in the IVR register