Dialysis while travelling in Georgia: booking sessions, documents and payment

Who is this page for, and what is a dialysis session for a visiting patient?

This page is for international patients who have haemodialysis at home, at their own centre, and are planning a trip to Georgia: a holiday, a family visit, a business trip or other treatment. Dialysis must not be skipped because of travel, so every scheduled session that falls on the days of your visit has to take place at a dialysis unit in Georgia. The unit accepts such a patient as a "visiting patient": your own doctor stays at home, and the local nephrologist recognises your prescription and works according to it.

The main state programme for dialysis in Georgia serves citizens of Georgia. Under Article 5 of the Law of Georgia on Health Care, state programmes are available to citizens of the country and to stateless persons who hold the appropriate status in Georgia, so a visitor's session is paid. If you are interested in funding for a Georgian patient, it is covered separately in the guide to the state haemodialysis programme.

How far in advance should you start planning?

The general rule is simple: sessions first, then flights and hotel. A 2026 patient information leaflet from University Hospitals Birmingham (part of the NHS) advises patients to let their own centre know as early as possible, ideally two to three months in advance, because some countries require additional tests and there may be no place available on the dates you want. For Georgia, too, this lead time is realistic, especially in the summer months and over holidays.

1. A conversation with your nephrologist

   Check how safe flying and travelling are for your condition, and whether you need a hepatitis B immunity check or a booster dose of the vaccine.

2. City, dates and frequency

   You tell us where you will stay, on which days, and how many sessions a week you need. We contact nearby units and compare their free slots.

3. Advance confirmation and price

   After reviewing your documents, the unit confirms in writing the days and times of your sessions and the cost of one session. Only then do you buy your ticket.

4. Updating your tests

   Viral markers and other tests are done within the time frame the receiving unit requires, often a few weeks before departure.

If you are coming for other treatment, for example an operation, dialysis should be planned at the same clinic or near it, and the treating team must know about it from the start. In that case the whole trip is arranged by a personal coordinator, and the clinic selection stage is described on the clinic selection service page.

Which documents and tests does a dialysis unit ask for?

Each unit sets its own exact list and the time frame for test results. The table shows the package that European centres usually ask of a visiting patient; for example, the Lausanne University Hospital page names data from the last three sessions and test results from the last three months. For a unit in Georgia, we confirm the final list in writing in each case.

Documents in English or Russian are usually accepted, but this is checked separately with each unit. If your centre's documents are in another language, our laboratory test results translation service translates them, keeping the units and reference ranges. We send your health data only to the unit you confirm.

Why do viral markers matter so much, and what happens when you return?

During haemodialysis many patients are treated in the same room, so control of blood-borne infections is the foundation of how a unit works. Some centres treat a patient who carries hepatitis B or C on a separate machine or in a separate room. This does not mean dialysis will be refused, but it makes finding a place harder, so please tell us about a positive result from the outset, so that we look for a suitable unit.

The other side is often overlooked: what your home centre will require when you come back from abroad. The Birmingham leaflet mentioned above names broad regions, including Eastern Europe and the Middle East, after return from which a patient has dialysis for three months in a separate room on a dedicated machine, has hepatitis tests repeated once every two weeks, and is suspended from the transplant waiting list for the same period. Centres in other countries have their own rules.

• Before you travel, ask your home centre whether it regards a session held in Georgia as one that requires isolation or additional tests on your return.
• If you are on the transplant waiting list, find out whether your place on the list will be suspended, and for how long.
• Keep the records of every session, so that your home centre can see where and how your dialysis was carried out.

Who pays for the sessions, and what does the price include?

A visitor's dialysis is paid for by the patient or by their insurer, if the policy or the health system at home reimburses sessions abroad. Many countries' public systems do not: the NHS in the United Kingdom, for example, does not cover dialysis outside the country unless there is a reciprocal agreement with the country concerned. So ask your health fund or insurer in advance which documents and what form of invoice it requires for reimbursement.

What the price includes differs from unit to unit. Before you agree, clarify in writing:

• whether the price of one session includes consumables, injections given during the session and seeing the nephrologist;
• whether a test taken after your arrival is paid separately, if the unit asks for it in addition;
• whether an advance payment or deposit is required, and what happens if you cancel a session;
• in what currency and by what means payment is accepted, and whether an invoice is issued in English, with the date of each session.

The means of payment is always checked with the unit before you arrive. According to a 2022 clarification by the National Bank of Georgia, Georgian banks do not process payments with Mir cards; Visa cards issued by Russian banks do not work abroad either. For this reason we do not promise any particular way of paying in advance. The overall picture is given in the guide to treatment costs and payment.

Mandatory insurance and dialysis

Since 1 January 2026, a foreign visitor to Georgia must hold a health and accident policy for the whole period of the visit. The minimum sum insured is GEL 30,000, and the document itself must be issued in Georgian or English. Such a policy meets the entry requirement, but it usually does not cover planned, regular dialysis. So check two things in the policy: whether an emergency related to a chronic condition is covered, and how to contact the insurer at night or at the weekend. More details are in the insurance guide.

What do we handle, and what does the unit do?

The division of responsibility should be clear from the start. The medical part, that is, the session parameters, medicines and assessment of your condition, is the job of the receiving unit's doctor and nurses. We link up the organisational chain, so that every session takes place on time and with the right documents.

In Georgia, hospitals operate under a permit, issued by the agency within the Ministry of Health system that regulates medical and pharmaceutical activities. Government Resolution No. 385 of 2010 names dialysis separately among the services that carry additional permit conditions, such as the artificial kidney machine and the water treatment system. We could not find a public online register where a patient could check a permit themselves, so we ask the unit for a copy of its permit and check that it also covers dialysis services.

Before your first session, the unit will ask for your written consent: the Georgian Law on Patient Rights lists dialysis among the interventions that require written informed consent. The form may be in Georgian, and the law does not provide a right to an interpreter, so if you wish, a medical interpreter will be at your side when you sign.

Medicines, the day of your flight and the unexpected

The medicines you take between sessions should be brought with you, enough for the whole visit plus a small reserve. Up to ten standard packs of an ordinary medicine for personal use can be brought in without documents, while a larger quantity requires a medical document. A medicine containing a narcotic or psychotropic substance can only be brought in as a 31-day supply, with a prescription or a doctor's certificate and a customs declaration. For injectable medicines, such as erythropoietin, a doctor's letter listing all your medicines will be useful on the plane; check the storage temperature with the airline in advance. Details of the border rules are on the medicines service page.

Your flight should fit your session schedule: the day of arrival and the day of your first session are usually planned so that the gap between sessions does not become longer than usual for you. The exact interval is set by your nephrologist, and we coordinate the flight time and session time accordingly. If you are holidaying outside Tbilisi, for example by the sea or in the mountains, check the distance to the nearest unit in advance, because travelling there several times a week changes a holiday plan considerably.

If you feel unwell during your visit, call 112, Georgia's single emergency number, and then your insurer and your coordinator. What to do in an emergency is described on the emergency assistance service page.

What should you take home with you?

After your last session, ask the unit for the records of every session held, the results of any tests taken there, and a note on whether anything in your prescription was changed. Under the Law on Patient Rights, you obtain a copy of your medical records on written request; in practice the records are often issued on the last day itself, if we ask for them in advance. If your home centre needs them in another language, we arrange the translation, and the full set of documents is prepared by our documents for home service.

As soon as you are back, show the records to your nephrologist. They will assess whether additional tests are needed and under which protocol your dialysis should continue. For future trips, keep the contact details of the unit where you have already been: on a repeat visit, exchanging documents is much faster.

Frequently asked questions about dialysis while travelling in Georgia