Closing the gap: how Doctor Emergency and Ambulances is transforming foreign patient care in Albania

Albania has become one of the fastest-growing tourism markets in Southern and Eastern Europe, drawing millions of foreign visitors every year to its coastline, mountains, and historic cities. But rapid tourism growth has outpaced the development of healthcare infrastructure suited to international travellers – until now.

Doctor Emergency and Ambulances, based in Tirana, has spent this year building a solution: formal partnership agreements with public hospitals, concentrated near the country’s major touristic areas, designed specifically to improve how foreign patients are treated, documented, and supported when they need medical care abroad.

The problem

Until recently, foreign travellers who required treatment in Albania’s public hospital system occupied an uncertain position. They were not part of the local healthcare framework in the way residents are, and hospitals had few structured processes for managing their cases – from documentation to communication with insurers back home.

This year, Doctor Emergency and Ambulances signed formal agreements with public hospitals located mainly near Albania’s key tourist destinations

This left gaps: slower information exchange, inconsistent case management, and limited visibility for the travel insurers ultimately responsible for the patient’s care and costs.

As a company providing primary healthcare services, medical transport, and on-the-spot medical visits across the Western Balkans, Southeastern Europe, and Greece, we saw this gap daily. Insurers were often working with incomplete information about their members’ cases. Hospitals, meanwhile, had limited incentives or structure to prioritise the specific needs of international patients – despite growing patient volumes.

A new model of cooperation

This year, Doctor Emergency and Ambulances signed formal agreements with public hospitals located mainly near Albania’s key tourist destinations. These agreements create a structured channel between the hospital, our case management team, and the patient’s insurer – ensuring that when a traveller is admitted, the right information reaches the right people quickly.

A growing tourism economy places an obligation on the healthcare system to treat visitors with the same hospitality Albania is known for elsewhere

For insurers, this means access to more complete and timely information about their members’ treatment, at a modest additional cost. For hospitals, it means a clearer framework – and a financial contribution – for treating patients who were previously outside the formal system. For travellers, it means faster, better documented, and more closely monitored care during what is often a frightening and vulnerable moment abroad.

Why do documentation and coordination matter?

Medical information exchange is not a bureaucratic detail – it is a safety issue. When a hospital’s documentation and communication processes are properly managed, treatment decisions are better informed, continuity of care improves, and the risk of miscommunication between hospital, patient, and insurer drops significantly. In a healthcare system that is still developing the infrastructure to match its tourism growth, this kind of case management support plays a critical role.

Changing how care is delivered

One of the most significant effects of this project has been cultural rather than administrative. As foreign patients become a recognised, structured part of hospital caseloads – rather than an occasional, undocumented exception – medical professionals are adapting. Doctors and hospital staff who previously had little structured experience treating travellers with different languages, expectations, and support networks are now engaging with this patient group more consistently.

This shift matters. A growing tourism economy places an obligation on the healthcare system to treat visitors with the same hospitality Albania is known for elsewhere. As hospitals begin receiving structured contributions for treating international patients, they gain both the incentive and the resources to keep improving standards of service, documentation, and communication – a virtuous cycle that benefits every traveller who falls ill or is injured far from home.

The company has been shortlisted among the top three healthcare providers at this year’s ITIJ Awards in Istanbul

Recognition on the international stage

This year’s project builds on Doctor Emergency and Ambulances’ broader mission: to make medical care safer and more accessible for travellers across a region where healthcare infrastructure varies widely.

That work has not gone unnoticed – the company has been shortlisted among the top three healthcare providers at this year’s ITIJ Awards in Istanbul, a recognition that reflects the growing importance of structured medical case management in emerging tourist destinations.

Looking ahead

As Albania’s visitor numbers continue to climb, the need for reliable, well-documented medical care for foreign travellers will only grow. Doctor Emergency and Ambulances is committed to expanding its hospital network, deepening its partnerships, and continuing to serve as the bridge between international insurers, local healthcare providers, and the travellers who need care the most.