International Remote Second Opinion Program

The Children’s National International Remote Second Opinion (RSO) Program provides you and your child access to leading pediatric specialists at Children’s National Hospital, so you can be informed of your options prior to deciding on your child’s care – without ever having to travel outside of your home country.

Our program offers:

A designated clinical intake team who will assist you through every step of the process
Easy online submission process for your child’s clinical information and radiology studies
Medical review by Children’s National pediatric specialists
Comprehensive written medical second opinion report
Post-opinion follow-up and assistance with referrals

How the Remote Second Opinion Program Works

What is a remote second opinion?

What will my remote second opinion report include?

Why do you need our local provider’s contact information?

Are there any states or countries in which you do not offer this service?

Are there other reasons that may cause my request to be ineligible for a remote second opinion?

Do you offer any other services if my request is ineligible for a remote second opinion?

What is the cost of a second opinion?

How do I pay for my opinion?

Will my insurance cover the cost of my second opinion?

The Remote Second Opinion Process

Step 1: Submit a Request

Submit the parent and child’s demographic and clinical information – in English – along with the contact information of the local physician on the Online Request Form. To successfully complete the form, have the following information available:

Child’s demographic information
Medical records in English (which could include pathology, laboratory, surgical and diagnostic imaging reports)
DICOM imaging
Local provider’s contact information
Any specific questions you would like answered

Once the form is submitted, the clinical intake team can provide additional guidance if you have radiology images or pathology slides to share.

Step 2: Assigning an Expert

Step 3: Review of Medical Information

Step 4: Follow-Up Questions After Receiving the Second Opinion

Disclaimer

Children’s National provides second opinions as a resource for consultative medical advice and treatment recommendations for patients and/or families who seek a second opinion on their medical conditions. This service is different from the diagnostic service typically provided by a physician. This is because the physician providing this service will not have the benefit of information that would be obtained by examining the patient in person, observing their physical condition, or conducting diagnostic testing to the specifications of the physician. Therefore, the physician may not be aware of facts or information that would affect the physician´s medical opinion of the patient´s condition. In some cases, these facts may be critical to the opinion. Children’s National is not responsible for potential errors in opinion resulting from missing, incomplete, poorly translated or illegible records, or poor-quality images.