Serenity Portugal Reviews 

My husband and I moved to Lisbon from the US in November, 2025. We were fortunate to have friends who referred us to Serenity before we arrived. Upon our arrival, connecting with Serenity was one of our top priorities. In a few days we were assigned to and met with Beatriz Maduro, RN & Senior Case Manager.
Beatriz has been incredibly helpful from day one. She prepared diligently for our initial meeting. Not only did she know what our medical issues were, but she had already made appointments for us with specialists in those areas. Unfortunately, I caught a viral stomach flu within a few weeks of arriving and needed to go to the ER. Beatriz arranged two visits to the ER at a hospital of her former affiliation which considerably expedited seeing the nurse and doctors. This flu lasted for six weeks. Beatriz contacted me every few days to see what needed to be done. She even met me at the hospital to deliver some medication. She is able to read lab reports, translate from Portuguese and helped make the duration of this illness less stressful.
Beatriz is able to navigate between our doctor and our needs. She is always positive, cheerful and motivating. We are tremendously happy with the services we receive from Serenity via Beatriz.

Pablo Macedo and the team at Serenity have been an amazing help to my husband and me. We are American immigrants, here for about 4 months, and suddenly needed to navigate the health care system -- once through an "Emergency Room" visit on a Sunday morning and again when a prescription ran low prior to an appointment. Both times Pablo and the team helped us get appointments and helped us navigate the new system. Thank you!

One request: for "Can't Wait" appointments, please remember to explain or remind patients that the doctor will send the appointment meeting link something like 1 minute before the appointment time -- not a day or an hour before!

I have been using Serenity’s services for the last two and a half years. My contact person is Rafaela and she couldn’t be better! Always helpful and friendly. Recently I was to told I need back surgery, which scares me on a number of levels. Rafaela helped me through a second opinion and several tests. She has made all so much easier to deal with. I know I can count on her for excellent doctor recommendations and general medical guidance. Thank you, Rafaela!

Tiago Martin, has been invaluable to me in my first year. I panicked one day (with a medical emergency), sent an email to Tiago, and within a few hours he had called me, gave me a diagnosis and a plan of action. And he followed-up.

Prior to my immigration to Portugal, I had no experience with the Portuguese health system. I needed guidance with both the private and public health sectors. My Nurse Case Manager, Tiago, helped me maneuver the maze of health care. Tiago was available whenever I had a question. I strongly recommend the services of Serenity-Portugal to help with your health care needs.

Normally, I can manage through the medical maze and advocate for myself. However, moving to a new country with a different medical system, without a fluency of a new language (yet) can be quite the challenge. Serenity made the transition a smooth and seamless one. The thoroughness and care I've received with each interaction I've had with them is above and beyond. From assessment of an issue, to searching for the best path to take or best doctor for my needs, to making the appointment / communicating with staff, to following up with me after the appointment, to educating me - I couldn't be in better or more caring hands. A special shout-out to Daniela - you're the best!

I am so very glad I choose Serenity to help me with healthcare issues here in Portugal. I moved to Portugal last October. Even though I’ve been working at speaking Portuguese, it’s going to be some time before I’m fluent with it, so there are things like selecting a doctor, scheduling appointments, etc., that are just so much smoother with Serenity basically doing it for me.

In my case, they have presented me with several options, doctors that fit the description of what I’m looking for, and then they find an appointment date and ask me if I want them to schedule it for me. They follow up with me and guide me through the whole process, making suggestions and recommendations, and always leaving me in charge to make the decisions myself. I like that very much, and I highly recommend the staff at Serenity.

I’ve been working with Pablo, who has been wonderful. Serenity makes my life much less stressful at a time when I’ve got lots to think about.

Pablo was great! He did everything and worked with my needs and schedule. He stayed in touch to keep me updated on my appointments. The dermatologist he referred was amazing.

I cannot say enough good things about Serenity and especially Paula, who has been absolutely instrumental in my mother’s healthcare journey since we moved to Portugal last June. My mother has MS and requires specialty care, and navigating a new healthcare system—particularly without speaking Portuguese—was a challenge.
Paula has gone above and beyond. Thanks to her, my mother has had access to specialists, general practitioners, treatments, and medications from day one. Her dedication, professionalism, and genuine care have made a world of difference in our lives.
For basic health care or more involved care, I wholeheartedly recommend Serenity and Paula to anyone relocating to Portugal. Paula sees my mother as a person, not just a client, she speaks to and treats her with care and understanding. They are not only excellent at what they do, they care for their clients like family.

My husband and I have used Serenity since our arrival in Portugal in late 2023. We are very pleased at the responsiveness of the staff and the quick turnaround for answers and appointments. Kudos to Paul Costa, Márcia Paim for their work on our behalf. We recently renewed our subsctiption and highly recommend their services.

Responsive and skilled. I think Serenity is the best value for money I have experienced since beginning my new life in Portugal.

The best part of my (just over 1 year's) experience has to do with the communication between the staff at Serenity and myself - Marta has been a god-send! Warm and genuinely caring with professional undertones! From our 1st conversation on, with more than a few 'follow-ups' post medical/office appointments and the various procedures, she has been more than patient with me, never hurried, providing her professional opinions/suggestions based on her career experiences. My gratitude to her!

Serenity has impacted my life in a very positive way.  Tiago has done a fantastic job setting me up with doctors that have helped me get thru some tricky stomach issues last year. 

He also has me set up for an appointment with an endocrinologist next month to review my thyroid levels and treat accordingly. 

All in all it was a great experience and I highly recommend them to anyone looking to become quickly familiar with doctors in a new country!

Thanks again for all your help!
David

We were with Serenity for one year, not long after moving to Lisbon. While we did get some value from the service, our overall experience was mixed. They helped reasonably well with finding doctors and booking appointments, but we occasionally experienced communication issues that caused inconvenience.

Our decision to leave was prompted by a price increase at renewal time with no prior notice. A few days before our subscription was due to be renewed, Serenity emailed us a new Stripe payment link at a higher price, but with no indication that it included an increase - something we believe may violate EU consumer protection laws. At the time, we were on holiday and had forgotten that we were already set up for auto-renewal, so we paid the amount. However, a few days later, the auto-renewal triggered a second payment attempt at the original, lower price. It was only then that we realised Serenity had increased their fees without informing us. We checked our email history, and found no communication informing us of this increase. While the Stripe link did show the price, simply sending this a few days before renewal - without flagging the increase - does not constitute fair and transparent notice.

When we raised our concerns, we initially received a response, but it failed to address them or acknowledge any fault. A retrospective explanation for the increase was provided, which we found to be fairly unconvincing. The second charge attempt was attributed to a Stripe "communication issue", which we struggle to understand given how Stripe works. We followed up, reiterating that Serenity should honour the originally agreed rate, given that we had received no prior warning of the price increase and never agreed to it. This follow-up went unanswered for days.

Given the lack of response, we exercised our right to cancel under EU law. Somewhat to our surprise, this was processed immediately, yet still without any admission of fault or an apology.

We fully understand that prices can increase over time, but it is completely reasonable for customers to expect advance notice and transparency. Because Serenity failed to provide any advance notice explaining the increase, we were unable to make an informed choice about our renewal. Furthermore, the double charge attempt highlights poor management of customer renewals. Had Serenity acknowledged these mistakes and made an effort to address our concerns, we may have stayed on. That said, we also learned that new customers are now charged an even higher fee, reinforcing our impression that rising subscription costs will continue to be a pattern going forward.

For us, the way this situation was handled came across as unprofessional, and we could no longer justify paying for this service. If clear communication and transparency matter to you, it may be worth exploring other options before committing.

My partner and I moved to Portugal about 15 months ago and one of the very first things we did was to sign up with Serenity. What a gift this service has been!!! Our case manager/nurse, Tiago Martins is truly a godsend, and I honestly don't know what we would do without him! We did not know the language when we arrived (still don't) and to have someone so caring and professional guiding us through the health care process is absolutely immeasurable! Tiago set up a FaceTime call with us shortly after we registered with Serentiy, and he went through every single detail of our medical history including prescriptions, pre-existing conditions and health concerns. We have reaped the benefits of this service many times over and I can't encourage ex-pats enough to spend a little money so that you have great peace of mind. Each time we need to see a doctor for checkups or any issues we might be having we simply send Tiago an email and within a day or so we have a scheduled appointment. How great is that!!! Once the doctor visit is complete, we get a call or email from Tiago asking how things went and to see if there is anything further he can do to assist us. We are beyond grateful for this service and especially our amazing nurse! We will continue with Serentiy for as long as we live in Portugal.

I do not recommend Serenity at all! Serenity is a fraudulent company that preys on foreigners. If you have any sort of complex condition, like an autoimmune condition that I do, I would not trust anything they say.

Back in 2022, based on recommendations from Expats Portugal and Winsurance, I contacted Serenity and paid for a medical study about my specific condition and whether my specific treatments (such as a biologic) would be available and whether the doctors in Portugal would prescribe my exact treatment regimen. Serenity and the owner, Michael Averbukh, knew this was a non-negotiable for me to move to Portugal. The study came back positive with the names of hospitals who would treat me and that getting my treatments wouldn’t be a problem.

Well, fast forward to when I moved to Lisbon in January 2024 and got my residency and SNS access shortly after. I got my first appointment with a speciality hospital for autoimmune conditions and the doctors there didn’t have experience with my treatment regimen and refused to prescribe my treatments. This hospital is in the same network that Serenity supposedly spoke to during the study I paid for in 2022. I tried another hospital in Lisbon and it was the same story. The doctor there refused to prescribe my regimen and wanted me to do standard treatments that don’t work for me. Going back to when I paid for the study in 2022, if Michael Averbukh had told me the doctors will only want me to start with standard treatments and are hesitant to prescribe my existing treatment regimen, do you think I still would’ve moved to Portugal?

Lastly, a big red flag I found out in May 2024 after this entire fiasco that Serenity caused is that Michael Averbukh, the owner of Serenity, isn’t even a licensed doctor in Portugal! Does serenity disclose that? No. When you communicate with him and he emails you, he has in his email signature that he is an MD and MPH. Yeah, well, he isn’t in Portugal. This loophole might be legal, but it is highly unethical and misleading to potential members. And you don’t have to believe me, you can check it on the Portuguese Order of Physicians' website (Ordem dos Medicos) and see he isn’t licensed/registered in Portugal.

And big surprise, with Serenity’s scrupulous business practices, Expats Portugal and Winsurance no longer are partners with Serenity and don’t recommend them for potential expats moving to Portugal. You’ve been warned!

The speed of their responses to my medical needs and making appointments for me with English speaking medical providers has been a game changer for since I moved here to Portugal

If you value 100% peace of mind Serenity Portugal is an absolute MUST! With this service you get a healthcare coordinator to set up appointments, work as an intermediary, and provide answers to all questions asked. It is, hands down, the smartest investment we have made in coming here as 65yr. old ex-pats. And, if you're lucky enough to have Paula Costa as your liaison, you've hit the jackpot! Highly recommend, without reservation!!

So much I did know I needed was met by the caring group from CEO Dr. Mixhaelto one of the best case managersis Tiago who was anticipating my needs, wonderfully timely with response an excellent English speakers who contributed even more when I got sick and hospitalized,Dr.Michel and Tiago made my family feel better about my options, care, and planning. After being in hospitals for 6-7 months, I have nothing but praise for serenity

As a member of Serenity, I have found tremendous support and relief knowing I can receive valuable guidance for any of my questions and concerns, as well as assistance setting up appointments.
Having been in Portugal for three years, I have often found the healthcare system challenging to navigate, but Serenity has made the process so much easier. They have shown nothing but patience, knowledge and professionalism.

As retirees, we greatly value the fair pricing. I can’t express enough how thankful I am to be part of Serenity.