# Need help understanding the patient doctor relationship in Mexico



## MissThing (Nov 12, 2015)

-How did you choose a doctor? 
-How much does he or she charge for a first visit? Subsequent ones?
-Are doctors here completely stand alone or affiliated with a local hospital?
-The doctor I visited worked from her home but didn't seem to have the facilities to do much. Is it normal for doctors to send you out to labs for your tests and then basically interpret them and recommend next steps, but not do tests from their office?
-Is it normal for doctors to work from their homes?
-If you can't find any background info online about a doctor who has a home office, but has a lot of diplomas and credentials in frames on their wall, would this be enough for you to feel they were qualified to offer you care?
-Are clinic based doctors more trustworthy than individuals who work out of private homes?
-Anybody know a good general practitioner in Cuernavaca?

Thanks!


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

MissThing said:


> -How did you choose a doctor?
> -How much does he or she charge for a first visit? Subsequent ones?
> -Are doctors here completely stand alone or affiliated with a local hospital?
> -The doctor I visited worked from her home but didn't seem to have the facilities to do much. Is it normal for doctors to send you out to labs for your tests and then basically interpret them and recommend next steps, but not do tests from their office?
> ...


Hi MissThing,

I will do my best to answer your questions from my Mexico City perspective. Things are bound to be a bit different in Cuernavaca.

1) For several years, I had private health insurance and used doctors that were part of their plan, since I got a hefty discount when seeing them. I still use a couple of them even though I don't have the insurance anymore, because by now they know me well and I feel comfortable with them. Other doctors I have consulted in the last few years were either affiliated with a well-known private clinic/hospital in my neighborhood or were recommended by friends or my other doctors.

2) Private doctors in the CDMX will charge anywhere from $500 to $800 (that's pesos, of course) for a visit, though there may be some that charge more. Subsequent visits are the same price.

3) Doctors I have consulted have their own offices, which are sometimes housed in a hospital or clinic, and they all have admitting privileges somewhere.

4) I have never consulted a doctor who had an office in his or her home. When tests are needed, they write me a prescription, which I then take to a commercial lab near my house. None has labs in their offices.

5) Mexicans of all sorts (not just doctors) are a bit diploma crazy! I wouldn't rely on the number of framed certificates on their walls to ascertain their professional reputation and expertise. A lot of them could be for things like a day- or week-long conference or workshop.

I hope this information helps!


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## MissThing (Nov 12, 2015)

I will continue to shop around. The doctor I spoke to today was in a home office. I'd prefer to have somone with a nurse and a waiting room with other patients. Felt too isolated. Need someone who speaks English too. Thanks Isla Verde!


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

MissThing said:


> I will continue to shop around. The doctor I spoke to today was in a home office. I'd prefer to have somone with a nurse and a waiting room with other patients. Felt too isolated. Need someone who speaks English too. Thanks Isla Verde!


There is a local Yahoo information exchange board for expats in the Cuernavaca area, Cuernads. If you join that group I'm sure someone will be able to give you names of good, English-speaking General Practitioners.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

ojosazules11 said:


> There is a local Yahoo information exchange board for expats in the Cuernavaca area, Cuernads. If you join that group I'm sure someone will be able to give you names of good, English-speaking General Practitioners.


Just don't give Yahoo any of your real-life personal information when you sign up - and maybe create a new dedicated yahoo email address.

Yahoo hacked again, more than one billion accounts stolen | ZDNet


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

I pay anywhere from 500 to 900 , the high end being for specialists.
I n my experience few doctors have nurses around during a visit. 

In our area some doctors work out of their houses , tey have separate quarters for their office but that is in the country, in Guadalajara I have never been a doctor that works out of his house, of course that does not mean there are not any who have cabinet on their property,

I have AXA as an insurrance and they have a list of doctors they work with in each area. I have gone to some excellent specialits through their recommendations.
Look at AXA.com and search doctors or specialists for your area on their saite, that will give you a wide range of decent to great doctors. 
Once you have the list you still need to do your homework but it gives you a good base to look at..

Some universities are better than others so you would have to check the university to know if the diplomas are worth anything.. Unam and university of Guadalajara ( not the Autonoma de Guadalajara, this one is private and not nearly as good) are well known med school some others are not so great.

There re private clinics and the top doctors work with hospitals as well and usually are not very far from them. SOme have their own clinic.

After many trial and errors I go by the AXA list and get recommendations for the doctors on that list.
In my case there are a couple of doctors I really tryst and ask them would they would chose and check them against the list but if you are new you have to go by trual and error.
Follow your gut instinct.. there are somedifference between the practices here and those of your own country but you quickly figure out what is going on..Have a jaundice eye..and do not go for any durgery without doing a lot of checking and having various opinions. 
There are lots of charlatans out of money so careful.


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## MissThing (Nov 12, 2015)

citlali said:


> There are lots of charlatans out of money so careful.


Just cleaned out my wallet to pay a doctor who didn't offer me any care, just spoke to me that's it. I should've just talked him down, but he knew I was an American and was ready for me before I walked in the door.


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## Rammstein (Jun 18, 2016)

Here, in the outskirts of Acapulco, when I need a doctor I go to a clinic and have never been charged more than 300 pesos including shots and whatever. Most farmacias have doctors attached for consultations that are either free or charge very little.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

MissThing said:


> I will continue to shop around. The doctor I spoke to today was in a home office. I'd prefer to have somone with a nurse and a waiting room with other patients. Felt too isolated. Need someone who speaks English too. Thanks Isla Verde!


Where I live in Mexico City, it is common to have doctors operate out of their homes and not have a nurse or receptionist. (A family member might operate as a de facto receptionist, though, at least in respect to answering the phone.) In my experience, the cost for a basic visit is 100 to 200 pesos for a GP, or 500 for a specialist.
If you are looking for something more like what you are used to, you may have to look for a clinic, or a doctor that has their office in a big hospital.
Clinic: In my neighbourhood, there are also some of these. Those have nurses and receptionists, and are businesses with half a dozen to a couple dozen doctors. The one I usually go to is called a “hospital” but to me it is more what I would call a clinic.
Big Hospital: Various big hospitals (maybe all of them?) have specialists who have their offices located within the hospital. These, also, do have receptionists and some have nurses working from their office. The costs for a visit in my experience start at about 500 pesos, of course it costs more if there is a treatment and/or tests involved. In this case, if you need lab tests, they send you to the lab in the hospital, which is convenient.


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## Isla Verde (Oct 19, 2011)

Rammstein said:


> . . . Most farmacias have doctors attached for consultations that are either free or charge very little.


I wouldn't say that most pharmacies have doctors available for consultations, though some do, generally the less expensive ones, like Farmacias Similares. I have gone to one in my neighborhood for minor problems and received good advice and prescriptions, when needed, and was charged $35 per visit. However, at least in Mexico City, the physicians are young, recent med school graduates, and not equipped to handle complicated medical problems.


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## maesonna (Jun 10, 2008)

Oh, another thing to add is that quite a few of the local doctors in my neighbourhood that work out of their homes (like our neighbours across the street) actually have their main job in a hospital, and do a second shift out of their homes.


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## ojosazules11 (Nov 3, 2013)

Gatos said:


> Just don't give Yahoo any of your real-life personal information when you sign up - and maybe create a new dedicated yahoo email address.


I did just that to join. I set up a Yahoo email that I use only for Cuernads. This also helps the integrity of my regular email account, so it doesn't get cluttered up with all the group emails from Cuernads.


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## Gatos (Aug 16, 2016)

There is also an anonymous email service at hmamail dot com - that is what I use for THIS site since their data breach...


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## eastwind (Jun 18, 2016)

Would anyone like to recommend an english-fluent male general practitioner doctor in Cancun?


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