15 May Medical Services in Tijuana

Tijuana is a very popular city and it is recognized for having very good quality medical services, as more and more doctors are trained to provide better services, day by day. 

Because of this, there has been a phenomenon known as “Medical Tourism” which is nothing more than people coming from abroad, seeking medical services offered in this city. 

Our goal is to present the following recommendations to our visiting friends. 

What should you know before requesting Medical Services? 

1.- Make sure that the doctor has good references and that they have a certification that accredits them as a professional in the field. 

1. That the establishment has the necessary materials, equipment and furniture to be able to provide the professional attention you are seeking. 
2. Have two or three extra opinions from doctors of the same specialty and compare: costs, service and quality. 
3. At the time of paying for the medical services, they must give you a receipt of payment where it is specified: 

·The medical service that will be performed. 

· Full name of the Doctor. 

· Address (office, clinic or hospital) of the Physician. 

· Professional ID number. 

1. In case of hospitalization, they must give you a receipt specifying: Costs, name of the Hospital and Doctor who will be attending the medical case, the cause of hospitalization and the number of days (if it is possible to know) that you will stay in the hospital. 
2. Based on the Official Mexican Standard NOM-168- SSA1- 1998 of the clinical file, it tells us in its points: 

4.9: We can request a medical summary in the visit to the Doctor, to have a record of our consultation made. 

5.3: The Medical History must be kept with a minimum of 5 years, counting from the last medical act. 

Medical Malpractice? 

Unfortunately, we must recognize that there are some unprofessional doctors, or even people who are not doctors, who try to take advantage by deceiving people, blemishing the good reputation that our medical professionals have forged. That is why, one of the great recommendations we have, is to pay close attention when choosing the person in whom we deposit our health and not fall into false advertising, where they advertise very cheap medical services and even almost being given away. 

If you think you have been a victim of medical malpractice, here are some points you need to know: 

1.- We will need to have the opinion of a medical expert in the issue in question, to confirm that there are errors in the procedure that we complain about. 

2.- Initial writing must be initiated, denouncing the Physician and / or Clinical Institution. 

3.- Our Doctor Witness will need to ratify before the Authority his report where states that there were errors with the medical procedure that we reported. 

4.- Due legal process must be followed against the Physician and / or Medical Institution that we report until its final consequences. 

5.- If you are a citizen from another country, it is important to know that Mexican laws only provide for the repair of damages, but it does not include expenses such as days not worked, pain and suffering, psychological damage or extra monetary compensation of any kind. 

6.- Lawyers in Tijuana and Mexico in general, who are professionals, usually work through the direct payment of their client, so there are very few or no lawyers who agree to represent the case, obtaining a percentage of what the affected people manage to recover. So it is recommended to be very cautious when hiring legal services in that way.