The results of our inaugural MND Mexico Healthcare Experience Survey™

MND Mexico Healthcare Experience Survey™

What private healthcare in Mexico really looks like — according to expat patients

MND Intelligence · Inaugural edition

This article breaks down the results of the inaugural MND Mexico Healthcare Experience Survey™, a 17-question survey (contribute to the survey here) we developed to quantify the real-world experiences of foreign private healthcare patients in Mexico.

We created this survey because healthcare concerns routinely rank among the top reasons why people hesitate to move to, or spend more time in, Mexico. In that context, we want to provide clear insights from foreigners who are actually using private healthcare here.

The headline finding from this inaugural survey is that 92.9% of respondents rate the quality of private healthcare they have received in Mexico as “excellent” or “good.”

That is a resounding endorsement of Mexico’s private healthcare system, which survey respondents have accessed all over Mexico.

Before we delve into the numerical results of the survey, it’s worth taking a moment to look at what some of you, the survey respondents, told us about your experiences using private medical care in Mexico.

In response to Question 15 — What surprised you most about your private medical care experience in Mexico? — the answers we received were overwhelmingly positive. Among the aspects of private medical care in Mexico that surprised survey respondents were:

“The level of personalized care and access to doctors and specialists and tests” as well as “communication via WhatsApp and receiving test results directly.”

“Doctors in general spend more time listening to your concerns.”

“Doctors actually listen here, instead of looking at a laptop and simply pushing prescriptions.”

“It is easy to get a specialist appointment and doctors are very accessible. I texted my son’s neurologist immediately after a seizure and my doctor replied with a medication change within 10 minutes. This level of responsiveness is unheard of in the U.S.”

Yes, there were some negative comments — a selection of which you can read below — but they came from a small minority of respondents.

Without further ado, let’s take a look at the numerical results of the inaugural MND Mexico Healthcare Experience Survey™, presented as 10 key takeaways.

*NOTE: Percentages exceed 100% in some cases because respondents were able to select more than one option when responding to survey questions.

The survey respondents have received healthcare all over Mexico

A total of 714 people responded to the inaugural MND Mexico Healthcare Experience Survey™. Those people have received healthcare in locations across the country, from cities in northern border states such as Hermosillo and Mexicali, to Oaxaca city in the south and Mérida in the southeast.

The top five cities where survey respondents have received healthcare in Mexico are:

San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato (16.4% of respondents).

Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco (12.4%).

Guadalajara, Jalisco (6.6%).

Mexico City (5.2%).

Mérida, Yucatán (4.5%).

One-third of respondents told MND they have received healthcare in locations in Mexico that were not among the 24 cities listed in the survey. This result further underscores that respondents have accessed healthcare services in a large number of locations in Mexico.

Respondents have used a wide variety of medical services in Mexico

Collectively, the survey respondents told MND that they have used in Mexico each and every one of the 14 healthcare services we listed. Among the listed services were mental health/psychiatric consultations, emergency room visits and cosmetic, aesthetic or elective procedures.

The five most commonly-used medical services among the survey respondents were:

Dental care (83.5% of respondents).

Blood work or lab tests (82.5%).

Consultations with a general practitioner/family doctor (76.6%).

Consultations at a pharmacy clinic (74%).

Imaging: X-ray, ultrasound, MRI or CT scan (73.9%).

The vast majority of respondents pay their private healthcare expenses in Mexico out-of-pocket

Just over 91% of respondents told MND they pay for private healthcare in Mexico out-of-pocket.

Just 6.8% of respondents said they use Mexican private healthcare insurance to cover their medical expenses in Mexico, while 8.7% said they use international/expat insurance.

Of the 714 people surveyed, 8.9% said they used insurance purchased (or coverage provided) in their home country to pay for medical expenses in Mexico.

Around one in 10 of the respondents (10.3%) said they use a combination of the above options when paying for private healthcare in Mexico.

Over 70% of respondents say they are ‘very confident’ in the training and qualifications of doctors in Mexico

Around seven in 10 respondents (70.4%) told MND they are “very confident” in the medical training and qualifications of private healthcare doctors in Mexico. An additional 21.6% of those polled said they are “somewhat confident” in private doctors’ training and qualifications.

Added together, those two cohorts represent 92% of the people who took the survey.

Around one in 20 of the respondents (5.4%) said they were “neutral” regarding their level of confidence in the training and qualifications of private doctors in Mexico, while just 2.4% said they were “somewhat skeptical” and 0.3% said they were “not confident at all.”

More than 90% of respondents rate the quality of private healthcare in Mexico as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’

Asked to rate the overall quality of the private healthcare they have received in Mexico, 64.5% said “excellent.”

An additional 28.4% of respondents chose the “good” option. Thus, 92.9% of those polled said that private healthcare in Mexico is either “excellent” or “good.”

The remainder of respondents said the healthcare they have received in Mexico was either “acceptable” (6.6%) or “poor” (0.6%). None of the respondents chose the “very poor” option.

More than 60% of respondents say private healthcare in Mexico is better than healthcare in their country of origin

Asked to describe private healthcare in Mexico compared to the healthcare they receive or previously received in their country of origin, 35% of respondents said “much better.”

An additional 28.1% of respondents said that private healthcare is “somewhat better” than the healthcare they receive or previously received in their home country.

Therefore, 63.1% of those who took the survey opined that private healthcare in Mexico is superior to healthcare they receive or previously received in their country of origin.

Just over one-quarter of respondents (25.7%) said that private healthcare in Mexico is “about the same” as healthcare in their home country, while 6.6% said it is “somewhat worse” and 0.8% said it is “much worse.”

Over 80% of respondents say that healthcare is cheaper in Mexico than in their home country

Just over half of all respondents (50.2%) said that the medical services they received in Mexico in the past year were “dramatically cheaper” compared to the cost of the same services in their country of origin.

An additional 32.6% of those polled said the medical services they received in Mexico were “noticeably cheaper” than the same services in their home country.

Therefore, 82.8% of respondents have found medical services in Mexico cheaper than the same services in their country of origin.

Just under 2% of the survey participants said that the medical services they received in Mexico in the past year cost “about the same” as in their home country, while 2.4% said they were “more expensive” and 1% said they were “dramatically more expensive.”

Only 1% of respondents say they are unsatisfied with their doctor’s ability to communicate in English

“Very satisfied” was the most common answer respondents gave when asked how satisfied they were with their doctor’s ability to communicate in English and explain their condition and treatment clearly. All told, 55.3% of those polled gave that response.

An additional 23.7% of respondents said they were “satisfied” with their doctor’s English-language ability, while 7% said they were “neutral.”

Therefore, 70% of respondents were either “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with their doctor’s English-language ability.

Just 1% of those polled said they were “unsatisfied” with their doctor’s English-language communication skills, while an additional 0.4% said they were “very unsatisfied.”

Around one in 10 respondents said they were “comfortable receiving care in Spanish” and therefore their doctor’s English-language capability (or lack thereof) was not consequential.

Over 95% of respondents say it it is ‘very easy’ or ‘easy’ to access private healthcare in Mexico

More than six in ten respondents (62.3%) said it was “very easy” to access private healthcare in Mexico when they needed it. That response indicated that respondents were able to receive the care they needed promptly — i.e. the same day or the next day.

An additional 33.3% of respondents said that it was “easy” to access private healthcare in Mexico, meaning they can get the care they need “within a few days.”

Therefore, 95.6% of those polled said it was “very easy” or “easy” to access private healthcare in Mexico.

Only 0.8% of respondents said it was “difficult” to access private healthcare in Mexico, meaning they faced significant waits to get the care they needed. An additional 0.3% said that accessing private healthcare was “very difficult,” while 3.2% described the level of accessibility as “moderate,” meaning they faced waits of “about one week.”

More than 35% of respondents say they are ‘genuinely satisfied’ with their private healthcare experience in Mexico

Asked “what single thing” would most improve their private healthcare experience in Mexico, respondents’ most common response was, “Nothing — I am genuinely satisfied.” Over one-third of those who took the survey (35.7%) gave that response.

The four next most common responses were:

Better direct billing with international insurance: 13%

Better continuity of care and electronic medical records: 10.4%

Greater availability of certain specialists locally: 8.6%

More English-speaking providers in my city: 8.2%

Additional data points

Below you will find a selection of survey results that are not included in the 10 key takeaways above.

Asked to nominate their “biggest concern” about healthcare in Mexico before moving here, 38.2% cited the “cost of a major unexpected medical event.” This concern was the most commonly cited of the more than 700 people who took the survey. The fact that over 80% of respondents said that healthcare in Mexico is cheaper than in their home country indicates that this concern may have been alleviated for many people after they used medical services here.

The second most commonly cited “biggest concern” was “quality of hospital facilities and equipment” (37.8%). The fact that almost 93% of respondents rate the quality of private healthcare in Mexico as “excellent” or “good” indicates that this concern may have also been alleviated for many people after they used medical services here.

Almost one-third of respondents (32.7%) said they spent less than US $500 out-of-pocket on private healthcare in Mexico in the past 12 months. Just over a quarter of respondents (26.4%) said they spent $500-$1,000 in the same period, while 15.2% spent $1,500-$3,000. About one in ten respondents (9.7%) said they spent $3,000-$6,000 on out-of-pocket private healthcare in Mexico over the past year. About one in seven of those polled (14.1%) spent more than $6,000 on private healthcare in the period.

More than three-quarters of respondents (77.6%) said they would recommend dental care in Mexico to family and friends. In second place, 72.5% of respondents said they would recommend a doctor or specialist consultation in Mexico to family and friends.

Your experience using private healthcare in Mexico … in your words

As noted in the introduction to this article, we asked survey respondents what surprised them the most about their private medical care experience in Mexico. We included a selection of positive comments above.

Here is a selection of the negative comments we received in response to this question. Such comments were few and far between, coming from a small minority of respondents.

“We travel a lot in Mexico and find it lamentable that there is not much [private healthcare] available once you leave major cities.”

“I’m very disappointed with optometrists and eye glasses [in Mexico].”

“[I was surprised] how little the private doctor knew, and how completely unable to help me [she was]. She didn’t even recommend Tylenol or ice, for example.”

“The cost [of private healthcare] kept going up dramatically year after year. We finally joined IMSS to get out of that situation.”

We also asked survey respondents to tell us, in one or two sentences, what they wished they had known about private healthcare in Mexico before arriving here, or what they would tell a friend who is nervous about healthcare in Mexico. Again the comments we received were overwhelmingly positive. Here is a selection of them:

“I’d tell friends to leave their nerves at the border! I’ve received great care from highly trained professionals that I would consider comparable to the care I received when I lived in Chicago.”

“Mexican healthcare is tremendous. You should even consider ‘medical tourism’ if you are not planning to otherwise come to Mexico.”

“I would assure a friend that medical care in Mexico is far superior to that in the U.S. and Canada. It is faster to be treated and much less expensive as well, along with excellent care.”

“Private medical care here is much higher quality than I expected. The doctors I have seen are not only well qualified but spend far much more one-on-one time with their patients than similar physicians in the U.S.”

“We are very pleased with our healthcare providers and facilities here in San Miguel de Allende. We have had a knee replacement, stent procedure, and prostate resection surgery, all completely successful and totally budget friendly.”

“I wish I had not had a negative impression about doctors and dentists in Mexico. I think people are discouraged by the medical providers they have in the U.S. I tell people that I get the same or better care in Mexico at a fraction of the U.S. prices.”

“I would tell anyone moving to Mexico to make sure they have enough money for a medical emergency — at least US $20,000 immediately available — or a good medical policy in Mexico. Hospitals here won’t provide palliative care unless you pay up front.”

“In our area, Los Cabos/East Cape, BCS, we have well-trained physicians but I’m just not 100% confident in their total abilities when diagnosing. I would tell anyone coming that it’s fine for minor issues and dental, but if I could travel and it wasn’t an emergency, I would go to the States.”

“I wish I’d known the health care was so good. I’d have moved years and tens of thousands of dollars ago.”

“Find a family practitioner you trust and let them direct you to specialists as needed. Discuss payment and costs openly with your doctor. Many physicians here communicate directly via WhatsApp for follow-up questions.”

Mexico News Daily