How we check clinics, and what that check is worth
GetClinic runs an administrative review of clinic documents. When a clinic applies to be listed, a member of our staff reads what it has given us about its business and its licence to operate, and decides whether it may be listed. That is a check of paperwork. It is not a medical judgement, it is not an inspection, and it is not a guarantee about your treatment.
Not every profile on GetClinic arrived that way. Some were built from publicly available sources and have not been through that review, and nothing on the site currently tells you which is which. So treat every profile as something to check yourself, and use the registers at the bottom of this page.
This page says exactly what we look at, what we do not, and where to look your clinic and your surgeon up yourself in the public register of the country they work in. That last part matters most, and it is at the bottom of this page.
What we look at
This is the review a clinic goes through when it applies to be listed. The document checklist is defined country by country, and today it is defined only for Türkiye. In every other country the checklist is empty, so a clinic there has not been through the document review below. That is a limit of our system rather than a statement about those clinics, and it is why the register list at the bottom of this page matters more than anything above it.
A clinic gives us documents. A reviewer works through the file and either approves the clinic, asks for more, or refuses. Uploading a document does not verify it.
A registry extract or gazette entry for the legal entity, the declaration of who owns and controls it, and the signature authority of the person signing for it.
The licence the clinic holds to operate as a healthcare facility in its own country, as issued by that country's authority.
Where a clinic adds an accreditation itself, it stays unpublished until a reviewer has opened the certificate and approved it. An accreditation is facility-level and time-limited, and it is not a judgement about your procedure. An accreditation that arrived with an imported profile was not reviewed this way.
The bank account certificate for the payout beneficiary, so a reviewer can see the account is in the name of the business being listed. We read the certificate. We do not confirm the account with the bank.
A member of GetClinic staff reviews the file and decides whether the clinic may be listed, and can ask for more or refuse. Uploading a document does not by itself verify anything.
What being listed does not mean
This is the more important list, and it is the one most marketplaces leave out. Everything below is something our check does not establish.
That the clinic is medically suitable for you. Nobody at GetClinic has seen your case.
That your treatment will succeed, or that no complication will occur.
That the clinic is still compliant today. A check describes the day it was made.
That an accreditation shown on a clinic profile was checked by us, is still current, or covers your procedure. Where a profile was built from a public source, the accreditation came with it and no certificate was opened. We do not track expiry dates anywhere.
That we look again later. There is no scheduled re-check, no renewal reminder and no expiry tracking. A clinic reviewed once is not reviewed again unless something prompts it.
That the clinic's malpractice insurance has been seen. The onboarding checklist does not collect an insurance certificate.
That GetClinic accredits, certifies, approves, endorses or recommends the clinic or any doctor.
That GetClinic has visited the premises, watched a procedure, audited outcomes or read a clinical record. None of that has ever been part of the process.
That GetClinic has assessed any individual clinician's competence, or confirmed a doctor's credentials with a medical council.
That anything has been confirmed against the issuing register. We read the documents a clinic gives us.
The clinic is the healthcare provider. It holds the licences, it employs or contracts the surgeon, and it is responsible for your diagnosis, your treatment and your aftercare. That allocation is set out in our terms of service.
What an accreditation badge covers
Clinics display accreditations, and the words are not interchangeable. A membership is not an accreditation, and an accreditation is not a licence. Every one of these is facility-level and time-limited, so ask for the certificate and its expiry date rather than taking the logo. That applies to the badges on GetClinic too. We do not check whether one shown on a profile is still in date.
A periodic survey of the organisation against published international standards, at facility level, valid for a fixed term. Not a warranty of your outcome, of any individual clinician, or of the procedure you are buying. It lapses on expiry and covers only the facility surveyed.
Certification that a quality management system exists and that documented processes are followed. Says nothing about clinical results, safety or competence.
Competence of a medical laboratory. Covers the laboratory only, not the clinic and not your treatment.
International healthcare accreditation aimed at providers serving medical travellers. Facility-level, time-bound and scoped, like any accreditation.
National hospital accreditation by the Healthcare Accreditation Institute. Facility-level and time-bound.
A regulatory authorisation, and the one item here that is a legal precondition to serving international patients. It authorises. It does not rate quality.
Membership of a professional body, held by a person or an institution. Not an accreditation, not a licence and not an audit. Anyone presenting a membership as an accreditation is telling you something untrue.
Check the register yourself
We read the documents a clinic gives us. We do not confirm them with the authority that issued them, so the strongest thing we can give you is the register itself. Every country below publishes something you can search, or names the authority you can ask. Look up the facility, then look up the individual surgeon who will operate.
If a clinic will not tell you which authority licenses it, or which register its surgeon is on, that is your answer.
Türkiye
Ministry of Health (Sağlık Bakanlığı).
A facility operating authorisation. Serving international patients additionally requires a health-tourism authorisation, for facilities and for intermediaries alike.
- The facility
- Authorised health tourism facilities
- The doctor
- No public individual lookup confirmed Ask the clinic for the doctor's registration details and put them to the Türk Tabipleri Birliği.
Spain
The Autonomous Community health authority, on national bases set by Real Decreto 1277/2003.
That the centre meets the minimum structural, technical and functional requirements for the services it is authorised to offer. It attests premises and scope, not clinician competence or outcomes.
- The facility
- REGCESS, the register of health centres
- The doctor
- CGCOM public register of colegiados
Poland
The Voivode, under the 2011 medical activity act.
That the entity is registered to conduct medical activity, recording its facilities and the scope of that activity.
- The facility
- RPWDL, the register of medical activity entities
- The doctor
- Centralny Rejestr Lekarzy (NIL)
Czech Republic
The regional authority, under act 372/2011 Sb..
Authorisation to provide defined health services at defined premises.
- The facility
- NRPZS, the national provider register, maintained by ÚZIS The register is at nrpzs.uzis.cz and did not respond when we checked. If it does not open, ask the clinic for its oprávnění k poskytování zdravotních služeb and the regional authority that issued it.
- The doctor
- Seznam lékařů (ČLK)
Hungary
The competent public-health authority, under government decree 96/2003.
An operating licence for the provision of healthcare services.
- The facility
- No public provider register located Ask the clinic for its működési engedély and the authority that issued it.
- The doctor
- Health-worker operational register
Germany
No single national facility licence. Private hospitals hold a concession under §30 GewO; the control on outpatient practice is the physician's Approbation and chamber membership.
The §30 concession is a trade-law reliability and premises check. It is not a clinical quality attestation.
- The facility
- Bundes-Klinik-Atlas (hospitals) There is no public facility-licence register.
- The doctor
- The Landesärztekammer for the relevant state Registers are per state; the link is Baden-Württemberg as an example.
United Kingdom
Care Quality Commission in England; Healthcare Improvement Scotland, HIW and RQIA elsewhere.
That the provider is registered to carry on specified regulated activities and is subject to the fundamental standards. CQC also publishes inspection ratings.
- The facility
- CQC provider directory
- The doctor
- GMC register (GDC for dentists, NMC for nurses) Shows registration status, licence to practise and specialist register entry.
Mexico
COFEPRIS, under the Ley General de Salud.
A sanitary authorisation of the establishment. It is not a clinical quality certification.
- The facility
- COFEPRIS We could not confirm a public searchable register.
- The doctor
- Cédula profesional (SEP) We could not confirm the search itself is publicly reachable. Specialty certification is separate, by the specialty councils.
Thailand
Ministry of Public Health, Department of Health Service Support.
A facility licence for a private healthcare establishment.
- The facility
- Department of Health Service Support We could not confirm a public searchable register, and the department's own site did not respond when we checked. Ask the clinic for its facility licence and the office that issued it.
- The doctor
- Medical Council of Thailand practitioner check
South Korea
Ministry of Health and Welfare, under the Medical Service Act. Institutions attracting foreign patients register separately.
Registration to attract foreign patients is a distinct status from the institution's licence to operate.
- The facility
- KHIDI registered hospitals
- The doctor
- No public individual lookup confirmed Ask the clinic for the doctor's licence details.
If something here does not add up
Tell us. If a clinic profile claims a licence, an accreditation or a credential you cannot find in the register, or a clinic asks you to pay outside GetClinic, we want to know and we can act on it under our agreement with that clinic.
Raise it through our complaints process. It costs nothing to complain and we do not retaliate against a complaint made in good faith.
Anyone can report it, whether or not they have an account, and if you leave contact details you will get the decision, the reasons for it and your options to challenge it.
Report it. A clinic cannot buy verification, remove a lawful negative review, or make treatment conditional on changing one.
Payment does not buy organic ranking or a medical endorsement, and sponsored placements are labelled as such.
This page describes an administrative marketplace process. It is not medical advice and it is not a recommendation of any clinic or any clinician. See our terms of service and the help centre article on what verified means.