What We Verify
For each clinic in our registry, we attempt to independently verify the following categories of information:
- Accreditations
- We check claimed accreditations against the issuing body’s public database. For JCI (Joint Commission International), we verify against their published list of accredited organisations. For national medical council registrations, we check the relevant council’s public register. We record the date of verification and link to the source where possible.
- Corporate Registration
- We check that the legal entity operating the clinic is registered with the appropriate national or regional companies registry. We record the registration number, date, and current status (active, dissolved, etc.). Changes in corporate structure — such as dissolution and re-registration — are noted.
- Published Reviews
- We aggregate review counts and average ratings from Google and Trustpilot where available. We do not verify individual reviews. We do note suspicious patterns such as clusters of reviews posted within short timeframes or from profiles with no other activity.
- Pricing Transparency
- We check whether the clinic publishes pricing information on its website. We do not verify that published prices are accurate or inclusive of all costs. “Published pricing” means only that some form of pricing is publicly available.
What We Do Not Do
- We do not accept payment for listings or enhanced placement.
- We do not accept referral commissions or affiliate fees from clinics.
- We do not rank clinics or recommend one clinic over another.
- We do not verify clinical outcomes, surgical skill, or patient satisfaction.
- We do not provide medical advice or treatment recommendations.
Red-Flag System
A clinic receives a “flagged” verification status when our research identifies specific concerns. Flags are factual observations, not judgements. Examples of what triggers a flag:
- Claimed accreditations that cannot be verified through the issuing body
- Corporate entity dissolved and re-registered (may indicate change of ownership or liability restructuring)
- Suspicious review patterns (e.g., bulk reviews from new accounts)
- Clinic did not respond to verification requests
- Consistent reports of undisclosed charges or price escalation after consultation
A flag does not mean a clinic is unsafe or dishonest. It means we identified a factual concern that prospective patients should be aware of and investigate further.
Every flagged clinic in the registry is listed on /flagged. We never remove a flag to make a record “feel nicer” — flags are only resolved after a re-verification confirms the concern has been demonstrably addressed.
Verification Statuses
- Verified
- All claimed accreditations confirmed. Corporate registration active. No red flags identified. Verification completed within the last 12 months.
- Partially Verified
- Some information confirmed but verification is incomplete. This may be because the clinic did not respond to requests, or because certain claims could not be checked against public sources.
- Unverified
- The clinic has been documented but no independent verification has been performed. Information is based on the clinic’s own published materials only.
- Flagged
- One or more specific concerns have been identified during verification. See the clinic’s individual page for details.
Reporting Inaccuracies
If you believe any information in our registry is inaccurate, outdated, or misleading, we want to know. We take correction requests seriously and aim to investigate and update records within 14 working days.
When reporting an inaccuracy, please include: the clinic name, the specific information you believe is incorrect, and if possible, a link to a primary source showing the correct information. Every clinic page has a “Submit information” button for this purpose. The public record of corrections we have issued is maintained at /corrections.
Data Sources
Our verification relies on publicly available primary sources:
- JCI (Joint Commission International) — public database of accredited organisations
- Temos International — quality programme certification database
- National medical councils— registration databases maintained by each country’s regulatory body
- Company registries — national databases of registered businesses (e.g., Companies House, DBD Thailand, Turkish Trade Registry)
- Google Business and Trustpilot — publicly available review counts and ratings
Update Frequency
We aim to re-verify each clinic record at least once every 12 months. High-traffic records and those with active flags are reviewed more frequently. The “last verified” date on each clinic page indicates when the most recent verification was completed.
Accreditation statuses, corporate registrations, and review data can change at any time. Our records reflect the state at the time of last verification. Always confirm critical information directly with the clinic and relevant authorities before making decisions.
The most recently verified records are listed at /recently-verified with an RSS feed. Site-wide feature changes and clinic status transitions are logged at /changelog.