Inside the vetting process: how a clinic gets the green badge

Why this matters

The single most-asked question we get from Canadian patients isn’t “how much cheaper?” or “how long does the trip take?” — it’s:

“How do you actually know this clinic is safe?”

Here’s the literal checklist.

The 9-step vetting protocol

1. Public-register confirmation

We start at the Joint Commission International public register, the ISO 9001 issuing body’s certificate database, or both. The clinic’s own website is never the source. If a clinic claims JCI but isn’t on the JCI register, the profile stays unverified.

2. First contact through a known third party

We do not cold-call clinics. The first introduction comes through a Canadian physician with a personal connection, a Vietnamese case manager we’ve worked with before, or a JCI surveyor. This single rule eliminates ~40% of candidate clinics.

3. Surgeon-of-record video call

Before a clinic is even on our shortlist, we have a 30-minute video call with the surgeon (or department head) who would actually treat No Wait MD patients. Not the marketing director, not the international-patient coordinator. The surgeon.

4. In-person facility walkthrough

Either the founder or a No Wait MD-trusted surrogate physically walks the facility. Yes, this means flying. We see the OR, the imaging suite, the recovery ward, the food service, and the bathroom near where post-op patients would be staying.

5. Complication-rate disclosure

JCI accreditation requires clinics to track complications. We ask for the most recent two years of data for the procedures we’d refer. About 30% of clinics that make it to step 4 fail this step — either they won’t share it or the numbers disqualify them.

6. Continuity-of-care plan

We ask: “What happens if a Canadian patient has a complication on the flight home, or on day 14 in Calgary?” The answer needs to involve a real protocol, named contacts, and an acceptable response time. Generic answers fail.

7. Pricing transparency

We ask for the all-in itemised price for three reference procedures, in CAD. Clinics that quote one price now and a different one when you arrive don’t make it.

8. First-cohort patient cycle

Before flipping a clinic to vetted, at least one Canadian patient goes through the full cycle (or is in flight). At MVP launch, this means most of our published clinics will read pending — not because they failed, because they haven’t received their first patient yet. We refuse to fake this.

9. Quarterly re-verification

Once vetted, every clinic profile carries last_verified: <date> and gets re-checked every 90 days. Accreditation expires? Status drops. Surgeon leaves? Status drops. We re-verify, we don’t trust momentum.

Why we publish this

Most directory marketplaces would rather you didn’t know how their “verified” badge works. Ours is documented because it has to be. Our entire wedge is: it’s a real Canadian person who has done this homework so you don’t have to.

If you can’t trust that the homework is real, you don’t have a reason to use us. If the homework is real, you do.

What this means for the launch

At MVP launch, expect to see more pending clinic profiles than vetted ones. That’s the honest state. As patient cycles complete, the badges flip. We’ll never flip them earlier.

Want a specific clinic vetted?

If there’s a clinic you’ve already heard about and you want to know whether it’s on our short list, send us four fields and we’ll tell you exactly where it is in the funnel — including whether we’ve ruled it out.