I, like many others, feel a certain amount of trepedation about using the services of IMSS. I prefer a nice, shiny hospital and English speaking doctors; but, after a recent trip to Galenia, I decided I was being a chump and that for many things IMSS would be just as good, as well as free- after payment of the annual assessment which, for me and my wife totals 6,000 pesos. Today, I sucked it up and went there. It was around 6 PM, and the clinic was busy, as usual. You have to go in person to get an appointment and that's what I was there for. Initially, I was asked to wait till the girl that handles appointments for my doctor returned to her desk. This involved a wait of about ten minutes. She turned out to be an attractive 35 year old and, like the staff in private doctors' offices, was required to multi-task. She managed appointments, managed the case flow, and weighed each patient who was to be seen by the doctor. When she saw that I was there for an appointment she very politely asked me to wait a few minutes while she tood care of others who were there ahead of me. Since I was just there to get an appointment I was tempted to interrupt, or get annoyed, but chose instead to wait and watch. After some time she took up my matter. I said I was there to make and appointment, to which she replied, "Wouldn't you rather see the doctor now?" I chuckled to myself and replied, "Why not?" After a wait of about 15 minutes I was seen by a very pleasant, English speaking doctor. He examined me, and referred me to a specialist. He wrote a prescription for some medicine and some lab work. From there I went to the pharmacy: there was no line, and no waiting. I thought, as would be the case in the U.S., that after presenting my prescription I'd have plenty of time to set off for the laboratory and began to walk away but no, the pharmacist shouted at me to come back. My prescription was ready. I then went to the lab, where there was again no line, and no waiting. I was given an appointment to return Friday at 7 to have blood drawn. The doctor visit, medications and lab test would have cost hundreds in the U.S. I paid nothing, and was seen same day, without an appointment. Access this good is almost unavailable at any price, in the U.S.
very pleased to hear you had a good experience. Was that at the IMSS on Coba, opposite Chedraui? My experience is of my wife having to get there at god awful o'clock and wait in the longest queue i've ever seen to have a chance of getting an appointment that day to see the doctor. She's working again so is sorting out IMSS again at the moment but i was reluctant to ever go because i thought i'd have to do this waiting. I have used the emergency ward over near the nice hospital at Grand Plaza and I had to wait for ages but i was treated well and given free medicine. Other than that i've used many different hospitals over Cancun; Amerimed, Galenia, Nazareth, Esperanza, Quirogical del Sur, Salud.com (the place that doesn't own the website Salud.com LOL!) and a couple others, I would only recommend Clinica Nazareth but it's expensive, Amerimed and Galenia are just stupid prices, I won't go in unless i think i'm dying, Hospiten offends me, the staff with the shit sniffer Fresa faces, the prices, everything. When we're desperate and cash is low and the kids are just a bit sick, we hit the Simi on Bonampak, the woman there is great but if it's the old man who stinks of booze and looks drunk, I won't go near them. Also Doctor Pina who i haven't seen for a while is ok but likes to talk about natural medicines a lot, refreshing for a Mexican doctor, not to write you a pescription with 12 things on it, I swear they get comission or something! Having heard that you went in at 6pm, what part was this? Was it the just the normal bit where everyone is sitting on rows of seats waiting to see Doctors or was it the emergency part with the long green benches? I'll be willing to give this a try, if i don't succumb and get insurance, although i've not seen any insurance that covers normal doctors visits and mediicine yet, does that exist outside IMSS?
The experience I described is of the primary care unit, Family Medical Unit 15, on Coba. When you join IMSS you are assigned an FMU based on where you live.This can change if you move, but only if you notify them of your move. We have always lived near FMU15. IMSS FMUs work in two shifts, and when you join, you are assigned either the morning shift or the evening shift. With these two shifts, they see patients from about 8 AM to 2 PM, and from 2 PM to 8 PM, in shifts lasting six hours, each. It makes sense to me that if you want to be seen the same day it may actually be better to go in near the end of the shift, after the staff has had a chance to deal with the crowd. Appearing as I did at 6 PM, the second shift was already four hours into their work day, and they'd had time to "work through the list": a further reason for going in later in the shift, particularly if you happen to just be there to make an appointment, is that the same person who handles incoming patients with appointments is also dealing with setting appointments, and it's easy for me to understand why they would give priority to the incoming patients who already have appointments in their effort to stay on schedule. I did not expect to be seen that day: I expected to be given an appointment. So, I was surprised and pleased to be offered a chance to wait to see the doctor the same day. I trusted them that the wait wouldn't be long, and it wasn't, but I have to say that on about four visits, total, I've never had to wait very long, as these things go. Twenty minutes has been common, but sometimes less than that, including being seen immediately, at my assigned appointment time. ________________________ On another note, there are many reasons someone who is affluent, or from a highly developed country with a national health service, would object to being in IMSS. It's more crowded than they would like, and the clientele are for the most part working class Mexican people, with their children. The facilities have a slightly run down look to them, and are not as clean as you find in highly developed countries. The doctors, and especially all the ancillary staff do not speak English. Some are surly. They are not as careful in how they work, and can be sloppy, as well as many times doing a superior job. If you can ignore all that it is possible to get medical service there, and it's free. ____________________
I think a trip to IMSS is just pot luck to be honest. When I've been to "Urgencias" by the Gran Plaza I've always been treated quickly and efficiently - this might be however, that I always try to appear as "Gringo" as possible. The care has been good, and the doctor I had spoke excellent English. The one time my girlfriend had to go to the family care unit on Coba it was very similiar, with a little bit more of a wait, but she was seen on the same day. Nevertheless, when I went in to the administrative offices to change my name (Whoever registered me at work spelt one of my middle names wrong ) last week I was given an appointment for January 2013!! 6 months to change my name on their system. I have to show up with a handful of documents, just to start off the process. :angrymad:
With a lab appt for 7 AM today, I arrived at 6:50; there were perhaps 50 people in line. Curious about how it would go, and wanting to adopt a strategy for reducing my wait time in the future, I decided to get out of the line and just observe how these large numbers were managed. At exactly 7 AM, the window for receiving the patients appt slips and specimens opened. As I observed, another 50 patients or so got in the line, for a total of about 100 to be seen in the lab. About 40 minutes later, this line had been largely absorbed and I got in the line. By 8 AM, all one hundred, including me, had had their blood drawn or whatever other matter they had been sent to the lab with, and I was on my way. Four people were working drawing blood. The one I dealt with was a pleasant 45 year old woman who chatted with me about my middle name being the same as a TV program she liked. The procedure was absolutely painless, though she had to take three vials of blood. This was done using vacutainers, as would be done in any modern lab. I was told, in writing, that the test results would be available at my Family Medical Unit in 48 hours. Again, I would suggest not trying to go early for visits to the clinics and hospitals of IMSS, unless you enjoy long waits. Those at the head of the line were probably in line from 6 AM: had they got in line at 7:45, they'd have been in and out in 15 minutes, which is what I'll do, next time! A total of seven blood tests had been ordered: you can only imagine how expensive this could have been in a private clinic; for me, at IMSS, it was free.
The number of expats who have joined IMSS and taken the time necessary to learn to navigate it, then found and posted to this forum, are few and far between; so, it was nice to see you add your experiences, PatoPan, as well as yours, Sam, quoted above. To avoid the long waits Sam spoke of, it's important to learn how to navigate the services offered there. The hospital they both referred to as being near the Grand Plaza is the very modern, Regional General Hospital No.17. You can see pictures of it, both inside and out, in the thread mentioned at the bottom of this post. _____________________ I've decided to post the experience I have with IMSS all the way through to the conclusion of the process which started this thread, as it occurs, offering a completely honest narrative of what transpires: this is the only way that others who are tempted to try IMSS as an alternative to expensive private insurance, and private medical care, can have a clear picture of what they are getting for their money. Regarding your question, Sam, it's true that IMSS is first dollar insurance, with no co-pays, and no deductibles, just a flat annual fee for those who buy into the plan. Employees who are covered pay monthly assessments, as I understand it, and their employer contributes as well, but my wife and I are voluntarily enrolled (the program is open to all who do not already have serious, chronic illnesses and are resident in Mexico, holding an FM2/FM3 or other resident status here). For those who would like to read more on this subject, how to join IMSS, and the related subject of medical care in Cancun, complete with pictures, please see this additional thread, and flip through its pages: page two has pictures of the Regional General Hospital No.17, inside and out, as well as pictures of other hospitals and facilities here- http://www.cancuncare.com/forum/living-cancun-riviera-maya/13624-medical-care-retirees-cancun.html ______________________
I went to my FMU at 3:30 PM: there was no line, and no waiting, at the desk where I make my appointments. They told me I would need to see the doctor to go over my test results. As I needed to get back to work, I asked for an appointment. They gave me an appointment for tomorrow, at 3 PM, and I was in and out in under five minutes, appointment in hand.
My appointment was for 3 PM. There was a patient with the doctor when I arrived, and I was seen at 3:05. The doctor went over the lab results with me and gave me his referral to a specialist. The receptionist told me to take my referral and go to the appointment window within the General Hospital, Zone 3 (adjacent to FMU15), any Monday through Friday between 9-11, present my papers and ask for an appointment. (There they coordinate appointments at the Regional General Hospital No.17, located about a fifteen minute ride away, on a light traffic day: it is the hospital where the medical specialty clinics are located, for the most part) I'll go Friday AM, to make the appointment. You may have noticed that making appointments requires a personal visit: this seems to be the norm at IMSS. For those assigned to FMU15 that's not a particular problem, as it's possible to park nearby.
One of the things I appreciated about the doctor I saw was his openess, and candor. I asked him about pathology studies and he said that, on any tissues removed, if the gross morphology is normal a path study is not usually ordered. He explained that this was the case due to the large volume of procedures performed, coupled with budgetary constraints; but, he added that I could request the specimen and have it examined at a private lab if I wanted to, which seemed fair enough to me.
NOT so fast there, young man! I had been told to come between 9-11 AM, any weekday. I went to FMU15 to get a seal, verifying I was currently covered by IMSS, required since I was now going to start running up some bills. There was no line, and no waiting. Getting the document verifying my coverage took about three minutes. Then, I went to the appointment window for the RGH No. 17, in General Hospital Zone 3. There was no line, and no waiting. They took my referral and told me to report to Appointment Window No 2, in one week, when I would receive notice of the appt day and time assigned me. I decided to pay a visit to Appointment Window No 2, to see how it goes there. There were fifteen people in line. I got in the line. It took twenty minutes for those 15 to be processed, and receive their appt. When it came my turn, I told the clerk my preferred days and times, which she noted in the system. She told me to return in one week to get the response. At both stops, I was treated curteously, and professionally; but, in this one week wait, just to get the appt, and whatever wait will be involved for the surgery itself, is where the bureaucratic nature of the beast is revealed. Still, considering no bills come attached with this service, I've not yet encountered anything to discourage me from proceeding.
