Look for six things. Most are on a clinic's website; ask for the rest in writing. A good answer is a name, a number or a document. A thin one is an adjective.
Running a clinic through all six takes about 10 minutes. If you have one open in the next tab, tick each check off as you go.
Start with the cellsNot the website, not the testimonials.
Ask for a named lab, a published process, a chain of custody, and material certificates on request.
"Umbilical MSC from [named lab]. Release criteria include viability, identity, and sterility. COA available."
"Premium stem cells from a top lab."
No name, no criteria, no paper. Walk away.
A named physician with verifiable credentials, who stays with your case before and after the procedure. You aren't handed off.
"Your attending is Dr. [name], [credentials], with hospital privileges at [facility]."
"Our expert physician team."
If you can't name them, you can't evaluate them.
The setting should be hospital-grade, with proper imaging and the ability to resuscitate. Not a spa, not a storefront.
What's included and what's not should be specific, and the terms disclosed in writing, not on a vague "starting at" basis.
Inclusions and exclusions itemized and specific, terms in writing.
"Call to discuss."
Withholding what's included is a negotiation tactic, not a medical standard.
Realistic, not miraculous. Non-response is acknowledged, and the literature is cited, not glossed.
"Response varies by indication. We follow every case in clinical follow-up and decline candidates whose biology doesn't support a meaningful response."
"95% success rate."
No such number exists honestly in this space.
Care doesn't end at discharge. Re-checks are scheduled, not left for you to chase.
0 of 6 answered.
Still to ask:
We published the framework because we're willing to be measured by it. Our material sourcing, physician structure, facility, cost terms, outcome position (we publish no outcome statistics of our own), and follow-through are all on the public site.
If a competitor does those things better, that's useful information for you. If a competitor won't answer, that's useful information too. Arguably more useful.
Nothing on this framework is proprietary. It's an adaptation of what responsible domestic specialty practices already do. Press on the check where a clinic is weakest and see how they respond.
Refusal is itself an answer. A serious clinic has nothing to hide on these six, and everything to gain by answering well.
No, and the most expensive isn't automatically the best. Cost is one check among six. Weigh it against the other five.
Useful, but not decisive. They select for the patients who responded. They don't show the non-responders. Weigh them accordingly.
The clinic checklist is 28 items in 5 sections, and it prints. Take it to any clinic intake, including ours.
Open the checklist →