Finally! Medicare Advantage Available In Puerto Vallarta!

An Interview with Dr Peter Gordon of Lake Medical Group

Lake Medical Group presents a health program that will benefit Americans and Canadians living in Puerto Vallarta, with a maximum copay of 100 pesos. No cost to join, no monthly fees, no membership fees.
This program represents a further advance for the Vallarta economy and medical resources, as well as a benefit for hospitals and doctors.

Dr. Peter Fletcher Gordon heads this new program in Puerto Vallarta presented by Lake Medical Group (LMG). LMG is a one hundred percent Mexican company that operates similar to Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO) in the United States. This program is now available in Mexico.

Doctor Gordon, what is the new program you are implementing in Puerto Vallarta?

We operate like an HMO, a managed care HMO exactly like in the United States, and what we have done, is we have taken the HMO, a managed care model that is very successful in the United States, combined it with good quality care for patients and we have moved it to Mexico.

How many insurance companies do you accept?

We accept over 350 different Canadian and American insurances within our medical group including Medicare Advantage Programs. So if you have a medical insurance that we accept, which is most of the big name insurances, you may very well have comprehensive medical care through our HMO here in Mexico.

How long have you been operating in Mexico, especially in Puerto Vallarta?

We are expanding into Puerto Vallarta, just in the past 3 or 4 months, but we have been operating in Mexico for about four years, in Ajijic, as the Lakeside Medical Group. There we have our own facility with urgent care and outpatient center, as well as network hospitals, where we send our patients.

What is your experience in the medical area?

I graduated from the Autonomous University of Guadalajara. I finished my training in family medicine in the United States. I have been an assistant director for residency training and a hospital administrator for ten years, as well as a medical director for a nursing home and a home health care service. I bring all this experience with me as we launch this new program to make sure Lake Medical Group is highly successful for everyone.

How is the HMO program going to benefit American and Canadian patients?

Patients don't want to deal with their insurance companies. Over the many years I have been here, patients will pay out of their pockets for many healthcare related expenses; they will absorb this cost, even people that are on very limited incomes. What we are doing for them here is they don't have to deal with the insurance company. They can go to the hospital for a hundred pesos and nothing else. They don't have to leave a credit card or a deposit; everything is included. So this is a huge benefit for them and no one else is doing this, they can have a better quality life, and even better health care.

Who pays the bills?

Lake Medical Group covers the bills; we pay the hospitals directly, and patients do not pay anything more than maximum 100 peso copay. They have no other financial responsibilities as long as they stay within our network of doctors and hospitals, everything is covered.

How does the program work for the patients?

The program we are doing is more than hospitals; it is total health care for the patients. So that means they are covered in the office with doctors as well as in the hospital. Our patients are assigned to a primary care physician, which could be a family physician like myself, or could be an internist. Both of these are doctors that have very broad knowledge in medicine, and experience taking care of people. These physicians can handle most of the health related problems that patients may present, and we call upon the support of the specialists when we need it. The specialist we refer to will depend on the problem that the patient has. This program can even offer prescription medication coverage just like the policies back home. It will vary depending on each patient’s insurance policy.

Which specialties does the program offer?

We have multiple types of specialties, contracted providers in our network, everything from cardiologists, to gastroenterologists, and orthopedic surgeons. We have at least a hundred different types of doctors within our network and we are expanding in Puerto Vallarta.
We have contracted with several hospitals, and essentially every kind of specialty is covered. And if you have an insurance that we accept, your medical care is going to be covered through our network of doctors, and you will not have to pay anything; your insurance is usable in Mexico.

Dr Gordon, do you have the same technology compared to the United States and Canada?

Yes, patients are very surprised to find that we are on par with most of the equipment and services in the United States or Canada, wherever they come from. Starting with my office one thing you see is a computer where I am connected through the internet to resources throughout the world. And everything we do is documented for a patient. That means I get information from resources such as laboratories, x-ray, hospitals, and we have this all in the patient’s charts and records.
The hospitals and laboratories we work with also have the most up to date equipment to provide the most modern services for our patients.

Do the Doctors have any certification?

Yes, all the hospitals are certified by the state of Jalisco, and all the doctors are specialists and are all board certified. All of them are licensed in Mexico, and if you are a specialist we require you to have a board specialty license also. Most of the physicians have fellowships, and many have done their training in the United States but at minimum, they all have a board certification in Mexico.

Doctor Gordon, as a doctor, do you belong to any organizations that help children with low income?

Yes, I am the president of Club de Clubs, a branch of the Navy League in Puerto Vallarta. We are a service that helps all of the communities here. We coordinate the importation of medical donations into Mexico from San Diego. They are loaded on US Coast Guard and Navy ships, which bring them here to Puerto Vallarta. When they arrive we distribute the materials to the organizations that may be waiting for them or others who have the greatest need. We have distributed to children’s homes, public hospitals, the Red Cross, Pasitos de Luz, Divac and many other similar community groups that dedicate their time and efforts to helping the underserved and needy in the Bahia de Banderas area.

Why should patients choose your company rather than others?

One of the greatest benefits of joining Lake Medical Group is the patients’ experience; they receive their personalized medical care and they do not have to pay coinsurance or deductibles, just a standard 100 pesos co-payment. It really doesn’t matter if it is for a major surgery, or just an office visit, that is all they have to do. All deductibles and co insurances, like 20 percent bill charges, are absorbed by us. The patient doesn’t have to pay for any of these as it is one of the benefits of Lake Medical Group.

Patients can trust that they are receiving the best care from qualified physicians and other services. We personally review each provider both before and ongoing to make sure Lake Medical Group is of the highest standards in medical care. And if a patient‘s provider is not part of our group and they feel they are of this same quality, all they have to do is let us know and we will invite them to participate with us, Lake Medical Group.  www.lakemedicalgroup.com