The DiligenceHGM scored 205 longevity and diagnostic clinics in 27 countries. Only 17 cleared our bar.
HGM scored 205 longevity and diagnostic clinics in 27 countries. Only 17 cleared our bar. Here's what most clinics don't publish, and five questions to ask before you book.
If you asked ten longevity or diagnostic clinics abroad to show you who their doctors are, a written price list, an accreditation you can actually check, and a plan for what happens after you fly home, most would hand you a brochure instead.
That used to be a hunch. Now it's a number.
Since spring, HGM has scored 205 clinics in 27 countries against one standard, the HGM Trust Index. It measures how much a patient can verify about a clinic before booking, across five areas worth 20 points each: accreditation, physician credentials, facility standards, risk management and continuity of care, and transparency and pricing. We only send clients to clinics that score 70 or more.
What we found
Only 17 clinics, about 1 in 12, scored 70 or higher. Two scored above 85.
Nearly half (100 of 205) scored below 55, the line where we won't recommend a clinic at all.
The typical clinic scored 55. Polished online, but most of the checking is left to you.
Where the gap opens
Clinics are good at telling you who their doctors are. The gap opens almost everywhere else, starting with the area that matters most once you've booked:
What happens if something goes wrong, or after you fly home: only 4 of 205 clinics scored strongly (15 or more out of 20). It is the weakest area in every region we cover.
The full report breaks down all five areas we score in one chart: accreditation, doctors, facility, pricing and aftercare. It's the clearest picture we know of what you can, and can't, check before you book.
Reputation isn't evidence
The best-known destinations didn't come out on top. The country with the highest share of clinics above 70 isn't Switzerland, and it isn't the United States. And the region with the lowest average score holds more than a quarter of the clinics that cleared our bar. We name both in the full report, along with how every region compares.
What this means, and what it doesn't
A low score doesn't mean bad medicine. Plenty of excellent physicians simply haven't published what an outside evaluator needs to see. But it does mean the burden of checking falls on the patient, at the exact moment they're least equipped to carry it: a new country, a new language, a specialty they don't practice.
In finance, nobody hands over their savings because a website looks polished. They ask who regulates the advisor, what the track record is, and whether anyone independent has checked. Most people booking a $30,000 longevity program never get to ask those questions.
Five questions to ask before you book
Which doctor reads my results, and can I speak with them?
Who accredits you, and when was it last renewed?
What's included in the price, and what costs extra?
If you find something, what happens next, and who coordinates it?
Will my results be in English and usable by my doctor at home?
How we score, and who pays us
Clinics cannot pay for placement or for a score. HGM earns referral fees from some partner clinics when we coordinate a client's care; those relationships are disclosed and never change a score. Our own partners are scored on the same rubric as everyone else, and not all of them clear 70. This edition reflects evidence as of October 15, 2026. Clinics we couldn't confirm as real, open and correctly identified were left out, and chains count once per bookable location. Full methodology: the HGM Excellence Standard.
Get the full report. The complete 8-page Diligence Gap report, with every chart, the region-by-region results and the country that surprised us, is free for HGM Insider subscribers. Join The HGM Insider →
Not medical advice.