What is an IPS?

Summary: IPS stands for Instituciones Prestadoras de Servicios de Salud, which means health center.

IPS stands for Instituciones Prestadoras de Servicios de Salud, which means health center. When you join an EPS in Colombia, they will assign you to an IPS. Expats advise newcomers interested in obtaining EPS health insurance to look at the IPS or health centers in the various EPS providers networks in order to narrow down the options and choose the right EPS provider for you and your family.

Some expats have successfully changed from one IPS to another. It may be different from one insurance company to another. One person wrote, "While I did not visit 'Central' (the assigned IPS), I was told it is housed in a large former house. Instead, I visited the IPS at Las Molinos in Belen - nice place, air conditioned. You make an appointment online, go to a machine and enter your cedula and it spits out a ticket. You take that to the counter and they give you your consultation room and name that is displayed on screens throughout the waiting room. When your name comes up you go and see the doctor. I went online and changed my IPS from central to Los Molinos and it takes effect the first business day of the next month."

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About the Author

Betsy Burlingame is the Founder and President of Expat Exchange and is one of the Founders of Digital Nomad Exchange. She launched Expat Exchange in 1997 as her Master's thesis project at NYU. Prior to Expat Exchange, Betsy worked at AT&T in International and Mass Market Marketing. She graduated from Ohio Wesleyan University with a BA in International Business and German.

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What is an IPS?

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