Introduction
The College of American Pathologists (CAP) enjoys longstanding relationships with our accredited laboratories around the world. Each organization’s story is unique, with a human side that goes beyond data and metrics. The roots of Carpermor, part of Grupo Diagnóstico Proa, date back to 1948, when a humble chemist with a vision of improving the lives of his patients opened a single diagnostic laboratory in Mexico City. Today, Carpermor is among the largest family-owned reference laboratories in Mexico, serving six million patients a year. We recently met with Grupo Diagnóstico Proa CEO Carlos Alberto Mosqueira Pérez to learn more about his organization’s journey and the role the CAP has played.
“We invested in CAP accreditation decades before anyone else in Mexico. We work in the diagnostic space and have always prioritized the most valuable thing—people’s health care—so we always decided to have the best accreditations.”
— Carlos Alberto Mosqueira Pérez
CEO, Grupo Médico Diagnóstico Proa
CAP: We’re honored to meet you, Mr. Mosqueira.
My pleasure. While preparing for our discussion, I reflected on the importance of CAP accreditation to Carpermor. I entered the company in 2003, the year Carpermor began working on CAP accreditation for our reference labs in Mexico City and Guadalajara. Everybody was nervous about the work ahead of us, but we were convinced that it was what we needed to do. I was appointed as CEO in January 2024, 20 years after we earned CAP accreditation. The accreditation certificates hang on the wall of my office, as they did for the previous CEO. We were so proud to achieve this. We’re still proud.
We know that Carpermor is a family-owned organization with deep roots in Mexico. Can you tell us about your history?
My family has always had a passion for improving the health of our fellow Mexicans. In 1948 my grandfather, a chemist, started a single diagnostic lab called Laboratorio Médico del Chopo, a brand we still use today. Our country faced many challenges at that time—one of which was access to quality, affordable health care services. As the years passed, we opened more Chopo locations to collect lab samples from patients. Today we have a network of more than 700 locations across Mexico.
In 1993, Carpermor was established as a reference lab, modeled after the clinical labs in the United States. It is a business-to-business (B2B) organization that provides diagnostic laboratory services to hospitals and physicians as well as domestic and international manufacturing and pharmaceutical companies doing business in Mexico. We now have 23 clinical laboratories throughout the country, which provide lab services for own Chopo sites and our B2B partners.
Mexico doesn’t require accreditation for diagnostic laboratories. Why was it so important to you to seek accreditation for Carpermor?
One of the biggest challenges as we grew was standardizing our clinical and operational processes, to ensure the quality was the same at each lab and collection site. We know the importance of accreditation in achieving standardization and excellence, and we approached it very seriously. In truth, we were pioneers doing what no other Mexican-owned laboratory services company had ever done.
Back in the day, there weren’t any established norms for clinical labs, so we started with baby steps. We earned ISO 9000 [accreditation] in 2001. Two years later, we became the first lab in Mexico to obtain ISO 15189 accreditation, which addresses compliance to international quality management standards for labs. Finally, it took more than a year, but in 2004 we earned CAP accreditation, which has given us the fundamental pillars, best practices, and benchmarking from CAP-accredited labs from all over the world to standardize quality.
Beyond standardization, what are the other benefits of CAP accreditation?
We’re conscious that we’re working with what’s most valuable to all our patients: their health. In our mission, we have very clearly stated we want to help our patients live longer and better. This really inspired us to pursue CAP accreditation. Our patients are our bosses, and CAP accreditation helps us do whatever is best for [them].
CAP accreditation also differentiates us from all other diagnostic laboratory services companies in Mexico, most of which are not accredited. We show the CAP accreditation mark on our website and other marketing materials. We use it in presentations to hospitals, physicians, global manufacturers, and pharmaceutical companies. CAP accreditation is the gold standard, and this sets us apart in a crowded market.
Carpermor has some significant growth opportunities. Tell us about them.
Ahh, there are many opportunities! First, we serve about six million patients a year. We believe by expanding Chopo and other business models, we could have access to more than 30 million Mexican patients in the future. Having a greater impact on the wellbeing of Mexicans is very exciting and much needed.
Another large opportunity is the growing number of medical tourists—from the US, Canada, and other countries—who come to Mexico for health care services. Two points of entry are Tijuana and Monterrey, and we want a presence there. The ex-pat community—wealthy North Americans and digital nomads who spend part of the year in Mexico—is another big opportunity. San Miguel de Allende in Guadalajara and Lake Chapala in Jalisco attract many ex-pats. The CAP brand is familiar to medical tourists and ex-pats and helps build trust.
Where else has the CAP’s global recognition helped your growth?
We work with global automotive companies that have manufacturing plants in Mexico. These global corporations appreciate the CAP brand and accreditation. It’s what their employees are used to. The same for global pharmaceutical companies doing business in Mexico. There are certain customers that wouldn’t be doing business with us if we didn’t have international accreditations like CAP. They are looking for trust in their partners.
Will you be seeking CAP accreditation for other Carpermor labs?
Our goal is to double the size of our company over the next five years. Adding more CAP-accredited labs makes sense. I prioritize Tijuana and Monterrey because these cities are huge: Monterrey has five million people, and Tijuana probably has three million. I definitely see the opportunity to grow.
Any last thoughts about CAP accreditation you’d like to share?
The whole CAP process has two structural pillars. First, there is the rational one; it has to do with quality standardization. But second, there is the emotional one. As you go through the accreditation process, there’s nervousness. Will we pass? Then there’s the happiness and joy when you are accredited. And of course, there’s the trust it creates. How do you put a value on the trust of your patients and referring physicians? There’s not a way of rationally describing trust and the immeasurable value it creates.