Hip Replacement Recommendation Pls?

[SuShane]

Hi everyone, I am fairly new to this forum and can't seem to find any related threads on hip replacement. I am looking for a recommendation of a reliable orthopedist for my 60 years old aunt. If anyone has gone through this procedure in Bangkok, pls let me know your experience with your doctor as well as the procedure. Thank you. 

 

- Su

[Bang Bang]

You want to post to the Health forum. Lots of knowledgeable folks there.

[mogandave]

Not a hip, but I had both knees done by Dr Panya at Bumrungrad and it was great.

[CharlieH]

MOVING to Health forum

[Sheryl]

Does she have insurance?

 

If yes - or if cost is not a big concern - then I recommend

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Somyot-Piyaworakhun

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Keerati-Charoencholvanich

 

If not then I suggest she try to see the same doctor as above  (Prof. Keerati) at Chulalongkorn Hospital after hours clinic. Have to go in person to make the appointment and there may be a considerable wait list.

 

Alternatively, more expensive than Chula but less than at Bumrungrad, see Dr. Aree Tanavalee at St Louis Hospital on Sathorn Rd Saturdays 4-8 PM (call to confirm hours).

[mogandave]

Chula is a great hospital for the money. A lot of recent improvements as well.

I see Dr. Piyawat there for my liver.

[SuShane]

6 hours ago, mogandave said:

Chula is a great hospital for the money. A lot of recent improvements as well.

I see Dr. Piyawat there for my liver.

Hi thanks for your feedback. Do staff speak English ok at Chula? I know doctors speak English pretty well but communication with medical staff can be difficult. Anyways, I will check out. Thank you!

[SuShane]

7 hours ago, Sheryl said:

Does she have insurance?

 

If yes - or if cost is not a big concern - then I recommend

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Somyot-Piyaworakhun

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Keerati-Charoencholvanich

 

If not then I suggest she try to see the same doctor as above  (Prof. Keerati) at Chulalongkorn Hospital after hours clinic. Have to go in person to make the appointment and there may be a considerable wait list.

 

Alternatively, more expensive than Chula but less than at Bumrungrad, see Dr. Aree Tanavalee at St Louis Hospital on Sathorn Rd Saturdays 4-8 PM (call to confirm hours).

Hi Sheryl, thank you so much for your in-depth information. Although I never posted anything here I always read your recommendations on Thaivisa whenever I need to see a doctor.

 

This is out of topic but In 2017, I was suffering from Interstitial Cystitis. I read your recommendation about Dr.Umaporn, the urologist at Sukunvit Hospital, went to see her after 2 urologists from Samitivej and Bumrungrad failed to treat my condition. My condition got a lot better and was able to live a normal life again!! I never personally got to thank you about this, so thanks a lot for the excellent job of keep a list of great doctors on Thaivisa. 

 

Back to my original topic, we don't have insurance and paying out of the pocket. We will try to see Dr. Keerati at Chula first and go from there. One thing though, I heard government hospitals usually have a long queue. Does it mean you need to wait for like 3 months before you can finally have your much needed operation or an MRI? 

 

Thanks again.

Edited November 23, 2018 by SuShane

[007cableguy]

A friend of mine had his hip done at Si Racha and they did a good job for 200k 

Surgeon spoke good english

[SuShane]

On 11/22/2018 at 3:33 PM, Bang Bang said:

You want to post to the Health forum. Lots of knowledgeable folks there.

Sorry, I am fairly new here and wasn't able to find an appropriate forum.

[SuShane]

20 hours ago, CharlieH said:

MOVING to Health forum

Thanks!

[SuShane]

5 minutes ago, 007cableguy said:

A friend of mine had his hip done at Si Racha and they did a good job for 200k 

Surgeon spoke good english

Thanks. Will keep in mind.

[Sheryl]

43 minutes ago, SuShane said:

One thing though, I heard government hospitals usually have a long queue. Does it mean you need to wait for like 3 months before you can finally have your much needed operation or an MRI? 

 

Thanks again.

Indeed yes. Though maybe more like 2 month wait for the op (and sometimes even for the specialist appointment). As for MRI, the wait is so long that most people, even Thais, go to a private imaging center to have it done. Red tape is also a problem especially on first visit, and forms etc are only in Thai, and other than the doctors not much Thai is spoken.  If you can arrange to have a Thai speaker with you it is much advised. Vastly less convenient than a private hospital but cheaper by a factor of about 3-5. For a hip replacement, where the prosthetic device account for a bug chunk of cost, more like a factor of 2-3.

 

To give you a rough idea, I expect at a Bangkok govt hospital this will come to about  250k inclusive of pre-op scan etc. At a  private hospital, about 500-700K. (baht).

 

 

[430xc]

On ‎11‎/‎22‎/‎2018 at 8:53 PM, Sheryl said:

Does she have insurance?

 

If yes - or if cost is not a big concern - then I recommend

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Somyot-Piyaworakhun

https://www.bumrungrad.com/doctors/Keerati-Charoencholvanich

 

If not then I suggest she try to see the same doctor as above  (Prof. Keerati) at Chulalongkorn Hospital after hours clinic. Have to go in person to make the appointment and there may be a considerable wait list.

 

Alternatively, more expensive than Chula but less than at Bumrungrad, see Dr. Aree Tanavalee at St Louis Hospital on Sathorn Rd Saturdays 4-8 PM (call to confirm hours).

Thank you Sheryl for the information.

I live in Udon Thani and I am in the process of making some decisions regarding hip replacement.  Having surgery in Bangkok would be a bit of an inconvenience but well worth it if the quality of the outcome is potentially better. 

There are numerous hospitals in Bangkok doing hip replacement surgery.  Sheryl, can I assume that you feel Bumrungrad is the highest quality?

Are many of the hospitals using robot assisted/computer assisted alignment?

 

I have been thinking of flying to Bangkok to consult with several doctors and hospitals regarding hip replacement and making a comparison. Is this worth the time and effort?

 

I do have reasonable major medical insurance in Thailand which will cover most of the costs involved.

 

Thanks for responses.

 

Cheers

430xc

[Sheryl]

34 minutes ago, 430xc said:

 

 

...There are numerous hospitals in Bangkok doing hip replacement surgery.  Sheryl, can I assume that you feel Bumrungrad is the highest quality?

 

 

No. No hospital is of highest quality. It all depends on the doctor.  There are substandard doctors to be found in all hospitals.

 

The surgeons previously mentioned in this thread are all excellent. Dr. Aree, in addition to hours at St Louis, is also at BNH Hospital and Samitivej Hospital.

 

Re robotic, I don't know.

[430xc]

Very interesting. I checked the Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok website. They quote 308,200 baht for anterior approach total hip replacement. I assume not robot assisted.  While a phone call to Bumrungrad Hospital revealed an estimate of MAKOplasty robotic assist surgery is about 850,000 baht and standard surgery is 650,000 baht.

 

I am trying to figure out the 300,000 to 500,000 baht difference.  Is the care and experience that much better at Bumrungrad?  If the outcome is significantly better, it could be worth the difference.  But how to tell?

[mogandave]

Very interesting. I checked the Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok website. They quote 308,200 baht for anterior approach total hip replacement. I assume not robot assisted.  While a phone call to Bumrungrad Hospital revealed an estimate of MAKOplasty robotic assist surgery is about 850,000 baht and standard surgery is 650,000 baht.
 
I am trying to figure out the 300,000 to 500,000 baht difference.  Is the care and experience that much better at Bumrungrad?  If the outcome is significantly better, it could be worth the difference.  But how to tell?

I’ve used both Bummer & BKK and facilities-wise they are pretty close. I don’t think there is that much difference. Bummer is routinely double the price on a lot of stuff as BKK.

I think bummer is better marketed to to medical tourism and has better language support, particularly for Middle Easterners which they target heavily.

I think BKK relies much more on affluent Thais than does Bummer.

Had both my knees done at bummer, and I was happy with it. Could have gotten them done for half that at BKK.

Been using the BKK Hospital Dental Center for the whole family and they’ve always been great.

[kickstart]

I know the op said Bangkok, but I have had now had both hips replaced at  Mitraparp Memorial Hospital, Saraburi, it is only 1 1/2  hours from Bangkok.

I had the Anterior Approach, the surgeon did some of his training in New York, speaks English, each one was 260 000 baht, the replacement  hip parts were 130 000 baht, coming from America 

I lead an active life and had a ceramic femur, which was 20 000 baht more than a standard.

No problems since the op, on the minus side  they do not take any Insurance, they did not take my Heath Care International card, but  may take other companies, only AIA, and the food sucks, but I was only they for the  first time  4 days, second one 3 days, and had no appetite.  

[430xc]

Thank you MorganDave and Kickstart for your informative posts

 

430xc

[Sheryl]

17 hours ago, 430xc said:

Very interesting. I checked the Bangkok Hospital in Bangkok website. They quote 308,200 baht for anterior approach total hip replacement. I assume not robot assisted.  While a phone call to Bumrungrad Hospital revealed an estimate of MAKOplasty robotic assist surgery is about 850,000 baht and standard surgery is 650,000 baht.

 

I am trying to figure out the 300,000 to 500,000 baht difference.  Is the care and experience that much better at Bumrungrad?  If the outcome is significantly better, it could be worth the difference.  But how to tell?

The outcome will depend on the surgeon not on the hospital. You can get a bad outcome in any hospital if you do nto choose the surgeon well.

 

In terms of nursing care, it is better at Bangkok Hosp than Bumrungrad in my experience, by a pretty large margin, Both hospitals are owned by the same parent company and both are very modern, spotlessly clean and well equipped.

 

I suspect the apparent price difference is at least in part due to differences in how they quote prices.  Frankly the amount you mention for Bkk Hospital is too low, I have never heard of anyone having it done there for that little.  So I suspect it is either not an all inclusive price or a special promotion, if the latter you may nto be able to choose your doctor.

 

Bumrungrad tends to estimate prices on the high side. In addition, it is true that a large influx of middle eastern patients has led them to up their prices  above those of the other 3 hospitals in the same "chain"  (Bangkok Hospital, Samitivej and BNH Hospital).  There is no observable difference between these 4 places except for preponderance of middle easterners and middle eastern/halal food etc at Bumrungrad and more crowding.

[Sheryl]

P.S. I just located the part of the Bkk Hosp website with that price quote. It is for "fly in" (international, not resident) patients only.  So it does nto apply to you.

 

It also has a number of exclusions. And is valid only until the end of this month, so it is indeed a special promotion.

 

I think it will actually cost you around 500K to have this done at Bangkok Hospital.

[Mike Teavee]

Mate of mine recently had his done at https://www.samitivejhospitals.com/  & spoke very highly of the treatment he received there, I was amazed as he was up & walking (with a stroller) after 1 day & within 2 weeks was walking better than he had done for years 

 

IIRC he said the full cost was 480,000 THB which included 1 night in ICU (precautionary) & 4 nights in amazing accommodation (think very nice hotel suites).