If a medical emergency in CM, which hospital would you want to be taken to if insured and if not insured?

[scorecard]

'Over the top', another example, my young granddaughter was suddenly itchy, we went to RAM, doctor was not a listener and she made that point very clear. When I tried to politely ask a question the dr. looked at me and said in English 'I'm talking to my patient.'

 

She ordered several allergy tests which were inconclusive. Doctor then told the mother (my D-I-L) who was near the end of breast-feeding to avoid a certain group of foods for the next week to see if there was any change in the itchiness.

 

On the 6th day we went to a restaurant, my D-I-L ordered a dish but made it very clear to not add xxx.

 

Food comes then a few minutes later waiter comes quickly and says 'chef forgot and added xxx'.

 

Next morning D-I-L and family went to Ram and told the doctor. The whole family in the room, the doctor went ballistic and even said 'your stupid' (using the English word stupid).

 

My son intervened and said to his wife 'we're leaving', and the whole family out of the dr's room within 20 seconds. Dr. just ignored the whole scenario.

 

We went to Rajavej, good discussion, the doctor identified the problem 'eggs;, in a few minutes, sure enough no egg in any food and itchiness gone. 

Edited December 12, 2018 by scorecard

[JimmyJ]

There are several US websites such as vitals.com and ratemds.com where one can write reviews of doctors.

 

Thailand's libel laws are a big problem in preventing the spread of valuable information.

[rumak]

I have not read all the posts but i see that things have gone from "emergency" to some bad experiences that some have had.   Actually, to tie it together,  it is very helpful to know a doctor ( or doctors, depending on ones age/health ) that one trusts and considers competent .   I have a few,  but when something new comes up (like my current eye problem) , the process of searching for said doctor begins anew.  Recommendations from others help,  and ultimately one must go through the trial and sometimes error scenario.  

So..... the main "emergencies " that I can think of are mostly heart or accident situations.  As for the heart,

it would be prudent to know who you would want to treat you.  If you have a sudden heart attack I would guess you would have to depend on who you were with (wife, etc) to know what hospital you want to go to.

If a serious accident and you were not unconscious i think you could say where you want to go, but may be at the mercy of the ambulance freelancers.  If broken bones, etc . but not a life threatening injury you could try to get in touch with the surgeon that you trust .  It is not the hospital ...it is the Doctor that is the most important consideration ! ( Sheryl i think will back me up).   As for the insurance issue...if you have it you would need to research which hospitals accept what you have.   I for one decided long ago that I did not want to be denied coverage do to some small waiver on line 238 of some "agreement".  Each year instead of giving my money to them I put it in the bank.  By following their lead I increased my savings over the years to keep up with their ever increasing premiums.  

Edited December 13, 2018 by rumak

[kmw]

On 12/9/2018 at 1:29 PM, beau thai said:

it would depend on the nature of the emergency but I would choose Bangkok Hospital for the most professional expertise and care.   I have endured bad experience of nursing care and related inadequate procedures at Ram. twice.

Definiaty bangkok hospital chiang mai, its probably the most expensive, but also the best, and much better then ram,

 

I unfortunately suffer from pancreatitis and if I eat certain foods I end up being hospitalized severel times a year, last incident was in September I was in ICU for 11 nights and then a private room for 3 nights, total bill came to 743k thb, 

 

Insurance covered 710k thb, so my gap/excess as per the photo was 33k thb

 

I think they over service and over charge but its worth it

[kmw]

Also I think I should add, I have two insurance providers, allianze for health insurance and great lakes for travel insurance,

 

The premiums are high but yet to have any issues with claims

[mikey88]

On 12/9/2018 at 6:31 PM, FritsSikkink said:

You get the infection very quick. Then they give you antibiotics and it will take days for the medicine to win the fight against the infection.

There’s the question of ‘hospital acquired infection’ with any surgery of course...better not to think too long about that one. Some are intractable.

[mikey88]

On 12/10/2018 at 1:01 PM, wwest5829 said:

Heart attack Dec. 2015. Requested to be taken to Sriphat, they had someone more critical than me already in the cath operating room. They called RAM and found they could take me right away, RAM sent their ambulance for me. Stent, and two angios, one week stay. One of the reasons I chose to retire to Chiang Mai was availability of excellent healthcare. Uninsured because of pre-existing heart issues. Bill was $11,000. Also have experience with sandpapering myself from motorbike fall. Taken to closest hospital = Doi Saket. Cleaned up, tetanus shot, antibiotics and ambulance took me home. Bill was $10.00. So.....depends.

Everything I read about heart attack tells me time is absolutely critical...perhaps even the first hour.

Are you saying that Sriphat can’t deal with two heart attack cases at the same time?

I had an old friend whose balloon angio was delayed (not the hospital’s fault....he had a Health Directive in place and there were delays in contacting his power of attorney).....anyway, he died.