Bangkok Phuket International Hospital charges

[xylophone]

I'm sure there's another thread somewhere about hospitals here and charges, but I couldn't find it, hence this new one.

 

Went along to the hospital today to get a skin lesion checked out, as I do on a regular basis, what with being fair skinned and having worked in the Sahara desert for a few years, and saw the skin specialist for no more than five minutes, if that.

 

I don't mind paying the doctor's fee because he is a specialist and that's what I pay for. However he was prescribing some cream for this lesion, to be applied for up to 2 weeks, and then to go back to see him, which again I had no problem with.

 

I then asked him to tell me what cream it was, but he omitted to do so and I said that I had quite a few of these types of creams at home and anyway anything I bought at the hospital was always expensive compared to the pharmacies.

 

He replied that this one wasn't expensive and sent me on my way.

 

Not only that, before I saw him I tried to put off what seems to be obligatory blood pressure test, because it's a waste of time as having just walked from the car park, and then walked into the room to get the test, whilst speaking to the nurse, then sitting there whilst she put the sleeve on my upper arm, with my arm pointing downwards, is not the recommended practice prior to taking blood pressure.

 

Anyway, I got the cream and it wasn't expensive at 245 baht for a 5 g tube, however that is expensive when compared to the cost for buying it at Boots, which is 240 baht for a 15 g tube – – that's one hell of a markup, although the doctor was right, that it wasn't expensive per se, but compared to the normal cost, percentage-wise, it was horrendous.

 

Whilst I was waiting for the appointment, I was reading an in-house magazine about healthy body, healthy mind, with healthy eating being of paramount importance in this respect, so imagine my surprise when I went to pay the bill and right opposite there was a fairly newly erected "Dunkin doughnuts", providing everything contrary to what the in-house magazine was saying!!

 

There is absolutely no doubt about it, that hospitals here are all about MONEY and finding many ways to be able to extract it from the unsuspecting "customers", even if it goes against what they are preaching in their magazines – – go figure.
 

[London Lowf]

Capitalism - a double-edged sword.

 

It provides the man on the street with the financial means to then get screwed!

[stevenl]

You seem to have combined the names of Bangkok Phuket hospital and Phuket international hospital in your thread title.

Both the same chain, but different pricing and services.

[Old Croc]

The former International hospital has had a name change.

It is now the Bangkok Hospital Siriroj -Phuket, although the name Phuket International Hospital will no doubt linger for some time.

You can't see a doctor in one of these chain of hospitals without the mandatory checking of BP, temp and blood oxygen. The small cost of these checks help pays for the fleet of nurses.

I no longer get my medications from the hospital instead buy from Supercheap or I get a reli to buy them from pharmacies in Bangkok. If you know what is required don't let the doctor prescribe inhouse meds.

Bangkok Hospital Phuket has a 7-11, a family Mart and a coffee Pot outlet on the premises, all well populated by the staff and customers. Recently, one of the nurses I'm friendly with gave me a tub of Maccas mash potatoes and gravy from her large bag of lunch supplies for the ladies.

The café, incorporated into the canteen, sells some pretty wicked cream cakes.  

 

 

Edited January 28, 2020 by Old Croc

[Somtamnication]

The also charge an additional 100b PER medicine prescribed. I always get the medicine list and go to Santi in Phuket T. for about 70% to 150% less.

[xylophone]

7 hours ago, Old Croc said:

The former International hospital has had a name change.

It is now the Bangkok Hospital Siriroj -Phuket, although the name Phuket International Hospital will no doubt linger for some time.

You can't see a doctor in one of these chain of hospitals without the mandatory checking of BP, temp and blood oxygen. The small cost of these checks help pays for the fleet of nurses.

I no longer get my medications from the hospital instead buy from Supercheap or I get a reli to buy them from pharmacies in Bangkok. If you know what is required don't let the doctor prescribe inhouse meds.

Bangkok Hospital Phuket has a 7-11, a family Mart and a coffee Pot outlet on the premises, all well populated by the staff and customers. Recently, one of the nurses I'm friendly with gave me a tub of Maccas mash potatoes and gravy from her large bag of lunch supplies for the ladies.

The café, incorporated into the canteen, sells some pretty wicked cream cakes.  

 

 

Thanks OC, as I wasn't quite sure what the name was these days, although I did know it had been taken over by the "Bangkok group".

 

The mandatory checking of blood pressure etc by this group is a con because the test is not carried out as per the recommended procedure for such a test, so the result is meaningless.

 

Furthermore on one particular occasion I had a blood pressure reading that was off the scale (190/95 or thereabouts as I recall) so all the nurse did was to write it on the form and everything carried on as per normal with no mention of this very high blood pressure – – so what's the use of taking it?

 

Like you, I usually converse with the doctor to enable me to buy the meds elsewhere, but on this occasion I didn't as I thought that a small tube of cream wouldn't be worth the effort, nor really would it have been, but the markup!!!!!! 

 

And as for the Dunkin' Donuts outlet in the middle of the hospital, outside of where people wait to pay their bills, well that really does prove that the hospital is focused on making money, and to have magazines there about healthy living and eschewing junk foods is a joke!! 

[bearpolar]

definitely worth waiting a bit longer at mission to avoid giving more money to this group.

[Old Croc]

I've recorded high BP readings when being checked just after arrival when still hot and bothered from getting there. I've asked for a second reading after a short wait and had a significant drop in the figure.

I figure the tests don't hurt, and could conceivably pick up problems of which I'm unaware so don't bemoan the small cost. 

It's the mark-up on drugs where they really rip you off!

[Old Croc]

9 minutes ago, bearpolar said:

definitely worth waiting a bit longer at mission to avoid giving more money to this group.

Worth it for some, but I'd pay to avoid waiting for anything.

I've stated before, in a different thread, that I'd pay as much as 1000 baht for fast tracking at the airport to avoid hours in queues.

[stouricks]

14 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

I figure the tests don't hurt, and could conceivably pick up problems of which I'm unaware

How can a blood pressure reading taken at a random time pick up any problems? As you said, it changed considerably between the two procedures.

Your BP varies from minute to minute depending on what you've been doing, driving, climbing stairs, cuppa coffee, white-coat syndrome, it is usually higher in the morning, it should always be taken with an empty bladder etc etc.

The only way to pick-up any potential problem is to take it yourself every morning and evening, keep the readings in a phone app which then averages the readings over a period of time. Tell that average to the hospital nurses, they will usually accept it. Same with your weight which can vary by 1kg if you go to the toilet before weighing. And as for why they measure your height......

Edited January 29, 2020 by stouricks

[Old Croc]

7 minutes ago, stouricks said:

How can a blood pressure reading taken at a random time pick up any problems?

Your BP varies from minute to minute depending on what you've been doing, driving, climbing stairs, cuppa coffee, white-coat syndrome, it is usually higher in the morning, it should always be taken with an empty bladder etc etc.

The only way to pick-up any potential problem is to take it yourself every morning and evening, keep the readings in a phone app which then averages the readings over a period of time. Tell that average to the hospital nurses, they will usually accept it. Same with your weight which can vary by 1kg if you go to the toilet before weighing. And as for why they measure your height......

Perhaps if you read my post a little better you would see I mentioned tests (plural),  I was mainly thinking about the temperature test and how it may pick up something like a virus. Low blood oxygen can also have very serious consequences. Mine is often near the problem low reading. My heart rate is also low, usually in the high 40's.

As someone who suffers edema the weight variances are also important.

I do cause confusion when I tell them my height is about 4 1/2 feet, because of my wheelchair status.

Edited January 29, 2020 by Old Croc

[stouricks]

3 minutes ago, Old Croc said:

Perhaps if you read my post a little better you would see I mentioned tests (plural),  I was mainly thinking about the temperature test and how it may pick up something like a virus. Low blood oxygen can also have very serious consequences. Mine is often near the problem low reading. My heart rate is also low, usually in the 40's.

Sorry I missed the plural of test.

[Old Croc]

3 minutes ago, stouricks said:

Sorry I missed the plural of test.

Read again, I was still editing.????

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, Old Croc said:

I've recorded high BP readings when being checked just after arrival when still hot and bothered from getting there. I've asked for a second reading after a short wait and had a significant drop in the figure.

I figure the tests don't hurt, and could conceivably pick up problems of which I'm unaware so don't bemoan the small cost. 

It's the mark-up on drugs where they really rip you off!

Agree, the tests don't hurt, but again, they are pointless because nothing is done about them and anyway they are incorrect.

 

A few times I have told them that I don't want the tests, but I still get charged for them, so that proves it's not about health, but about money.........along with the huge markup on drugs and inclusion of the likes of Dunkin' Donuts inside the hospital.

 

By all means charge me for a test/series of tests which mean something to me and my health, and I have no problem, but this façade is an insult to my intelligence.

[hydraides]

Agreed !!!! I had this exact same problem at Dibuk Hospital last month(A branch of Bangkok)

 

-I Split my head open on an electricity box

 

- I was working so I had insurance, which covered me for the first 5200 something like that.

 

-I was ordered to go back for cleaning the wound ....3 times.... The first time cleaning was covered by insurance and looking at the receipt only 200 baht total

 

-I skipped 2nd cleaning appointment. Just to turn up at the third one. They try to charge me 700 baht for the exact same cleaning.

 

-Was very angry so took it up with a manager. Their excuse was "Because you had insurance prices are lower????"..........On the receipt they were charging me for IV Fluid????? 64 units of IV fluid....didn't make any sense and they trying to extort as much money from you as possible

 

-Mission hospital in comparison I think is fantastic hospital. Always go there

 

-Don't go to Vachira hospital either.....They will overcharge westerners ....they will send you to the foreign clinic

[xylophone]

1 hour ago, hydraides said:

Their excuse was "Because you had insurance prices are lower

Well that's certainly a new twist on an old ploy!!!!

 

Twice I have caught out Bangkok Phuket hospital on their overcharging on insurance or farang scam, once when my ex girlfriend was originally quoted around 80 to 100,000 baht for an operation on her brothers throat, but when I went in a second time with her to get things ready for the operation, I was quoted 160,000 baht, so I told them to stick it and went elsewhere.

 

The second time was when I went for a colonoscopy and saw Dr Art himself with regards to this and he quoted me a price of 12,000 baht, so I booked an appointment and went in about 10 days later.

 

After the procedure I went to the desk to get the bill and the nurse asked me if I had insurance, so I said I had, but I wanted to pay cash for this. Anyway she must not of heard me because I was soon after presented with a bill for 18,000 baht, which I queried and then stated that I didn't have insurance (saved me some hassle trying to explain), so there was a quick printing out of various invoices and throwing a couple in the bin, until finally I was presented with a bill for just over 12,000 baht. 

 

Bumping up the medical and procedure costs for the insurance companies is pretty well a given here, and I am quite surprised that the insurance companies allow this to happen, because they rarely seem to query any bills.

Edited January 29, 2020 by xylophone

[observer90210]

I would not point out cheats or dishonesty should it be in health, politics, business policies, society in general ...  no matter where....

 

...what would rather be worth would be to point out, is where there are still honest people left, as that is far more a rare species...

[xylophone]

25 minutes ago, observer90210 said:

I would not point out cheats or dishonesty should it be in health, politics, business policies, society in general ...  no matter where....

 

...what would rather be worth would be to point out, is where there are still honest people left, as that is far more a rare species...

I was merely pointing out that the charges at this particular hospital, or should I say at two large private hospitals here are very likely to be inflated if you are a farang or paying by insurance.

 

Trying to warn folk about being ripped off is also surely a worthwhile cause.

 

And I do believe I did spot an honest person here a few years back..............????.

[observer90210]

25 minutes ago, xylophone said:

I was merely pointing out that the charges at this particular hospital, or should I say at two large private hospitals here are very likely to be inflated if you are a farang or paying by insurance.

 

Trying to warn folk about being ripped off is also surely a worthwhile cause.

 

And I do believe I did spot an honest person here a few years back..............????.

No misunderstandings please, your post was pertinent and thank you for sharing....absolutely no scarcasm. Have a nice evening.

[Patong2]

On the good side for Bangkok Phuket Hospital.

Wife had something stuck in her ear and it was increasingly painful.

Tried a clinic in Patong but they said no, you must go to hospital.

 

As we were flying out 4 days later I took her to Bangkok Phuket as an ear problem with the variation in cabin pressure could be extremely painful.

 

First class service, taken by a nurse upstairs to the ear ward, Had BP etc taken and saw a doctor in 10 minutes or so and she located the problem, removed it and that was it. No meds prescribed not even ear drops!

 

The longest wait was to pay the bill which was I thought reasonable at B1950.

And don't forget the free parking, in NZ that alone would have cost me B400

 

Certainly a lot more than we used to pay but I was expecting much more.

And we got some delicious foodstall food as we left from the carpark stalls as a bonus

 

 

[xylophone]

14 hours ago, Patong2 said:

On the good side for Bangkok Phuket Hospital.

Wife had something stuck in her ear and it was increasingly painful.

Tried a clinic in Patong but they said no, you must go to hospital.

 

As we were flying out 4 days later I took her to Bangkok Phuket as an ear problem with the variation in cabin pressure could be extremely painful.

 

First class service, taken by a nurse upstairs to the ear ward, Had BP etc taken and saw a doctor in 10 minutes or so and she located the problem, removed it and that was it. No meds prescribed not even ear drops!

 

The longest wait was to pay the bill which was I thought reasonable at B1950.

And don't forget the free parking, in NZ that alone would have cost me B400

 

Certainly a lot more than we used to pay but I was expecting much more.

And we got some delicious foodstall food as we left from the carpark stalls as a bonus

 

 

So a happy ending for you P2!????

[Patong2]

2 hours ago, xylophone said:

So a happy ending for you P2!????

And in front of the wife

 

[sucit]

I do not really agree with your point about the donuts. Anyway, they could serve rice and veggies and someone would complain that it was not healthy enough, somehow. 

 

I do agree they treadmill you, and overprescribe you stuff. I think Thais like to be given medicine though so you may blame it on customers. 

 

I don't think the markup you pointed out was out of line. It is well known to simply buy at a pharmacy. If a doctor wont tell you what a medicine is, I would recommend demanding the information or seeing another doctor. That is outright ridiculous. What if it is for pain relief for example, and your pain ceases. They just cannot withhold that information. 

 

I agree it is simply a treadmill business model and they try to soak you for everything they can, especially on these little "preventative" visits where there is usually nothing actually wrong. But not all hospitals are like that, you need to find a good one. Usually the top recommended government hospitals are much better in my experience. 

Edited January 30, 2020 by sucit

[Old Croc]

A few final points from me:

The tests are a mandatory part of a visit to this chain and can't be avoided even if unlikely to uncover serious problems for many. They are more about getting a bit more money out of the customer to pay for staff.

However, as quite a large proportion of patients, particularly short time tourists, present with flu or dengue type symptoms the tests can be essential. It's a small cost that I have no problem paying. I certainly wouldn't head to a government hospital just to avoid this charge.

 

Someone mentioned different pricing for non-citizens at said government hospitals, I think this was mandated by the government a while back.

 

It was interesting to hear about the actual difference in billing for insured and non-insured. In other threads, as a self insurer, I've used the argument several times that, for comparison purposes, my bills are lower than for those with insurance.

 

 

Edited January 30, 2020 by Old Croc

[xylophone]

2 hours ago, sucit said:

I do not really agree with your point about the donuts.

Well then we'll have to disagree about the donuts, and my point was mainly because it's well-known that donuts contain far too much sugar, palm oil and other ingredients that are not generally recommended for good health – – but to be sitting in the hospital waiting room reading about how to cut out sugar, carbohydrates, palm oil etc from one's diet in order to remain healthy, only to find there is a store selling items which include all of those inside the place is a nonsense.

 

How about a sandwich type shop with fresh ingredients on show and low GI bread for example – – even Subway would be healthier in the main! As I said, it's just about the money.

 

2 hours ago, Old Croc said:

However, as quite a large proportion of patients, particularly short time tourists, present with flu or dengue type symptoms the tests can be essential

Agree with the main points of your post OC, but when the tests are mandatory and mean nothing whatsoever, then they're highly unlikely to be of any use.

 

For example my blood pressure was through the roof (well over the 185 mark which is critical), which should have presented them with a medical emergency, but the nurse simply noted it and nothing was done, and it was not even mentioned by any of the other nurses or the doctor for that matter, so as far as being an essential part of the checkup, it's not worth a toss – – money again.

[Old Croc]

9 hours ago, xylophone said:

For example my blood pressure was through the roof (well over the 185 mark which is critical), which should have presented them with a medical emergency, but the nurse simply noted it and nothing was done, and it was not even mentioned by any of the other nurses or the doctor for that matter, so as far as being an essential part of the checkup, it's not worth a toss – – money again.

The nurses do note the test results on your medical sheet that goes to the doctor. It's up to the doctor to take any action they deem necessary.

I've had the nurses take my BP again on doctors orders before going in to see them. 

And, as stated before, the simple ear check for fever is important for many ailments. When I had problems with foot edema (swelling) I've had my weight checked again because weight gain indicates how much fluids are building up. Also, low blood oxygen can be dangerous. 

My last, last word - I think these tests are necessary for many reasons for many patients. The nurses are not there to diagnose, so the hospital does adopt a scatter gun approach by testing all, much to the chagrin of some. Again, I consider the cost to be small, there are other, bigger things in the medical system to complain about like the markup on medicines.

[fforest1]

Went along to the hospital today to get a skin lesion checked out, as I do on a regular basis, what with being fair skinned and having worked in the Sahara desert for a few years, and saw the skin specialist for no more than five minutes, if that.

 

Hey I have had a lot experience with skin lesion...I have a whole drawer full of creams that dont work.....I am not crazy about giving medical advice on forms but  I thought I would just throw this out there,it will probably be ignored but what the heck....

I have had good success treating little skin lesions with Dettol.....I just give them a about a 5-10 minute soak with undiluted Dettol then wash it off.....The place might very well look a lot worse for a few days....Wait 3 days for the place to crust up...After 3 days the crust will come off and and that might be good enough or a repeat might be necessary....I know this might sound like nonsense but just one little skin test might show some results.....

Edited February 1, 2020 by fforest1

[xylophone]

On 1/31/2020 at 2:38 AM, Old Croc said:

The nurses do note the test results on your medical sheet that goes to the doctor. It's up to the doctor to take any action they deem necessary.

I've had the nurses take my BP again on doctors orders before going in to see them. 

And, as stated before, the simple ear check for fever is important for many ailments. When I had problems with foot edema (swelling) I've had my weight checked again because weight gain indicates how much fluids are building up. Also, low blood oxygen can be dangerous. 

My last, last word - I think these tests are necessary for many reasons for many patients. The nurses are not there to diagnose, so the hospital does adopt a scatter gun approach by testing all, much to the chagrin of some. Again, I consider the cost to be small, there are other, bigger things in the medical system to complain about like the markup on medicines.

Well again we're going to have to agree to disagree............... 

 

The blood pressure tests are not taken as per correct medical procedures, so are basically useless and tell one nothing about their blood pressure.

 

My weight was not checked at my last visit.

My height was not checked at my last visit.

My temperature was not checked at my last visit.

 

As for the markup on medicines, well it's more the principle of being scammed and ripped off by having a 300% markup on medicines. But then again I'm sure that if you had to pay 9,000 baht for a 3,000 baht medicine then that would be a different story.

 

I agree that the nurses are not there to diagnose, however having a blood pressure which was life-threatening should well have been bought to the attention of the doctor, by the nurse. If not, then they are about as useless as tits on a bull.
 

[BritManToo]

12 minutes ago, xylophone said:

My height was not checked at my last visit.

Do you think it might have changed?

[xylophone]

13 minutes ago, BritManToo said:

Do you think it might have changed?

Well I know that is a smartass comment on your behalf, however it is one of the measurements they take prior to seeing the doctor, don't ask me exactly why, but they do.

 

And for the record, yes your height can change as one gets older what with the compression of discs etc, however that was not really what you meant now, was it!!!!!!