Shop and compare: Cost of private-hospital services goes public

By THE NATION

 

Wichai (File Photo)

 

Consumers in Thailand will by the end of the month be able to easily compare prices for medical services for the first time.

 

Wichai Phochanakit, director-general of the Commerce Ministry’s Department of Internal Trade, said private hospitals are now required to submit a list of their medical services and prices and the department will post the information on its website, www.dit.go.th.

 

“This is a follow-up to the August 2019 measure by which the hospitals revealed the prices they charge for medications to be shared online, and that’s been well received by the public.”

 

The department will maintain a comparative shopping list for more than 300 services, including beds, rooms, food, blood and urine tests, vasectomies and other surgical operations and consultations with doctors on their rounds.

 

“Having the prices online will help people choose the right hospital and manage their expenditures better,” Wichai said. “We’ve already found that the fees charged for these services vary greatly from hospital to hospital.”

 

Listing medicine prices online has been useful in regulating prices nationwide, he said. Before the measure was implemented, drug prices at private hospitals were 300-8,000 per cent higher than the average charges elsewhere.

 

Most private hospitals had submitted lists of their services, Wichai said, and the terminology used is being verified with the Medical Technology Council to ensure that consumers understand what’s on offer.

 

Source: https://www.nationthailand.com/news/30382500

 

-- © Copyright The Nation Thailand 2020-02-21

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Oh good, it’s in Thai. 

28 minutes ago, dcnx said:

Oh good, it’s in Thai. 

Yes, it is good that the website is in Thai, the national language of Thailand.

"will by the end of the month be able to easily compare prices for medical services for the first time."

 

For the "first time"????..... WHY do these things take so long to accomplish in Thailand? For goodness sakes Thailand TRY to keep up with the rest of the civilized world. It isn't all that hard. These types of incompetence are mind blowing. This type of thing makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would choose to move/retire there.

A commendably good tool to have, unfortunately, somehow, i don't see the it to be very helpful as in Thailand like in Thailand the usual shenanigan will kick in whereby you'd be expecting to pay as per list only to be told that Oh, no, prices went up since then and there were unexpected extras on your treatment...

Uh, the link goes to a Facebook page guys.

16 minutes ago, brucegoniners said:

Uh, the link goes to a Facebook page guys.

That's why I ignored it.

1 hour ago, HuskerDo said:

"will by the end of the month be able to easily compare prices for medical services for the first time."

 

For the "first time"????..... WHY do these things take so long to accomplish in Thailand? For goodness sakes Thailand TRY to keep up with the rest of the civilized world. It isn't all that hard. These types of incompetence are mind blowing. This type of thing makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would choose to move/retire there.

As an “uninsurable” (cash pay) person from the US, I have found that over the years, it has been nearly impossible for me to get prices from healthcare providers even when calling them on the phone and asking directly.  
 

One of the last times I saw a specialist in the US (which made me reach my breaking point), I called UCLA for an appointment with a gastroenterologist, and after a getting the run around for 15 minutes, I was told that it would be between US$350-850.  After my appointment (a fairly standard one with no tests) I was presented with a bill for $850.  Causing a scene in the billing office had them lower the price to $350.

 

I for one, think Thailand is far ahead of the US when it comes to transparency with regards to healthcare pricing.

2 hours ago, ezzra said:

A commendably good tool to have, unfortunately, somehow, i don't see the it to be very helpful as in Thailand like in Thailand the usual shenanigan will kick in whereby you'd be expecting to pay as per list only to be told that Oh, no, prices went up since then and there were unexpected extras on your treatment...

Perhaps the way to go is to confirm the price immediately before agreeing to treatment?

Most private hospitals had submitted lists of their services

 

This was a government requirement August last year, still not achieved. So how he will assure other prices will be publicised who knows, and how often will the site be updated we know private hospitals are there only to make money.

This will put up the prices without a doubt. Less expensive hospitals will use this information to match their prices with the more expensive ones.

Why are you still in Thailand HuskerDo?

Leave if you think this country is not up to your expectation. Nobody wants to tie you here.

4 hours ago, Puccini said:

Yes, it is good that the website is in Thai, the national language of Thailand.

Why bother posting the news in English on a website where everyone speaks English?

 

Also, why not show tourists the prices since the hospitals claim they are running up bills and not paying? Oh yea, because they can’t rip them off if they do.

3 minutes ago, Gee Ku said:

Leave if you think this country is not up to your expectation. Nobody wants to tie you here.

People are leaving. Loads of them. They don’t need your approval or recommendation to do so.

4 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

"will by the end of the month be able to easily compare prices for medical services for the first time."

 

For the "first time"????..... WHY do these things take so long to accomplish in Thailand? For goodness sakes Thailand TRY to keep up with the rest of the civilized world. It isn't all that hard. These types of incompetence are mind blowing. This type of thing makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would choose to move/retire there.

 

I guess the US is not in the civilized world.  Unless you are going for a procedure that is not covered by insurance (elective procedures) you will not get a quote up front, even if you are not using insurance. 

 

The elective procedures advertise price because that's how they compete.  You can get a nose job from Doctor A for $2,000 or from Doctor B running a special for $1,500.  But it's not required by law.  They do it because they know people are shopping prices. 

 

For anything that is not elective, they won't even tell you what they're going to charge for the drugs they give you while you're in the hospital.  You might pay $100 for two aspirin.  They'll just shove them in your hand and tell you to take it, and you get a bill for $100. 

5 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

"will by the end of the month be able to easily compare prices for medical services for the first time."

 

For the "first time"????..... WHY do these things take so long to accomplish in Thailand? For goodness sakes Thailand TRY to keep up with the rest of the civilized world. It isn't all that hard. These types of incompetence are mind blowing. This type of thing makes me wonder why anyone in their right mind would choose to move/retire there.

I don't know about you or where you get medical, but getting accurate and reliable price information in the USA prior to treatment is pretty elusive.  heck I went for some physical therapy and after they evaluated my coverage plan, they said oh you have a good plan.  Good from whose point of view?  They absolutely would not give me a quote.  I had a rough price estimate supposedly from my insurance company of 45/hour so I was not too concerned.  After the first session, I saw they billed my insurance 575 bucks!  I called the place and they said, oh we just by default bill 3 times the maximum allowed medicare rate, but usually your insurance will only allow so much.  So I called my insurance company and sure enough that is the game they allow them to play!  It turns out the insurance has negotiated rates of 65/hour and that is what finally got billed to me.  Odd that their own website for the exact therapist estimates 45.  The agent told me, well that is just an estimate! 

 

So I queried further and called back the therapist's office/billing. I said I was disgusted with their practice and plan to change therapist offices.  I asked what do you bill if I walk in off the street say with no insurance?  She said 75/hour.  I said why did you not tell me that?  Are you obviously trying to just bill and get as much as you can, and hoping that the insurance company slips up and pays you that 575? She got indignant and told me she can file a complaint if I wanted. 

Edited February 21, 20206 yr by gk10002000

4 hours ago, brucegoniners said:

Uh, the link goes to a Facebook page guys.

I don't do facebook. 

6 minutes ago, gk10002000 said:

I don't do facebook. 

Nobody does Facebook. 

Facebook does you. 

6 hours ago, dcnx said:

Oh good, it’s in Thai. 

Does that mean you won't be able to read the lies or do you think the lists are an accurate reflection>

 

There are those on TVF that believe you are being disloyal to your adopted homeland. Remember that Thai will be the Lingua Franca in 89 years (and counting).

 

As soon as it is, communications about anything more complex than Moo Daeng, will break down and the world will come to a grinding halt. About the speed that Uncle Too is used to in Thailand, but then it'll be everywhere...

 

And people will be able to eat every 15 minutes, use a pickup truck like a bus and have a nice nap every hour. Imagine that...

 

Mind you, all the crash helmet manufacturers will go broke so it isn't all good news...

 

 

Edited February 21, 20206 yr by ParkerN

4 hours ago, bluesofa said:

Perhaps the way to go is to confirm the price immediately before agreeing to treatment?

I assumed this is what people do?

7 hours ago, brucegoniners said:

Uh, the link goes to a Facebook page guys.

 

Here's a better link to the DIT page for checking medicine prices. It's only in TH, but Google Translate will work on the pages.

 

https://hospitals.dit.go.th/app/drug_price_list.php?

 

I checked the names of several common/widely used medicines (you can enter the medicine names in EN oftentimes, because the Thais use the EN names for meds).  And at least thus far, I couldn't find any entries for Bumrungrad prices as yet.

 

But I have found medicine price entries for places like BNH, the Phyathai hospitals, the various Bangkok Hospitals, and others, and not just hospitals in the BKK region, but in all the other outlying areas as well.

 

So it's definitely worth exploring, and should become even more interesting one the DIT adds in the prices for various medical servicies/operations instead of just medications.

 

Here, for example, is the list of prices and hospitals that I got when I searched for a particular kind of antibiotic called Avelox (400 mg time release), which returned 63 different hospitals and their prices, ranging from 172 baht to 452 baht per pill! 

 

https://hospitals.dit.go.th/app/drug_price_list_compare_hospital.php?tmtCode=255401

 

Edited February 21, 20206 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

40 minutes ago, Letseng said:

I assumed this is what people do?

 

Except, you ask a typical Thai private hospital doctor or nurse how much a particular medication they want to prescribe for you will cost, and at least in my experience, they can't reliably tell you. In order to get that info, you then have to go to the pharmacy where they can tell you because they're selling it.

 

Same thing with tests and procedures. Sometimes the doctors and nurses have an accurate idea, oftentimes they don't. And you have to check with the billing/accounting department to find out.

7 hours ago, HuskerDo said:

That's why I ignored it.

 

This will do you better:

 

https://hospitals.dit.go.th/app/drug_price_list.php?

 

Here, by the way, is the 80 private hospitals price results listing for the entry for Viagra 100 mg PER TABLET from Australia.  

 

Low 480 baht (after 1 presumably mistaken entry). High 1834 baht!

 

PS - I'm not vouching for the accuracy or currency of the info... just giving an example of the kinds of price variations their system is reporting.

 

https://hospitals.dit.go.th/app/drug_price_list_compare_hospital.php?tmtCode=651660

 

Including:

Bangkok Christian -- 620

Mission Hospital -- 630

Piyavate -- 696

Pattaya Inter & Pattaya Memorial -- 700

St. Louis -- 750

BNH -- 761

Rama 9 & Sikarin -- 849

Viphavadi -- 872

Bangkok Chiang Mai -- 895

Samitivej Sriracha -- 930

San Paolo Hua Hin -- 954

Bangkok -- 991

Yanhee -- 1035

Ramkhamhaeng -- 1050

Chiang Mai Ram -- 1180

Phyathai 3 -- 1206

Vejithani -- 1400

Phyathai 2 -- 1444

World Medical Hospital -- 1757

Edited February 21, 20206 yr by TallGuyJohninBKK

6 hours ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

Here, by the way, is the 80 private hospitals price results listing for the entry for Viagra 100 mg PER TABLET from Australia.  

 

Low 480 baht (after 1 presumably mistaken entry). High 1834 baht!

 

PS - I'm not vouching for the accuracy or currency of the info... just giving an example of the kinds of price variations their system is reporting.

 

https://hospitals.dit.go.th/app/drug_price_list_compare_hospital.php?tmtCode=651660

 

Including:

Bangkok Christian -- 620

Mission Hospital -- 630

Piyavate -- 696

Pattaya Inter & Pattaya Memorial -- 700

St. Louis -- 750

BNH -- 761

Rama 9 & Sikarin -- 849

Viphavadi -- 872

Bangkok Chiang Mai -- 895

Samitivej Sriracha -- 930

San Paolo Hua Hin -- 954

Bangkok -- 991

Yanhee -- 1035

Ramkhamhaeng -- 1050

Chiang Mai Ram -- 1180

Phyathai 3 -- 1206

Vejithani -- 1400

Phyathai 2 -- 1444

World Medical Hospital -- 1757

100 MG!!!!??!?!?!? I hope you don't take the entire pill at once. I'd have a "stiffy" for a month if not longer if I took 100MG. I'd have to buy a few pair of REALLY baggy pants if I wanted to go out.

42 minutes ago, HuskerDo said:

100 MG!!!!??!?!?!? I hope you don't take the entire pill at once. I'd have a "stiffy" for a month if not longer if I took 100MG. I'd have to buy a few pair of REALLY baggy pants if I wanted to go out.

 

I've never used it. But in checking the Net, it looks like Viagra comes in standard sizes of 25, 50 and 100 mg. pills, with 50 mg being the standard dosing.  The Thai DIT site also has a comparison list for the 50 mg size, but it had fewer hospitals listed for some reason. So I chose to do the comparison list for the 100 mg size that reflected a wider range of hospitals' pricing.

 

13 hours ago, digibum said:

Nobody does Facebook. 

Facebook does you. 

Well stated sir, well stated

Yes-confirm first,for all the good it'll do you

Went for CT scan

Asked the total cost 3 times before going-12,000B

After test was presented with a bill for double that

Luckily the wife was with me-she went to billing department and ended up paying 10,000B

So they not only misrepresent there costs the often hit you harder if your a foreigner

Wonder if they will make the farang surcharges clear?

On 2/21/2020 at 5:03 AM, dcnx said:

Oh good, it’s in Thai. 

One might think there would be an English language translation somewhere ... if ...Medical Tourism is to be promoted.