Hospitals

[Sparktrader]

How busy are they? Could you call 2 days ahead and get looked at?

[1FinickyOne]

Most private hospitals you can 'get looked at' within 20 minutes.. depending upon if you need a specialist and if one is on duty that day...

 

They have outpatient clinics where you can probably see a doctor... or emergency rooms if you are in bad shape... 

 

public hospitals usually have much longer wait periods... 

[Sparktrader]

Ok good to know

 

[OneMoreFarang]

And is case you don't know it already: Appointment times in Thai hospital are somehow strange - at least in the (private) hospitals which I visited.

If you call or maybe after your first visit you might get an appointment for 9am on day x. And you might think that by 9:30 you should be out of there. No!

Likely many people will have an appointment at 9am for the same doctor. And if you arrive at 9am maybe you have to wait until 10 other patients saw the doctor and maybe you will actually see the doctor at 11am. And that's when you decide next time you will come to your 9am appointment at 8:30 so that you are not the last person who arrives for that appointment. TiT!

I don't think that is the same for every doctor in all hospitals, but certainly for some specialist doctors in some hospitals - including the expensive places.

 

[richard_smith237]

3 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

 

How busy are they? Could you call 2 days ahead and get looked at?

 

An outrageously vague question Spark….  You surely know better than this…

 

 

[nobodysfriend]

11 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

How busy are they? Could you call 2 days ahead and get looked at?

Just go when you feel the need . If you want to consult a specialist , make an appointment with him ( or her ) .

But bear in mind that private hospitals are profit - orientated .

They want to do ( unnecessary ) operations , because that is what brings in the money .

[2baht]

 

11 hours ago, Sparktrader said:

How busy are they? Could you call 2 days ahead and get looked at?

Try!................never try never know!

 

 

[swm59nj]

I can only speak for private hospitals.  They are usually busy.  But the majority of times I can get an appointment same day or next day. 
But in certain instances .  With some specialists.  I had to wait a week or more.  This is because of the limited amount of doctors in that particular  medical field.  But that was rare.

But I live in Bangkok. 

[Sparktrader]

Thanks. I just walk in see.

[nigelforbes]

Most specialists have hours at multiple private hospitals as well as hours at a government facility plus hours at their own clinic. If you can't get to see the specialist at one place, at the price you want to pay, try somewhere else and see him/her there. Seeing them at their own clinic is the cheapest way, followed by a government hospital followed by the private hospital pecking order of costs. If you plan on seeing a specialist at a private hospital, it helps to be able to confirm you're actually seeing who you think you're seeing. It's common for patients to see student doctors at government hospitals but it's unusual for that to happen at private hospitals.

 

I did run into a situation in February where I was scheduled to see a professor who was a senior retinal specialist at a private hospital who completely missed a torn retina, despite a huge floater. The ruse was uncovered at the follow up visit two weeks later when I saw a totally different doctor with the same name and she spotted the tear. The second doctor was the real deal and she performed laser surgery there and then, in a bit of a panic I might add. Be careful. 

[stevenl]

10 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And is case you don't know it already: Appointment times in Thai hospital are somehow strange - at least in the (private) hospitals which I visited.

If you call or maybe after your first visit you might get an appointment for 9am on day x. And you might think that by 9:30 you should be out of there. No!

Likely many people will have an appointment at 9am for the same doctor. And if you arrive at 9am maybe you have to wait until 10 other patients saw the doctor and maybe you will actually see the doctor at 11am. And that's when you decide next time you will come to your 9am appointment at 8:30 so that you are not the last person who arrives for that appointment. TiT!

I don't think that is the same for every doctor in all hospitals, but certainly for some specialist doctors in some hospitals - including the expensive places.

 

Not my experience in Phuket.

[shackleton]

If its  Private International hospital phone them usually get a appointment straight away or following day dependent on which doctor and treatment you require ???? 

[DJ54]

15 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And is case you don't know it already: Appointment times in Thai hospital are somehow strange - at least in the (private) hospitals which I visited.

If you call or maybe after your first visit you might get an appointment for 9am on day x. And you might think that by 9:30 you should be out of there. No!

Likely many people will have an appointment at 9am for the same doctor. And if you arrive at 9am maybe you have to wait until 10 other patients saw the doctor and maybe you will actually see the doctor at 11am. And that's when you decide next time you will come to your 9am appointment at 8:30 so that you are not the last person who arrives for that appointment. TiT!

I don't think that is the same for every doctor in all hospitals, but certainly for some specialist doctors in some hospitals - including the expensive places.

 

Spot on….  I go to government hospital monthly … best to go a little early to check in for the que…

[Sparktrader]

2 hours ago, shackleton said:

If its  Private International hospital phone them usually get a appointment straight away or following day dependent on which doctor and treatment you require ???? 

P reduction as too big.

[OneMoreFarang]

2 hours ago, DJ54 said:

Spot on….  I go to government hospital monthly … best to go a little early to check in for the que…

Thanks

And it's not only government hospitals.

I.e. I remember visiting a specialist eye doctor at BNH. She was only one day a week there. And everybody got an appointment with her at 4pm. TiT.

[Kalasin Jo]

21 hours ago, OneMoreFarang said:

And is case you don't know it already: Appointment times in Thai hospital are somehow strange - at least in the (private) hospitals which I visited.

If you call or maybe after your first visit you might get an appointment for 9am on day x. And you might think that by 9:30 you should be out of there. No!

Likely many people will have an appointment at 9am for the same doctor. And if you arrive at 9am maybe you have to wait until 10 other patients saw the doctor and maybe you will actually see the doctor at 11am. And that's when you decide next time you will come to your 9am appointment at 8:30 so that you are not the last person who arrives for that appointment. TiT!

I don't think that is the same for every doctor in all hospitals, but certainly for some specialist doctors in some hospitals - including the expensive places.

 

I'm very surprised you suggest this for private hospitals eg Bangkok group.

But is certainly true in government hospitals outpatient departments. There you get your records and a ticket number and wait your turn. Which can be hours. During which the number and name calling is monotonous.

 

That's why tomorrow I am setting off at 4 am to take sister in law to her monthly eye specialist " appointment" at an enormous Khon Kaen government hospital with a dedicated eye clinic to which she was referred by our local one.

 

Just so she can get an early ticket. Past experience though is that being processed doesn't actually start until around 8.30. and every time so far we haven't escaped before 3pm. The doctors all go for a lunch hour too at 1pm.  It's hardly better at our " local" hospital at Yang Talat, about the same at Kalasin.

 

As Thailand has no state GP system these places are nearly always packed with outpatients all with an " appointment" for 9 am. The alternative may be tiny small private clinics where Thais  have to pay too and round here most can't afford to. There you get seen quite quickly. Round here these are usually run by the same government hospital doctors outside their normal hospital hours. But for anything out of the ordinary requiring tests they will still tell you to go to the hospital.

 

Only experienced private hospitals here once. Seen almost immediately after registration formalities, necessary tests done, prescription meds supplied and the bill in quickfire succession. No follow up appointment, just told to come back if I didn't improve.

 

[Kalasin Jo]

Government ones, outpatient departments, round these parts  ( Kalasin and Khon Kaen) are very, very busy and crowded although there is enough seating whilst you wait.

Get a ticket, wait your turn. Go early, very early might get you through before their lunch break. In patient too unless you pay for a VIP room! 

Private hospitals I don't yet know.

[Sparktrader]

10 minutes ago, Kalasin Jo said:

Government ones, outpatient departments, round these parts  ( Kalasin and Khon Kaen) are very, very busy and crowded although there is enough seating whilst you wait.

Get a ticket, wait your turn. Go early, very early might get you through before their lunch break. In patient too unless you pay for a VIP room! 

Private hospitals I don't yet know.

Asked about Phuket

[OneMoreFarang]

9 hours ago, Kalasin Jo said:

private hospitals [...] No follow up appointment, just told to come back if I didn't improve.

I though they always make follow up appointments, after all, another visit is more money for the hospital. ???? 

[DrDave]

I recall taking my daughter to Mission Hospital some years back. We arrived at the time of her appointment, and the waiting area was completely full. She got to see the doctor 4 hours later.

[Kalasin Jo]

On 10/18/2022 at 9:15 PM, Kalasin Jo said:

Just so she can get an early ticket. Past experience though is that being processed doesn't actually start until around 8.30. and every time so far we haven't escaped before 3pm. 

This time we arrived at 6.45 and got away before 2 pm. Otherwise much the same as previously.

[Kalasin Jo]

On 10/18/2022 at 9:38 PM, Sparktrader said:

Asked about Phuket

Sure. Is it going to be any different?

[Sparktrader]

1 minute ago, Kalasin Jo said:

Sure. Is it going to be any different?

Private clinics. 

[Kalasin Jo]

1 minute ago, Sparktrader said:

Private clinics. 

I guess you won't have to wait long then. 

[xylophone]

I'm sure I have seen a few other posts which have discussed the costs at private hospitals here in Phuket, and although I know they are expensive, I also want the best treatment I can get, although I have to pay for any outpatient procedure from my own pocket.

 

But the costs have gone up quite markedly in the past few years, and I've often wondered about the "have you got health insurance" question, and mostly I say I have, but I want to pay out of my own pocket and the health insurance company doesn't get bothered, and anyway I doubt they would pay.

 

Having said that I remember once a while back (and I did post on it) that I was booked in for a colonoscopy and was verbally given a price which was extremely reasonable, and when I went to pay the bill, it was about 70% more than the amount quoted, and when I questioned it, the nurse at the reception said that I had insurance so all would be well, however I stated that I wanted to self pay.

 

So she had a long discussion with a couple of other nurses and came back with a much reduced bill, which aroused my suspicions with regards to padding the bill for insurance companies.

 

Fast forward to today and having just been checked over for a minor operation/procedure to cut out a basal cell carcinoma on my chest, I was given a piece of paper to sign on which the costs amounted to over 49,000 baht, which I thought was quite a lot for this procedure, and told the nurse the same.

 

She advised that she would ask the insurance company to pay and that they had folks in their department who would handle it for me, so my question to her was, "what if they refuse to pay?" and to my surprise she replied, then we will have to sit down and renegotiate the cost!!!

 

And this was basically the same thing that happened a while ago with the colonoscopy, so padding the bills for insurance companies appears to be a common practice. 

 

Last but not least, I stopped off at a friends place on the way back home and was discussing this with him and he said he had exactly the same experience when presented with a bill for a small procedure just a short while ago when he said that he was willing to pay the cost out of his own pocket, but then changed his mind, so the bill was redone and the cost was increased quite markedly because the insurance company were being billed for his procedure.

 

I think it's scandalous and means the hospital makes even more money, yet the poor old patient gets hit with an increase in premiums overall.

[LivinginKata]

Well xyl I often wonder why I have paid for private health myself for the last 30+ years. Each year I get a bigger premium and now I am 74 its expensive plus my wife 56. I have had no claims and I wonder the worth of it. Just 4 months ago I had cataract removal and corrective multi focal lens insert. I assumed insurance not pay but eye clinic at BKK said they would make claim and to my surprise they (insurance) paid about 80% cost. So thanks to Bright View clinic.