Shortcomings Of Thai Healthcare.

[tc101]

Here is an article about the shortcomings of Thai healthcare, focused on the concerns of medical tourists. How accurate do you think this is?

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/shortcomings-Thai-healthcare.asp

[crackerking]

Here is an article about the shortcomings of Thai healthcare, focused on the concerns of medical tourists. How accurate do you think this is?

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/shortcomings-Thai-healthcare.asp

thailand should hire more western licensed physicians.. like myself

[joskydive]

I think it's very accurate sadly.

[PeaceBlondie]

Fairly accurate, but not exhaustive. Bumrungrad, Bangkok traffic. Does not seem based on a lot of research; almost anecdotal. Generally true, though. I have had enough motosai wrecks here to have seen some emergency rooms, not just in Chiang Mai but in places like Mae Taeng and Chom Thong. It makes a good point that the doctors move around so much that they are not in their clinic at all times. The lack of nurses at night is a cultural trait, since families are expected to spend the night. Ambulance services can be very crude, although I had a good one last time.

[MMR]

Here is an article about the shortcomings of Thai healthcare, focused on the concerns of medical tourists. How accurate do you think this is?

http://www.thaiwebsites.com/shortcomings-Thai-healthcare.asp

"This is a major ethical flaw in the health care system in Thailand. Although admission and general treatment in the hospitals is otherwise quite pleasant, asking for money up front in the way done, feels inappropriate and impolite to say the least."

- The Thai health care system is definitely not alone in regards to this.

"Tendency to have limited nursing staff and reliance on family assistance for patients?"

- Agreed, but this is only limited to a early hours in the morning. If you compare foreign nurse staffing to that of Thailand's, you will find that the nurse to patient ratio here in Thailand is much higher.

People can/will find flaws in every health care system throughout the world. Overall, I think (while flawed in some areas) the system here in Thailand works.

Excellent article, thanks for sharing.

[Sheryl]

Actually I have found that the "ïnternational" hospitals have ample numbers of nurses on duty at night and that the nurses do look ain on patients who do not have someone staying with them. If anything, my concern is that they do not check up enough on patients who have a friend or relative with them (sometimes not at all the whole night). The friend/relative is not a medical person and their presence does not remove the need for skilled assessment by a nurse; in addition, chances are that they are asleep.

There is, however, a general tendency in Thai hospitals to disturb patients much less at night. Some even have the custom of providing IV hydration only during the day and then dioscontinuing it for the night. Personally I think there is a lot to be said for this; p;atients get considerably more sleep than they would in a Western hospital where treatments, meds, IVs eytc are administered round the clock with little regard for patrient's need for rest.

The but about the doctors only showing up at certain times and not being always in the hospital is true everywhere in the world. Hospitals which are affiliated with a medical school will have interns on call 24 hours but the attending physician is never there all the time...not in any universe I know of.

The bit about lack of primary care is valid for foreigners. There is in fact a quite solid system of primary care in the Thai public health system; it is not even possible to see a specialist in a government hospital without first running a gauntlet of GPs first. But this system is not very coonvenient for foreigners and certainly not suitable for medical tourists; one needs to speak Thai and have plenty of time on hand to navigate it. The "inetrnational"hospitals are indeed specialty oriented. Most medical tourists come with a specific problem that has already been diagnosed; if not, they should. In that case the direct access to specialists is a plus. Foreigners living in Thailand tho do indeed face a problem. I have come across many cases where problems were incorrectly managed because the wrong type of specialist was consulted. They tend to have tunnel vision and will often just shrug off a complain becauise there is nothing worng within their area of specialty rather than rfeferring to another specialist, and it can be very difficult to find a generalist to point one in the right direction. The best ones I have found are in the Wellness Cneter at Samitivej; with a problem that is not clear-cut it is often a good approach to get a general physiocal first and then let the doctor who reviews the results refer. That is also usually the most economical way to get a broad range of tests done.

The article doesn't mention what to my mind is the greatest limitation, which has to do with communications with the patients. With the exception of doctors who trained or practiced in a western country, Thai physicians are not usually accustomed to explaining things to patients and involving patients in the decision making process in the way western patients expect, and may take questions as an affront. Nurses are likewise unaccustomed to having patients ask questions and to being expected to be able to ecxplain to a patient the purpose of a medication or treatment. Careful selection of a physician helps with this.

Written medical records are available from all hospitals and, by law, must be provided to patients on demand. It can be time-copnsumimng to get them, though,m so it is a good idea to tell the doctor up front that this is desired.

[poshthai]

After having an operation in bangkokpattaya i felt the service was incredible.I was only in for 2 days but i got looked after like royalty.Having said that the private hospitals in the uk are top quality too.

[jaideeguy]

All in all, I can say that the 'system' here is at least on par with the west.....unless you are super insured or super rich, you get decent care in hospitals here at a fraction of the cost of the US.

Dr's in general speak good English, are caring and most will take the time to explain, if you ask. No Amerikan doctor will spend more than 10 minutes with you.

My main critisism with the dr's here is that they use the 'shot gun' approach when it comes to Rx meds and most over RX.....so as in the west, my main Dr is 'Dr. Google'....always double check any rx, tx or dx that any dr gives me.

And the lucky Thais are way ahead of Amerika when it comes to providing health care for the masses, with their 30baht plan. you can't even get a band-aid for 30 baht in the US!!