Bumrungrad Still Worth A Visit?

[dynamic]

Former Bumrungrad patient here, now with a new set of symptoms and complaints unrelated to my previous ones. I am thinking about making a trip there early next year to have some tests done.

I was reasonably happy with B-grad when I visited before, in 2005. I did get one eye doctor who was a total quack, but every hospital has a few bad doctors. I also had an endocrinologist who was very competent, and the consultation was at a quite reasonable price.

One thing I noticed when I was there was the heavy presence of Middle Easterners. My understanding is that this has become much heavier since then. One commenter said that the majority of the patients at the time of his visit were Gulf Arabs.

I wondered at the time whether this influx of petroleum-enriched patients was going to have an effect on the price of care at Bumrungrad. Given that for many of them, cost is no object. Whereas it certainly is one for me!

Are there any B-grad patients who have been going there for a while who can comment? Is Bumrungrad still a relative bargain today? Has the quality of care changed?

I'm not so much curious about major surgery as I am about small procedures and especially about the cost of testing. I have some stuff going on where I may want to get tested, try a few meds and then get tested again, repeating as required. Running a bunch of blood tests in an American hospital is like being pecked to death by ducks.

[JSixpack]

"Bargain" is a relative term. B-grad is competitive in all respects with the other major international hospitals.

Choose the doctor, not the hospital.

[SiamSuzi]

The Mid Easterners will always be there because that's where one of their embassies are.

[Sheryl]

A "bargain" definitely not, but "bargains" in health care are often not a good idea.

Choose the doctor, not the hospital.

In some areas of specialization, Bumrungrad has (IMO) the best doctors, in others, not. It depends.

For simple problems not requiring very specialized care, less expensive alternatives abound.

Suggest you post some specifics of your problem and can advise further

[antony77]

Former Bumrungrad patient here, now with a new set of symptoms and complaints unrelated to my previous ones. I am thinking about making a trip there early next year to have some tests done.

I was reasonably happy with B-grad when I visited before, in 2005. I did get one eye doctor who was a total quack, but every hospital has a few bad doctors. I also had an endocrinologist who was very competent, and the consultation was at a quite reasonable price.

One thing I noticed when I was there was the heavy presence of Middle Easterners. My understanding is that this has become much heavier since then. One commenter said that the majority of the patients at the time of his visit were Gulf Arabs.

I wondered at the time whether this influx of petroleum-enriched patients was going to have an effect on the price of care at Bumrungrad. Given that for many of them, cost is no object. Whereas it certainly is one for me!

Are there any B-grad patients who have been going there for a while who can comment? Is Bumrungrad still a relative bargain today? Has the quality of care changed?

I'm not so much curious about major surgery as I am about small procedures and especially about the cost of testing. I have some stuff going on where I may want to get tested, try a few meds and then get tested again, repeating as required. Running a bunch of blood tests in an American hospital is like being pecked to death by ducks.

Bamrungrod Medical costs up 60% from a few years back, but still first class . BGH is a bit cheaper and just as good. But rural and government hospitals are excellent and cheap for most requirements.

[BigSnake]

Hear tell a bit on the expensive side. Worth a Visit????

[BEENTHEREDONETHAT]

The wife had to have surgery on her ear canal, it was to small and subject to infections. Talked to the Dr. in Oct and the quote was 50,000 to 60,000 went in to have it done two weeks ago and the price has jumped up to 90,000 Baht. Did it anyway and so far so good.

Can't complain about the quality of care or the hospital. Suppose with the economy problems they are having less patients so have to charge more to keep their level o happiness up.

Not near as many middle east people as there were in Oct. That was my impression.

[SiamSuzi]

What's wrong with ME presence? None have caused any problems with American me. In fact, they've all been much more polite to me than some Thais and even fellow caucasian farang.

[PeaceBlondie]

Nothing wrong with rich ME Arabs getting good medical treatment. That is quite common at the best world-class hospitals in Houston. Sheiks even.

[Alwaysright]

Hear tell a bit on the expensive side. Worth a Visit????

Why would anybody want cheap health care?

[SiamSuzi]

I got medical here in BKK because it was 1/2 the price of the U.S.

[Hairy]

I got medical here in BKK because it was 1/2 the price of the U.S.

Yeah, but even three years ago, it was only 1/4 the price of the U.S.

To the OP, if you're going by price, much will depend on which country you're coming from. The GBP has been slaughtered against the THB. USD is down a bit from a few years ago, but is trending back up.

I found that quality at Bumrungrad was down from a few years ago as well. The doctors didn't spend as much time looking into problems. This included at least one whom I specifically went to because he'd treated me three years ago and done a good job then; this time, he seemed annoyed to have me in his office.

[ThaiPauly]

I went to BG a couple of months ago as I was having a great deal of difficulty walking.

I saw one Doctor who suggested an MRI scan (20,000 baht), after I had that he concluded he could find nothing wrong and reffered me to a pain specialist.

She performed minor surgery under local, by blocking the nerve in my leg. (33,000 baht)

It all worked out very well, and I consider that it was worth every single baht to get my mobility back.

I would always recommend BG...but it ain't cheap, there are a lot less middle eastern's going there now though since the credit cruch, I have read that many are now chosing to go for cheaper alternatives in India.

However the last time I saw their profit figures I think they made 9b baht profit in the last financial year, I suspect they won't be able to repeat that this year unless they are raising prices.

I have previously been to Samitivej (not for the same problem) but was not overly impressed compared to BG.

[jackoneilone]

hahaha shows lack of knowledge and your assumptions.

If money was of no object to those "Petroleum enriched" patients do you not think they would go elsewhere? Their own countries eg Saudi Arabia, Oman, UAE, Bahrain etc have some of the best hospitals and doctors in the world gleaming them with money from places like the mayo etc

However it does cost a fortune with some of the best places and docs and some countries citizens arent so lucky when it comes to governmental funding and coverage eg Oman

[THAIPHUKET]

CHOSE OUR OWN DOCTOR !!......... But

that is exactly the question = how to chose the best, the department heads ? Probably less so, not like a European Professor. I went 3 times and I never had any means to have a vague idea about the qualifications of the doctor treating me.

I certainly never got the feeling that they consult with other doctors within the same department having reached their limits.

[Roota]

I certainly never got the feeling that they consult with other doctors within the same department having reached their limits.

Yes, but that's just not a very Thai thing, is it?

To me the biggest problem is that the place has expanded enormously over the past decade or so as part of a very aggressive business plan. It's easy to add more floorspace, install more nice wall-to-wall carpet, and expand the Starbucks, but rather harder to maintain the quality of the staff, both physicians and support personnel.

Incidently, it's not obvious from their inept romanisation, but the name of the hospital is Bam-rung-raat ('a' as in 'father', 'u' as 'rule'), so abbreviations like 'B-Grad' and 'BG', and the pronunciations they imply, will be fairly incomprehensible to Thais . . . if that matters to anyone.

[Sheryl]

To me the biggest problem is that the place has expanded enormously over the past decade or so as part of a very aggressive business plan. It's easy to add more floorspace, install more nice wall-to-wall carpet, and expand the Starbucks, but rather harder to maintain the quality of the staff, both physicians and support personnel.

Agree and I would take that a step further i.e. that the aggressive business plan, its areas of emphasis (decor..amenities...speed of service) and some of the pressures it brings to bear on physicians (pressure to see more clients in less time) have the specific effect of decreasing the quality of care.

That said, there are certainly still some doctors there who maintain a patient-centered approach and for some things, Bumrungrad still offers a wider and/or better range of specialists.

[THAIPHUKET]

That said, there are certainly still some doctors there who maintain a patient-centered approach and for some things, Bumrungrad still offers a wider and/or better range of specialists.

Look at

http://www.bumrungrad.com/overseas-medical...r-a-doctor.aspx

B. is close to 1000 doctors.

What that means, it´s a lottery betting your health. But life as such is a one lottery bet.

[Robby nz]

When I had a problem I chose the doctor not the hospital.

We found there was not much info on Thai doctors on english language sites but plenty on Thai sites The Mrs went through all the info and picked what was the 2nd best doctor in the speciality (the first was in Borneo with a medical team at the time).

We met with him at Payatai 2 hospital and he told us he had given up surgery due to his age and he introduced us to an understudy who he recomended. The doctor he introduced us to was from Pramonklutklow the army hospital. Seems the specialists there are farmed out to private hospitals as needed. He offered us a choice of having the treatment at Payatai 2 or the army hospital, we chose the latter as the cost would be very much lower for the services of the same doctor (we are on a budget).

Dont regret it as the rooms are very nice and a fraction of the price of private hospitals, only problem is you have to wait your turn for appointments, that is at the hospital, as they have alarge number of patients whereas at PT2 where I had some tests done there was no waiting time. You are told to turn up at acertain time and first to arrive is first served.

We have found the doctors here can narrow their specialities down for instance our Dr only treats cancers of the colon and rectum anything else is handled by other specialists.

If you have abetter half who is Thai get her to do a search for a specialist who handles the condition you have then go see the best one regardless of which hospital he is at.