Obsession with measuring BP at hospitals

[Rickster]

There is no charge for the BP check and checking the weight. It is included in the office visit. I'm not sure where some of you come from but it is SOP in the USA too.

I'm assuming the OP went to Dr. Siri at his Sriphat clinic. For some reason he likes to have the BP and weight checked twice in 30 minutes. Never could understand that.

Yes the BP will be different each time.

Maybe his equipment is faulty so he likes to do it twice and take the average!!!

3 simple words answer the OP's question.....Job creation scheme

[malt25]

You guys just don't get it. Young nurse bends over in front of you.... high BP & heart rate..... in your best interest to have it checked again & short time later.

[hellodolly]

BP is the simplest and best predictor of cvd and premature death in a health professionals toolkit

it is not so much the number that matters ( although of course it is important) so much as the pattern over time. ask the health care professional to do both arms, not just one. BMi is also a good predictor of your future health. keep in mind that hospitals do research and every bit of information collected from people like you can also help predict patterns in the larger population and help with treatment and drug therapies.

think of it as a community service which benefits you too.

Ask him to do the same arm with out even taking the cuff off. Chances are you will get a different reading.

Back home they had free machines in the pharmacy I would sit ten minutes take my blood pressure three times with out removing my arm get threee different readings and take the average. It is just a guide to possible problems.

[nickcar]

Checking BP should be a standard procedure in every hospital and clinic. Serious disease is caused by high BP and is not detected any other way. Many people would never have there BP checked if it was not automatic on visit.

Better too often than not enough.

I use the most expensive hospital in Thailand and they never charge for it.

I get a bit touchy when they want to check my height every time. Causes a few sarcastic comments from me:)

[uptheos]

I'm quite happy to have my BP checked for 50 baht, it's not something I do myself. As I don't go to hospital too frequently it's no big deal and if it does happen to go unusually high or low it might well be telling me something. Try to rest 10 minutes before and do some deep breathing to relax. If they want to take it, get your money's worth ask for both arms, sitting and then standing. Make a note of the readings then you can google your results. If you're bold enough ask for an ankle brachial index, to get your 50 baht's worth, though you might feel funny in the supine position in outpatient's. http://stanfordmedicine25.stanford.edu/the25/ankle.html

[Pib]

Wow...such an invasion of privacy to have your BP and weight taken each time. A real cost driver in that approx. 50 baht Nursing/Walk-in-the-Door fee--or at least that's what I pay at the private hospital I visit here in western Bangkok....maybe it approaches 200 baht at a pricey hospital. Why would a doctor want to know my current BP and weight....I just can't image any reason. Probably the only people it upsets is those with high BP and overweight--I guess that's why I get a little upset each time but I keep it to myself and smile at the nurse.

[Bcgardener]

There is a very good reason for the blood pressure reading by the nurse to be higher...have you ever seen an ugly one?

For the very pretty ones you can string the procedure out for a long while....just keep making the arm band come loose.

Ah!... That explains why my BP is different when it's checked by a male nurse. You gotta love the girls uniform at Bangkok Rayong hospital. I'm sure the supervisors make sure it's two sizes too small for the nurse.

[hml367]

I especially like the "it's a conspiracy to......." answers.

Also, I knew there are so many retired experts in Chiang Mai. I didn't realize how many are doctors.

Edited July 25, 2013 by hml367

[notbkk]

What a moaning, groaning and tiresome bunch some of you old f***s are. Obviously none of you moaners ever lost a friend or family member through a stroke. It is one of the most devastating medical disasters that can happen to one, especially if you are unlucky enough to survive it...be so happy that they check your BP every time. Whether it costs a few baht or not.

On a lighter note, can anyone suggest a BP measuring wristband as mentioned elsewhere in this post, or a home instrument that I can buy?

[pattayaorganic]

You guys posting here are a bunch of cheap skates. I am a certified EMT and dropped out of my 4th year of medical school and continued on in immunology but I can tell you that taking vital signs is SOP in any modern hospital. I would complain if they didn't. You are worried about the 20b "nursing fee"? It is your health!

People can come into a hospital for a seemingly innocuous reason but have some serious underlying issue. Also BP readings taken many times over a long period can show trends one way or another.

If the hospital does any treatment at you that may change your fluidization or BP they can always go back to the "baseline" reading and see if that condition was caused by the treatment at the hospital or was already present when you arrived.

It is absolutely idiotic to decline a vital sign reading by a nurse doing her job.

BP readings are not sensitive to cuff placement by the way.

Be smart. Get your vitals when they want to take them. It will help the care team make better decisions when that unfortunate time comes you have some issue arise.

[belg]

because they can and will charge you for it

that person that does nothing else all day, must be paid also and profit has to be made

[nosatisfaction]

One nurse wanted to check my weight one hour after another one already had. I told her, "I don't think it's changed."

depends on how many times you go toilet in that one hour, the stress of being checked can be of serious influence on your sanitary habits, 555555555

[Fullstop]

It's just part of the ritual to make them appear professional. Yes ... It's done for show.

[hellodolly]

You guys posting here are a bunch of cheap skates. I am a certified EMT and dropped out of my 4th year of medical school and continued on in immunology but I can tell you that taking vital signs is SOP in any modern hospital. I would complain if they didn't. You are worried about the 20b "nursing fee"? It is your health!

People can come into a hospital for a seemingly innocuous reason but have some serious underlying issue. Also BP readings taken many times over a long period can show trends one way or another.

If the hospital does any treatment at you that may change your fluidization or BP they can always go back to the "baseline" reading and see if that condition was caused by the treatment at the hospital or was already present when you arrived.

It is absolutely idiotic to decline a vital sign reading by a nurse doing her job.

BP readings are not sensitive to cuff placement by the way.

Be smart. Get your vitals when they want to take them. It will help the care team make better decisions when that unfortunate time comes you have some issue arise.

Back in Canada there are some pharmacies with machines you just stick your wrist in.

I don't know if it matters but I was told when having it done with the cuff around the bicep to always have the tube running from the cuff to the machine in line with the inside of your elbow. I notice the nurse at my doctors office does that also.

[atyclb]

One nurse wanted to check my weight one hour after another one already had. I told her, "I don't think it's changed."

At BPH they also usually check my height. Once when they tried that the third time in two weeks, I just walked away commenting it was probably the same as two days ago ... and got a nasty look from the nurse.

They don't charge for checking BP & weight and, if it were accurate, the BP check could be useful. I doubt the nurse checking you in before seeing the doctor knows how often or how recently those things were checked.

The accuracy is the major issue I have with the whole thing. When I see the cardiologist my BP is checked by a nurse using a machine before seeing him and then he checks it the old fashion way with the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer. His results are always close to what I get when checking at home and always considerably different from what the nurse-operated machine comes up with.

Actually I am very surprised that all of the equipment in Thai hospitals (from the digital thermometers, IV machines, all the way up to surgical equipment) is calibrated on a regular basis. Every machine has a little sticker on it with the date and name of company/technician who calibrated it. I have a good friend who is a senior nurse here in C.M. (senior in rank but in her 30's ) and for a while she was the one who scheduled the appointments with all the companies to come and calibrate. She said those service companies are a huge business in Thailand that employ many, many thousands of people throughout the Kingdom.

All M.D.'s use the stethoscope and sphygmomanometer method of checking blood pressure. I think this is true in every country of the world. It is the most accurate. The digital device is used by the nursing/admitting staff only.

Not exactly correct anymore nor has it been for many years. The automatic BP machines are routinely used in US emergency departments to triage just about all patients. They have been shown to be accurate. In limited cases a stethoscope may be used but this is usually when it is difficult to get an auto BP or perhaps to confirm a very high or very low auto BP.

The stethoscope in reality is more a museum piece today than a diagnostic device. Echocardiography has been showm to tell the truth about valvular problems. Probably the remaining usefulness is for obtaining info/hints pertaining to the lungs, sometimes abdomen.

[mogoso]

It doesn't matter if it's Thailand or the States. My VA appointments in the US always have the pre and post exam BP. It is usually lower on the post. It tells the doctor something, that your in shape to leave the office or nothing untoward has occurred while in their auspices to change it to an unhealthier state. It's a bit of cover your ass and cover the patient.

[mogoso]

It doesn't matter if it's Thailand or the States. My VA appointments in the US always have the pre and post exam BP. It is usually lower on the post. It tells the doctor something, that your in shape to leave the office or nothing untoward has occurred while in their auspices to change it to an unhealthier state. It's a bit of cover your ass and cover the patient.

[cobra1]

My Bp goes up all the time i see these sexy little thai nurses of 45kg ummmmmmmmmmmm

[uptheos]

If I were a doctor, I would want to know the person's TPR & BP before I saw them as any one of the factors out of whack, can assist with diagnosis. Even a dramatic gain or loss of weight is a diagnostic tool.

If the medics missed something here it could be negligence.

If they miss something here I could be ill and not know it.

"BP the silent killer".

[blazes]

It's a revenue earner, always appears as 150 baht nursing charge..

I went to get a simple drivers licence medical letter and they still wanted to do it, when I declined they were fine about it.

Every time I go to the Ram in CM, this charge comes up. I have begun to refuse, with no adverse consequences. Pure make-work and way of making more profit.

Also, no matter how good the doctor is, he or she will always be anxious to prescribe some medication for you.

PS, I love your avatar. So much more handsome than his son and grandson, don't you think?

[rascalman]

In all my many years of going to hospital they always do that. They are taught to do that, it is important. I do not understand your complaint!

[onthedarkside]

On a lighter note, can anyone suggest a BP measuring wristband as mentioned elsewhere in this post, or a home instrument that I can buy?

Any of the larger size pharmacies will have either type available.

[sprq]

I simply tell them I do not want to want to measure either my blood pressure or my weight and they do not.

The one time I did that I still got charged the 'Nursing' and 'Packaged Medical' fees.

[Cuban]

High blood pressure often called the "silent killer" as people can walk around with high BP functioning normally until they stroke out and maybe die. For that reason alone it is wise to be aware of your BP and how it changes during your life. Certainly for many expats especially the elderly they are not taking any exercise and Thai food is often laden with salt, two factors that ramp up BP.

Complaining about having your BP measured is just daft.

Next time you get measured just consider what is the response time and level of medical care offered to stroke victims in the part of Thailand where you are. There are two Thai guys in our village, one limps around with near unintelligible speech, but laughs a lot, the other spends his days sitting in a chair pissing himself.

One expat friend I knew lived about three hours from where we live now, the last time I saw him he recognised my face but didn't know where he knew me from. His wife said that his local expat friends no longer visited or called him and the final stroke killed him about five years ago, the last 18 months of his life was pretty much all spent in bed.

Diet and exercise vs daily pills and a poor quality of life and risk of strokes - it's a no brainer surely?

[JetsetBkk]

ThaiVisa is infamous for its complainers. But this one takes the cake. Then he complains about the cost of taking his blood pressure (which is free). What an uneventful life this person must have.

Agreed.

Here - for all you "I'm perfectly healthy, I don't want to be bothered with this blood pressure nonsense" crowd - is an anecdote my doctor told me.

I was waiting to see my doctor in Phuket town. He was talking to a short tubby farang who wanted a doctor's certificate in order to get a driving license. After the guy left, my doctor told me that he had high blood pressure and that he told the guy to get it checked, but he thought that he wouldn't.

My doctor then told me about another farang with high blood pressure that he had seen several years ago. He too had not followed my doctor's advice to get it checked. A few months later my doctor was doing his rounds in the hospital where he worked and there on a bed was the farang, with half his face hanging down. He'd had a stroke. My doctor laughed after telling me this story (which I thought was a little unkind) but then I did too. It's the Thai way.

I go to see this doctor every month for a check-up and for pills to control my blood pressure. I went to him first about 10 years ago because I had the 'flu. It was his clinic that noticed I had high BP which was something like 175/140. It is now stable and low.

I hope you moaners don't end up with half your faces hanging down.

[GirlDrinkDrunk]

given the frequency with which most people go to the hospital it would only seem prudent to check BP

[super22k]

To help high blood pressure people.......Do not eat salt. Eat two Beetroots a day....or drink Beetroot juice.

[hml367]

To help high blood pressure people.......Do not eat salt. Eat two Beetroots a day....or drink Beetroot juice.

Would that be before the night of beer drinking or after?

[newermonkey]

They do this because they are trying to justify their existence, (and your bill) You are correct in saying its unnecessary except for the very first visit to establish a base line and be able to warn you of an abnormal reading.

The staff carrying out this pointless process haven't got a clue what they are doing so complaining to them is totally pointless. (resistance is futile, you will be assimilated)

[Buckaroo]

What a moaning, groaning and tiresome bunch some of you old f***s are. Obviously none of you moaners ever lost a friend or family member through a stroke. It is one of the most devastating medical disasters that can happen to one, especially if you are unlucky enough to survive it...be so happy that they check your BP every time. Whether it costs a few baht or not.

On a lighter note, can anyone suggest a BP measuring wristband as mentioned elsewhere in this post, or a home instrument that I can buy?

You can get battery / mains operated arm cuff BP monitors for around 2k baht at any large pharmacy. Mine always measures a couple of units lower than the local government hospital that I use but I put that down to the lovely nurses.