Bnh Over Charging Tourists/patients/customers?

[JAS21]

It seems as if I'm not the only one after all..

Thanks all for your info!

I have gotten hold of all journals today for my nephew and not sure if I understand anything from it.. but I will definitely look it thru and see if there is something suspicious about it.

Sheryl - There are 2 different things to this story.

1. My nephew came in with a inflamation in his scrotum that was taken care of the first day by seeing the doctor who prescribed him medicine.

2. After seeing the doctor and waiting to pay the panic attack hit him. He was hooked up for monitoring and given 2 shots of Adenocor and some other injections.

When I came to the hospital 30 minutes later he was already feeling fine.

The next morning Doctors told him that they would take him for ultrasound of the scrotum. This had already been taken care of on the first day!!

I have the journals in my hand but I cannot read what they say.. It's virtually impossible to read the handwriting and the EKG I don't understand anything from so.. I'm not sure what to do with them..

Well the ultrasound of the scrotum definitely sounds uncalled for and certainly can't be related to any heart problem they may have observed. You could ttry protesting that charge but as you've already paid it's probably no use. Tell your nephew in future not to agree to tests without getting a clear explnataion of the purpose, cost and asking if it is really essential.

If you have access to a scan and can send & send the EKG to me I can read it. (EKG plus any "rhythm strips"that may be in te records, these are EKG tracings but a single longer strip whereas a formal EKG report has it all pasted on a singler sheet of paper). I'm a bit concerned that he was given what sounds like adrenaline as that would normally be used in an emergency situation. Basically I think they either over-reacted to the combination of a slow heart rate (common in athletes and occurs in extreme stress in some people due to stimulation of the vagal nerve) and fainting spell or he actually had a serious arrythmia. The former is unlkely in an ICU wth well trained staff so it would be worth making sure.

If it is not possible for you to scan the EKG ten I would suggest going back to the hospital ad insisiting on a discharge summary in English that specifically addresses the EKG and cardac monitoring findings. Either they concluded there was no serious problem, they found one (in which case sending him out without that info is negligent) r they didn't reach a conclusion i n which case he should take the EKGs & report to a competent cardiologist for out-patient evaluation (I can recommend one).

I went to BNH last week.

Basically the day before in another province I just about passéd out in a supermarket. We went to the local private hospital. They did ECG and Blood tests..looking for a MI (heart attack). I’ve had a byupass and MI. Cost 2000Baht

Anyway my wife make an appointment at BNH (Heart Center) for the next day. The next day I was feeling almost as bad. I did suspect a bit of food poisioning.

There we saw the doctor, I was impressed with him. I showed him my records from the UK and he quickly fully understood everything. He suspected food poisoning and resultant de-hydration together with the ACE inhibitor that I take. My blood pressure was lower sitting up than lying down and that was causing my dizziness.

Because I have a bad history and will be coming to live here soon he did a big package of blood tests, ECG and Echo-cardiogram.

His bill 600Baht

Blood Tests 3750Baht

ECG etc 5300Baht

Medicine 100Baht

He even checked the Echo-cardiogram himself and actually showed me my heart beating.

He went through all the blood test results with me…I was given everything to take away.

Also he gave my wife his mobile phone number..saying any problems..phone me and I will quickly find out and let you know where the nearest hospital is to where you are in Thailand and has a suitable doctor. Private hospitals don’t usually have many doctors on overnight.

Basically the main problem was Ramapril..it can have a nasty effect on someone coming to a hot climate…so stopped it for a few days and then half dose.

I know blood tests are cheap in Thailand. But I have no complaints with the total bill. Seeing a specialist in the UK..not much change out of £150.

So for me BNH is ok..but tourists..

[Ijustwannateach]

I had a pretty good experience with BNH regarding some throat problems not long ago...

However...

They recently (in the last year) increased the minimum room charge by about 50% (from about 5000 to 7500B a night) and other expenses seem to have risen there- largely, in my personal and anecdotal view, from medications. A couple of years ago a routine visit with meds would've left me change out of 2000B; now it seems like they shoot more for a routine charge of 3-4000B or more.

I trust them and their doctors are usually reliable, but it's just too much compared to other local options. For anything routine, I probably wouldn't use them again. I go to a suburban clinic for my allergies and get medicine that costs me about 100B a month and has been more effective than anything any big hospital has ever done for me.

[Losangels]

I think the medical standards in Thailand are adequate however the medical profession here is questionable. Many doctors are expert in their field but lack medical ethics. Private hospitals and doctors are more concerned with making extra income than health of the patients. Trying talking to a Thai doctor (I speak perfect Thai) to explain in details about the illness, treatment, necessity of different tests performed and the details of the expenditure and he/she will likely be uncomfortable talking about it at the very least to very often feel insulted that I will question his medical decisions. Here it is very difficult to take a doctor or hospital to court for mal-practice charges due to that the system is in favor of the medical establishment. The case will be reviewed by the medical board which ofcourse will rarely point out their collegue's fault.

[Sheryl]

Doctors are individuals and like all individuals, they vary in ability and qualities like caring and ethics. It is not surprising that one may find in the same hospital a doctor who is straightfoward, concerned and goes out of his way and one who perfroms unnecessary surgery and fudges insurance papers.

Thai doctors are not trained or socialized to expect active patient participation in care or questions. This is frankly one main reason prefer to deal with Thai doctors who've done some training in the west -- not only does it attest to exceptional competency (specialty training in you non-native language is NOT easy!) but it also means that they will have some understanding of western-style expectations. Some of the international hospitals even hire western doctors just to advise the Thai doctors on what these wierd things westerners want, like to have questions answered and be given options. I have noticed that many of the western-trained Thai docs who do tis just fine with westerners revert right back to Thai mode when dealing with Thai patients, though. Yet what I hear from Thais is that they don't like it and would really prefer to have more explanation. But the Thai docs (and for that matter docs in other Asian countries where I've worked) think it would cause them to lose face in a patient's eyes to share information, ask the patients opinion/choices or god forbid be seen looking up something or saying they need to consult someone else....I think it is largely a cultural thing but one that in this instance works against optimal medical practice.

[jandb]

I always assumed that Thailand was the cheapest place for medical tourism. I had considered Thailand for some dental work but to my amazement I am getting the dental work done for near half the price in Hungary, plus the hotel accommodation is free when you exceed $3,000, which is the case for me. I was stunned. I also found that Eastern European countries understand economies of scale much better, all the dental surgeries I contacted offered significant discount on the treatment costs because I required so much work done whereas in Bangkok treatment cost equalled sum of all individual costs with no discount !!!!

An example of this was:

Dental implants in Thailand the cost with the crown was $1200

In Budapest the cost for the same was 600 euro = $850

However, 8 implants in Thailand was $9600

whereas 8 implant package in Budapest was 4000 euro or about $6500.

Thailand's image as a cheap alternative to western health systems is being eroded rapidly by huge price inflation in the country and by new cheaper medical tourist destinations in Asia, Middle East & Eastern Europe.

[PeaceBlondie]

I got quotes for shoulder replacement at both Samitivej and Bumrungrad between 350K and 400K. But they couldn't figure out what the infection in my arm was, and refused to operate. So I came 'home' to Chiang Mai and the best govt. hospital in the north, where an American-trained orthopedic surgeon opened me up, removed the infection, and kept me very well informed (he did four years in the USA). Price, including four nights in a private room and lots of meds = 49,500 baht.

I got complete lower denture for 3,200. In the USA, it was going to be 3,200 dollars. Mexico, 3,200 pesos. In Thailand, private practice dentist, 3,200 baht.

I suspect many of us farang are being charged at least double. Maybe quintuple.

And, the run of the mill Thai physician diagnosed a massive bacterial infection inside my arm.....as....a case of.....contact dermatitis.

[Nawtilus]

Re StLoius hospital, someone told me that this place was a 'not for profit' hospital, not sure if this is so or not, but times we went there, it was very well priced, but this was years ago.

Unfortunately I did a runner from there a couple of years agao when I had a broken shoulder and the doc that was looking after it sent me down to a 'specialist' muscular doc for an opinion on if to operate or not.

The doc they sent me to see had his office in a dungey little corner away from all, he wore a dirty white shirt, he looked like Columbo the cop, the office was old and tired and it was like this gu was hidden away from the rest of the world.

After his inspection and me realising that if they had to operate, that this guy would be doing the hacking away. My only question to him was what did he think was causing the problem...I had a complication from the injury... his educated and outstanding opinion after much thought was 'the motorbike accident'.

I got up and walked out and did not pay.

[Topprofile]

I have been away for a couple of days as me and my wife just got our first baby. We canceled everything with BNH and went to Bangkok Christian to have the delivery. One of the best moves we could make =)

The staff in Bangkok Christian has been the best and I highly recommend this hospital for delivering your babies. We paid about 36.000thb including 3 nights at the hospital. Everything just went fine!

The Doctors speak excellent english and some of the younger nurses also. Some of the older probably can speak english but might not want to..

Sheryl - if you have a fax or email address I can send you the journal to see if you can make something out of it. Please PM me if you have the time to do it.

Thank you

Rob