Would it suffice to say that I spent 7 hours today waiting to get treated for a common cold, then got overcharged, and then got written the wrong prescription? Or should I add that they tried to charge me for getting the right prescription after I came back from the pharmacy?
Seven hours! I read the book I took along (Dogs and Demons, a truly appropriate reread for today) one and a half times!
Future residents of Japan, I bequeath the nation’s gloooorious health care system unto thee!
(The first rule of Japanese hospitals: You shall not visit without being written a prescription)
Raising a family in Thailand // Documenting Issan food, culture, music, and people
Seven hours is a bit excessive–you must have gone to a really crowded hospital on a crowded day, or things are simply different at hospitals in your region. At most my local hospital will kep you waiting three hours, though if you get there at the start of the day–say, half an hour before registration starts–you can usually get out within an hour after registration. Strangely, holding an appointment slip does not help speed things up at all, and you wait in the same lines as the visitors with no appointments.
As for prescriptions–ain’t that the truth? Even if you do get the right prescription, it’s all too often 3-6 different types of medicine, half of which don’t help at all. And ANY visit is charged for.
Recently I had a prescription the doctor goofed on as well; he prescribed only half the correct amount on an important medication I need. I called up when I realized it and asked for them to simply have the doc scribble out a new prescription in ten seconds and have it waiting for me at the reception desk. After all, this was THEIR mistake, and I was the one being inconvenienced by having to trek back to the doctor.
Ha! What a fool I was. They remained vague in answering that and just told me to come in. I knew what they were going to do–and they did it. They made me wait until the doctor could spare some time, then made me go in to see him just to repeat what he knew full well (I need a new prescription), and then he wrote it with all undue fanfare and sent me out to the lobby to be charged for a visit.
I wasn’t going to stand for THAT. I put my foot down, and even with these clinics, they will fold when you have them to rights. Me pay for an entire visit when it was the doc who screwed up? Hell, no.